Phosphodiesterase (PDE) inhibitor torbafylline (HWA 448) attenuates burn-induced rat skeletal muscle proteolysis through the PDE4/cAMP/EPAC/PI3K/Akt pathway.

•Burn injury increased muscle PDE4 activity and proteolysis and reduced cAMP content.•Burn injury increased muscle mRNA expression of E3 ligases, ubiquitin, TNFα and IL-6.•Signals downstream of PI3K/Akt-pathway were attenuated by burn injury.•All these changes were significantly attenuated by torbafylline (HWA 448).•Torbafylline attenuates burn-induced muscle proteolysis via multiple pathways.