Nuclear factor (NF)-?B activation and oxidative stress are physiologic responses of skeletal muscle to exercise but may be impaired in patients with COPD. Therefore, we investigated NF-?B activity and expression of NF-?B-regulated genes in muscle of patients with COPD and control subjects before and after exercise.
NUTRIM School for Nutrition, Toxicology and Metabolism, Department of Respiratory Medicine, Maastricht University Medical Centre 1, Maastrich, The Netherlands. e.mercken@pul.unimaas.nl