Signaling response to personalized exercise therapy in skeletal muscle from heart failure patients with reduced ejection fraction.

In chronic heart failure (CHF), functional and metabolic alterations are detected not only in cardiac muscle but also in skeletal muscle tissue. The molecular mechanisms responsible for muscle dysfunction in patients with CHF remain unknown as well as the biological processes responsible for the positive effect of physical exercise training. In this work, using the results of transcriptome sequencing (3' mRNA-Seq), authors identify the molecular mechanisms responsible for reducing muscle dysfunctions in patients with CHF undergoing a personalized program of physical rehabilitation. 3 patients with CHF were enrolled in the study, biopsies of gastrocnemius muscle were taken before and after 12 weeks of individual training program (intensity was determined at 90% of lactate inflection point). Analysis of RNA-Seq data shows the strong upregulation of pathways that control skeletal muscle cell differentiation, muscle contraction, recovery of membrane potential. Overall design: To understand the effect of exercise therapy on gene expression in skeletal muscle tissue of heart failure patients, we profiled the transcriptomes (using 3' mRNA-seq), of gastrocnemius muscle tissue biopsies taken from patients before and after 12 weeks of physical rehabilitation program. The individual training intensity was determined at 90% of lactate inflection point.