摘要The purpose of this study was to investigate the intensity-specific regenerative effects of microcurrent therapy on gastrocnemius muscle atrophy induced by cast-immobilization in rabbits.Fifteen rabbits were randomly allocated to 3 groups after cast removal:cast-immobilization and sham microcurrent therapy for 2 weeks (group 1);castimmobilization and microcurrent therapy (25 μA) for 2 weeks (group 2);cast-immobilization and microcurrent therapy (5,000 μA) for 2 weeks (group 3).Clinical parameters [calf circumference,compound muscle action potential (CMAP) of the tibial nerve,thickness of gastrocnemius muscle],cross sectional area of gastrocnemius muscle fibres,and immunohistochemistry was evaluated.The clinical parameters representing mean atrophic changes in group 2 were significantly lower than those in group 3.The cross sectional area of the gastrocnemius muscle fibres and immunohistochemical parameters in group 2 were significantly greater than those in group 3.The results showed that low-intensity microcurrent therapy can more effectively promote regeneration in atrophied gastrocnemius muscle than high-intensity microcurrent therapy.