Study of the Effect of Palmitic Acid on the Expression of Myostatin mRNA and its Cytotoxic Properties in the Culture of Myoblast Cells and the Possibility of Exogenous Regulation

Objective: To study the cytotoxic effect of palmitic acid on myoblasts in vitro and the influence of this toxicant on the expression of myostatin mRNA in myoblast culture. Methods: To research the protective action against these processes of a compound with antioxidant activity, for which 2-ethyl-6-methyl-3-hydroxypyridine malate (ethoxidol) was chosen. Results: Our studies have shown that palmitic acid has a noticeable cytostatic effect on myoblasts in vitro, significantly suppressing their proliferation: the rate of MTT recovery in myoblasts treated with palmitate was only 9.6% of that rate in control myoblasts. In experiments, it was shown that palmitic acid slightly activated the expression of myostatin mRNA. At the same time, the protective effect of 2-ethyl-6-methyl-3-hydroxypyridine malate was not so pronounced. Conclusion: The results of our research indicate that the activation of myostatin synthesis is not one of the main causes of the development of myodystrophy in obese people or people following a high-lipid diet, while the direct cytotoxic effect of palmitic acid on myoblasts is. It is obvious that the use of antioxidants such as ethoxidol has a protective effect on myoblasts in the experiment and may have a certain potential in clinical practice.