Effect of torbafylline on mitochondrial calmitine in mouse skeletal muscle regeneration after injection of a myotoxic drug.

The effect of torbafylline, a xanthine derivative (Hoechst, Werk Albert, Wiesbaden, Germany), was tested relative to changes in degeneration and subsequent regeneration processes in mouse gastrocnemius muscle induced by a single injection of chlorpromazine, a myotoxic drug. These processes were monitored by measuring changes in calmitine, a mitochondrial protein. We determined in our previous work that calmitine concentration decreases during degeneration and progressively increases during regeneration. In this study, we compared effects in torbafylline-treated mice with those in control mice treated with saline solution. The results show that regeneration is much faster with torbafylline treatment. Calmitine is decreased and returns quickly to normal in torbafylline-treated mice as compared to those treated with saline solution. Torbafylline might thus prove effective in stimulating muscle regeneration in myopathy.