Reduced mobility and physical independence of elders has emerged as a major clinical and public health priority with extended life expectancy. The impact of the neuromuscular function on muscle activity and properties has emerged as a critical factor influencing the progress and outcome of muscle changes with aging. However, very little is known about the neuromuscular junctions (NMJs) in humans, in part due to technical constraints limiting the access to healthy, fresh neuromuscular tissue. Here, we describe a method, called Biopsy using Electrostimulation for Enhanced NMJ Sampling (BeeNMJs) that improves the outcome of muscle biopsies. We used local cutaneous stimulation to identify the area enriched with NMJs for each participant at the right Vastus lateralis (VL). The needle biopsy was then performed in proximity of that point. The BeeNMJs procedure was safe for the participants. We observed NMJs in 53.3% of biopsies in comparison with only 16.7% using the traditional method. Furthermore, we observed an average of 30.13 NMJs per sample compared to only 2.33 for the traditional method. Importantly, high-quality neuromuscular material was obtained whereby pre-, postsynaptic, and glial elements were routinely labeled, simultaneously with myosin heavy chain type I. The BeeNMJs approach will facilitate studies of NMJs, particularly in human disease or aging process.

中文翻译：

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改进的人体肌肉活检方法以研究神经肌肉接头结构和功能的老化。

老年人行动不便和身体独立性下降已成为临床和公共卫生领域的重中之重，期望寿命得以延长。神经肌肉功能对肌肉活动和特性的影响已成为影响衰老过程中肌肉变化的进程和结果的关键因素。但是，对人类神经肌肉接头（NMJ）知之甚少，部分原因是由于技术限制，人们无法获得健康，新鲜的神经肌肉组织。在这里，我们描述了一个方法，称为乙iopsy使用è lectrostimulation为Ë nhanced NMJ小号扩增（BeeNMJs），可改善肌肉活检的结果。我们用本地皮肤的刺激，以确定与NMJs富集在正确的每一个参与者的区域股外侧肌（VL）。然后在该点附近进行穿刺活检。BeeNMJs程序对参与者是安全的。与传统方法相比，我们在53.3％的活检组织中观察到NMJ，而只有16.7％。此外，我们观察到每个样本平均30.13 NMJ，而传统方法只有2.33 NMJ。重要的是，获得了高质量的神经肌肉材料，从而与I型肌球蛋白重链同时常规标记了突触前，突触后和神经胶质元素。BeeNMJs方法将促进NMJ的研究，特别是在人类疾病或衰老过程中。