Post‐exercise massage affects skeletal muscle gene expression

Massage therapy is commonly prescribed for individuals that suffer from chronic pain, inflammation, or musculoskeletal injury. Despite the widespread belief that massage augments muscle repair and reduces inflammation, there is little objective, scientific evidence to support its practice. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the molecular effects of massage following a single unaccustomed bout of exercise. Eleven recreationally active, healthy males (age 22±1 yrs, VO 2peak 46±2 ml·kg −1 ·min −1 ) volunteered to participate in this study. Each subject completed an exhaustive endurance cycling protocol. After 15 mins of recovery, one quadricep was randomly chosen for 10 mins of massage (MASS) and the contralateral leg served as a control (CON). Muscle biopsies were acquired from the vastus lateralis at rest, immediately following massage, and 2.5h after massage was administered. Histology revealed that exercise induced significant muscle damage from rest at 2.5h (P<0.05), however there was no effect of massage (P>0.05). No differences were seen between CON or MASS in the oxidative stress markers 4HNE or protein carbonyls at any timepoint (P>0.05). Gene microarray analysis displayed 4 genes that were differentially expressed (P<0.05) for MASS vs CON immediately following massage as well as 11 genes at 2.5h that relate to pathways of inflammation and cellular remodeling. In summary, these data provide evidence that massage stimulates molecular events that may justify its use in the remediation of muscle injury. (Supported by NSERC Canada).