Fig. 4

Low-frequency electrical stimulation (LFES) improved disuse muscle atrophy and knee joint contracture. Male rabbits were treated with LFES on the quadriceps femoris muscle for 3 weeks after 4 weeks of immobilization. The rectus femoris was dissected after 3 weeks of LFES. A Knee joint range of motion. B Representative images from the cross section of skeletal muscle fibers using hematoxylin and eosin staining. Scale bars represent 50 μm. C Quantitative analysis of cross-sectional area of skeletal muscle fibers. Ctrl2: control 2 group; ESG: electrical stimulation group; NRG: natural recovery group; ESTG: electrical stimulation treatment group. Data are expressed as mean ± SD. n = 6. ^**P < 0.01 compared with the Ctrl2 group; ^&&P<0.01 compared with the ESG group; ^#P<0.05, ^##P<0.01 compared with the NRG group