Gerta Vrbová, a guide and a friend for a generation of neuro-myologists – Her scientific legacies and relations with colleagues


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Gerta Sidonová - Vrbová, (Trnava, Slovakia, November 28, 1926 - London, UK, October 2, 2020) has been a key neuroscientist, who for almost half a century has contributed important findings and hypotheses on the relationships between motoneurons and skeletal muscle fibers, in particular on the differentiation and extent of plasticity of the peculiar characteristics of the different types of fibers present in mammalian muscles. This issue, Ejtm 31 (1), 2021, opens with the personal obituary authored by Dirk Pette, who remember his lifelong collaboration with Gerta, describing the many molecular and metabolic events that occur by changing the pattern of activation of adult muscle fibers through neuromuscular low frequency electrical stimulation. To honor the many scientific legacies of Gerta Vrbová and her impact on a generation of researchers studying myology and managements of neuromuscular disorders I add here additional examples of Gerta’s scientific heritage and of her relations with colleagues.


Caroline Hilton. The Guardian, International Edition. 2020. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2020/oct/19/gerta-vrbova-obituary

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Pette D, Vrbová G. Adaptations of mammalian muscle fibers to chronic electrical stimulation. Rev Physiol Biochem Pharmacol. 1992; 120: 116-202.

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Skalsky AJ, Lesser DJ, McDonald CM. Evaluation of phrenic nerve and diaphragm function with peripheral nerve stimulation and M-mode ultrasonography in potential pediatric phrenic nerve or diaphragm pacing candidates. Phys Med Rehabil Clin N Am. 2015 Feb;26(1):133-43.

Berger D, Bloechlinger S, von Haehling S, Doehner W, Takala J, Z'Graggen WJ, Schefold JC. Dysfunction of respiratory muscles in critically ill patients on the intensive care unit. J Cachexia Sarcopenia Muscle. 2016 Sep;7(4):403-12.

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Pette D, Müller W, Leisner E, Vrbová G. Time dependent effects on contractile properties, fibre population, myosin light chains and enzymes of energy metabolism in intermittently and continuously stimulated fast twitch muscles of the rabbit. Pflugers Arch. 1976 Jul 30;364(2):103-12.

Arpesella G, Carraro U, Mikus PM, Dozza F, Lombardi P, Marinelli G, Zampieri S, El Messlemani AH, Rossini K, Pierangeli A. Activity- rest stimulation of latissimus dorsi for cardiomyoplasty: 1-year results in sheep Ann Thorac Surg. 1998 Dec;66(6):1983-90.

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Rigatelli G, Rigatelli G, Barbiero M, Cotogni A, Bandello A, Riccardi R, Carraro U. "Demand" stimulation of latissimus dorsi heart wrap: experience in humans and comparison with adynamic girdling. Ann Thorac Surg. 2003 Nov;76(5):1587-92.

Rigatelli G, Carraro U, Riccardi R, Rigatelli G. Demand dynamic biogirdling: ten-year results. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 2009 Jan;137(1):e58-9.

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Boncompagni S, Kern H, Rossini, Hofer C, Mayr W, Carraro U, Protasi F. Structural differentiation of skeletal muscle fibers in the absence of innervation in humans. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2007 Dec 4;104(49):19339-44.

Kern H, Carraro U, Adami N, Biral D, Hofer C, Forstner C, Mödlin M, Vogelauer M, Pond A, Boncompagni S, Paolini C, Mayr W, Protasi F, Zampieri S. Home-based functional electrical stimulation rescues permanently denervated muscles in paraplegic patients with complete lower motor neuron lesion. Neurorehabil Neural Repair. 2010 Oct;24(8):709-21.

Kern H, Carraro U, Adami N, Hofer C, Loefler S, Vogelauer M, Mayr W, Rupp R, Zampieri S. One year of home-based daily FES in complete lower motor neuron paraplegia: recovery of tetanic contractility drives the structural improvements of denervated muscle. Neurol Res. 2010 Feb;32(1):5- 12.

