Abstract:

BACKGROUND: Exercise-induced skeletal muscle apoptosis has been referred to as the current focus of sports medicine, and the application of stem cells in athletic injury rehabilitation and prevention has been reported. However, the role of stem cells in cell apoptosis remains unclear.

OBJECTIVE: To summarize the effect and mechanism of stem cells in preventing exercise-induced skeletal muscle apoptosis to provide references for scientific sports training and physical activity.

METHODS: A computer-based online search of PubMed (1991-01/2009-10) and CNKI (1994-01/2009-10) was performed for related articles with the keywords “"Exercise Training, Sports, Skeletal Muscle, Apoptosis" in English and "stem cells, exercise, skeletal muscle, apoptosis," in Chinese. Inclusion criteria: ① studies on stem cells and their apoptosis in skeletal muscle cells; ②articles in the same field published recently or in the authoritative journals. Exclusion criteria: ① Repetitive articles; ② Meta analysis.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: A total of 360 articles were collected from the summary of literature through the stem cells and its application in the field of sports medicine research, and its skeletal muscle apoptosis in the changes and development trend of the application. Finally, 31 articles were included, including 21 reviews and 10 clinical or experimental studies. High-intensity exercise can cause apoptosis in skeletal muscle cells, while the use of stem cell technology can prevent apoptosis, to a certain extents by regulating Bcl-2 and Bax protein expression, thereby promoting the early recovery of skeletal muscle.