Alcohol-induced damage to skeletal muscles in women with chronic alcohol intoxication

In Russia, there is a high level of alcohol consumption among women in doses that represent a high risk of developing alcoholic diseases, manifested, in particular, by damage to skeletal muscles.

The purpose of the study. Analysis of clinical, biochemical, neurophysiological, as well as morphometric and immunohistochemical features of alcoholic skeletal muscle damage in women with chronic alcohol intoxication.

Material and methods. A clinical and laboratory examination of 30 women aged 20 to 60 years with chronic alcohol intoxication was performed, which included the determination of creatine phosphokinase (CPK) and insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) in blood plasma, stimulation and needle electromyography (EMG), as well as morphological and immunohistochemical examination of biopsies of the quadriceps femoris.

Results. Myopathic syndrome in the form of proximal para-or tetraparesis was observed in 73.3% of the examined women in combination with a decrease in IGF-1 at normal values of CPK in blood plasma. The EMG results indicated the absence of changes in the parameters of the potentials of motor units, characteristic of primary muscular lesions, and of conduction disturbances along the femoral nerve. Morphometric and immunohistochemical studies of skeletal muscle biopsies showed a decrease in the cross-sectional area of muscle fibers of types I and II without signs of muscle tissue necrosis.

Conclusion. Chronic alcoholic myopathy is a common manifestation of alcoholic disease in women with long-term alcohol intoxication. The severity of the atrophic process in the skeletal muscle is comparable to the degree of proximal paresis. Violations of systemic protein synthesis and acceleration of apoptosis are considered as pathogenetic mechanisms of the atrophic process in the muscles in chronic alcoholic myopathy in women.

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