Albertin G, Ravara B, Kern H, Hofer C, Loefler S, Jurecka W, Guidolin D, Rambaldo A, Porzionato A, De Caro R, Zampieri S, Pond A, Alaibac M, Carraro U. Two-years of home based functional electrical stimulation recovers epidermis from atrophy and flattening after years of complete Conus-Cauda Syndrome. Medicine (Baltimore). 2019 Dec;98(52):e18509.

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Dulhunty AF, Gage PW. Excitation-contraction coupling and charge movement in denervated rat extensor digitorum longus and soleus muscle. J Physiol. 1985 Jan;358:75-89.

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Squecco R, Carraro U, Kern H, Pond A, Adami N, Biral D, Vindigni V, Boncompagni S, Pietrangelo T, Bosco G, Fanò G, Marini M, Abruzzo PM, Germinario E, Danieli-Betto D, Protasi F, Francini F, Zampieri S. A subpopulation of rat muscle fibers maintains an assessable excitation-contraction coupling mechanism after long-standing denervation despite lost contractility. J Neuropathol Exp Neurol. 2009 Dec;68(12):1256-68.

Gerta Vorbová interview. Available on-line at the YOUTUBE link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJ9BPLquPWw.

Lowrie MB, Krishnan S, Vrbová G. Recovery of slow and fast muscles following nerve injury during early post-natal development in the rat. J Physiol. 1982 Oct;331:51-66.

Connold AL, Evers JV, Vrbová G. Effect of low calcium and protease inhibitors on synapse elimination during postnatal development in the rat soleus muscle. Brain Res. 1986 Jul;393(1):99-107.

Greensmith L, Vrbová G. Neuromuscular contacts in the developing rat soleus depend on muscle activity. Brain Res Dev Brain Res. 1991 Sep 19;62(1):121-9.

Navarrete R, Vrbová G. Differential effect of nerve injury at birth on the activity pattern of reinnervated slow and fast muscles of the rat. J Physiol. 1984 Jun;351:675-85.

Nógrádi A, Vrbová G. The use of a neurotoxic lectin, volkensin, to induce loss of identified motoneuron pools. Neuroscience. 1992 Oct;50(4):975-86.

Sieradzan K, Vrbová G. Replacement of missing motoneurons by embryonic grafts in the rat spinal cord. Neuroscience. 1989;31(1):115-30.

Gordon T. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=Tessa%20Gordon&show_snippets=off&sort=pubdate&size=100

Pette D. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=Pette+D&sort=pubdate&sort_order=asc&size=100&show_snippets=off

Lomo.T. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=Terje+Lomo&show_snippets=off&sort= pubdate&size=100

Carraro U. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=Carraro+U&show_snippets=off&sort=pubdate&size=100

Kern H. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=Kern+H&show_snippets=off&sort=pubdate& size=100

Nógrádi A. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=Nogradi+A&show_snippets=off&sort=pubdate&size=100

Slawinska U. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=slawinska+U&show_snippets=off&sort=pubdate&size=100

Scott OM, Vrbová G, Hyde SA, Dubowitz V. Effects of chronic low frequency electrical stimulation on normal human tibialis anterior muscle. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 1985 Aug;48(8):774-81.

McKay WB, Stokic DS, Sherwood AM, Vrbova G, Dimitrijevic MR. Effect of fatiguing maximal voluntary contraction on excitatory and inhibitory responses elicited by transcranial magnetic motor cortex stimulation. Muscle Nerve. 1996 Aug;19(8):1017-24.

Hausmanowa-Petrusewicz I, Vrbová G. Spinal muscular atrophy: a delayed development hypothesis. Neuroreport. 2005 May 12;16(7):657- 61.

Carraro, U. (2021). Gerta Vrbová, a guide and a friend for a generation of neuro-myologists – Her scientific legacies and relations with colleagues. European Journal of Translational Myology, 31(1). https://doi.org/10.4081/ejtm.2021.9670

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