Supplementary file 1_Effects of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation based on wrist-ankle acupuncture theory on the skeletal muscle repair and gut microbiota modulation in rats with gastrocnemius muscle injury.zip

Histological analysis revealed that the degree of inflammatory cell infiltration in the WAA-TENS group was less than that in the MOD group, and the degree of fibrosis was significantly lower than that in the MOD group. Bacterial diversity analysis indicated that the microbiota structure in the MOD group did not differ significantly from that in the CON group, suggesting that CFA-induced local muscle injury alone may be insufficient to induce systemic gut dysbiosis under the present experimental conditions.

Notably, WAA-TENS significantly altered the microbiota structure (characterized by a significant decrease in evenness and an increase in the abundance of Lactobacillus), suggesting that WAA-TENS may exert distinct modulatory effects on the intestinal microenvironment independent of the injury-induced response.</p>Conclusion<p>WAA-TENS effectively alleviated mechanical allodynia, attenuated local inflammation, and promoted muscle repair in a rat model of CFA-induced gastrocnemius injury.

Concurrently, WAA-TENS was associated with significant alterations in gut microbiota composition, including the enrichment of Lactobacillus reuteri. These parallel findings suggest a potential association between WAA-TENS-induced microbiota modulation and its therapeutic effects on skeletal muscle, providing a hypothesis-generating foundation for future mechanistic investigations into the gut-muscle axis. The causal contribution of specific microbial taxa to muscle repair, however, remains to be established.</p>