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Muscle Properties (muscle + property)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Medical Sciences	66%

Selected Abstracts

Diabetes-induced Alterations in Latissimus Dorsi Muscle Properties Impair Effectiveness of Dynamic Cardiomyoplasty in Rats

ARTIFICIAL ORGANS, Issue 4 2004
Kátia De Angelis
Abstract:, Short-term diabetes was induced in male Wistar rats with streptozotocin injection. The effects of diabetes on latissimus dorsi (LD) muscle contractile and biochemical properties and acute cardiomyoplasty (CDM) were assessed and compared with data from 16 control rats. Isometric force, contractile properties, and fatigue were measured in electrically stimulated muscles (0.3 ms, 1,256 Hz), and Na+K+ and Ca2+ATPase activities were quantified in muscle membrane preparations. Systolic arterial pressure and aortic blood flow were recorded at rest and during LD muscle stimulation. Compared with control muscle, diabetic muscle showed smaller maximum specific tetanic tension and lower rates of rise and fall in force. Diabetic LD muscle also showed lower muscle enzyme activities. Twitch tension and fatigue did not differ between groups. Smaller increases in aortic flow and systolic pressure after CDM were found in diabetic rats compared to controls. The marked decrease in CDM effectiveness in diabetic rats likely reflected the alterations in muscle properties associated with diabetes. [source]

Force,frequency and force,length properties in skeletal muscle following unilateral focal ischaemic insult in a rat model

ACTA PHYSIOLOGICA, Issue 3 2009
G. N. Dormer
Abstract Aim:, Our purpose was to quantify skeletal muscle properties following unilateral focal ischaemic insult (stroke) in a rat model. Methods:, Male rats were divided into two groups: stroke and 2 weeks recovery (n = 8) and control group (n = 7). Stroke was induced in the area of the motor neocortex containing hind limb corticospinal neurones. Contractile properties of the medial gastrocnemius muscle were measured in situ in both limbs. Force,length and force,frequency properties were measured before and 35 min after 5 min fatiguing stimulation. Results:, Stroke resulted in bilateral tetanic fade during 200 Hz stimulation. When normalized to 100 Hz contractions, force at 200 Hz was 95.4 ± 0.9% for the paretic muscles, 96.7 ± 1.7% for non-paretic muscles and 102.2 ± 1.0% for muscles of control rats (P = 0.006). Prior to fatiguing contractions, there was no difference in the length dependence of force. During repetitive contractions, active force fell significantly to 19 ± 4 and 25 ± 5% of initial force in paretic and non-paretic muscles of animals with a stroke respectively. In control animals active force fell to 37 ± 5%. During repetitive contractions, fusion index increased in muscles of stroke animals to 1.0 ± 0 but in control animals it was 0.95 ± 0.02. There was selective force depression at short lengths for fatigued paretic muscle (significant difference at muscle lengths less than reference length ,2 mm). Conclusion:, The tetanic fade at high stimulation frequencies indicates that there may be activation failure following focal ischaemic insult. The greater magnitude of fatigue and selective depression at short lengths following repetitive contractions should be investigated further. [source]

Metabolic cost of lengthening, isometric and shortening contractions in maximally stimulated rat skeletal muscle

ACTA PHYSIOLOGICA, Issue 2 2004
J. G. M. Beltman
Abstract Aim:, The present study investigated the energy cost of lengthening, isometric and shortening contractions in rat muscle (n = 19). Methods:, With electrical stimulation the rat medial gastrocnemius muscle was maximally stimulated to perform 10 lengthening, isometric and shortening contractions (velocity 25 mm s,1) under experimental conditions (e.g. temperature, movement velocity) that resemble conditions in human movement. Results:, Mean ± SD force,time-integral of the first contraction was significantly different between the three protocols, 2.4 ± 0.2, 1.7 ± 0.2 and 1.0 ± 0.2 N s, respectively (P < 0.05). High-energy phosphate consumption was not significantly different between the three modes of exercise but a trend could be observed from lengthening (7.7 ± 2.7 ,mol , P muscle,1) to isometric (8.9 ± 2.2 ,mol , P muscle,1) to shortening contractions (10.4 ± 1.6 ,mol , P muscle,1). The ratio of high-energy phosphate consumption to force,time-integral was significantly lower for lengthening [0.3 ± 0.1 ,mol , P (N s),1] and isometric [0.6 ± 0.2 ,mol , P (N s),1] contractions compared with shortening [1.2 ± 0.2 ,mol , P (N s),1] contractions (P < 0.05). Conclusion:, The present results of maximally stimulated muscles are comparable with data in the literature for voluntary human exercise showing that the energy cost of force production during lengthening exercise is ,30% of that in shortening exercise. The present study suggests that this finding in humans probably does reflect intrinsic muscle properties rather than effects of differential recruitment and/or coactivation. [source]

Bone and Muscle Development During Puberty in Girls: A Seven-Year Longitudinal Study,,

JOURNAL OF BONE AND MINERAL RESEARCH, Issue 10 2009
Leiting Xu
Abstract The growth of lean mass precedes that of bone mass, suggesting that muscle plays an important role in the growth of bone. However, to date, no study has directly followed the growth of bone and muscle size through puberty and into adulthood. This study aimed to test the hypothesis that the growth of muscle size precedes that of bone size (width and length) and mass during puberty. Bone and muscle properties were measured using pQCT and DXA in 258 healthy girls at baseline (mean age, 11.2 yr) and 1-, 2-, 3,4- and 7-yr follow-up. Growth trends as a function of time relative to menarche were determined from prepuberty to early adulthood for tibial length (TL), total cross-sectional area (tCSA), cortical CSA (cCSA), total BMC (tBMC), cortical volumetric BMD (cBMD), and muscle CSA (mCSA) in hierarchical models. The timings of the peak growth velocities for these variables were calculated. Seventy premenopausal adults, comprising a subset of the girl's mothers (mean age, 41.5 yr), were included for comparative purposes. In contrast to our hypothesis, the growth velocity of mCSA peaked 1 yr later than that of tibial outer dimensions (TL and tCSA) and slightly earlier than tBMC. Whereas TL ceased to increase 2 yr after menarche, tCSA, cCSA, tBMC, and mCSA continued to increase and were still significantly lower than adult values at the age of 18 yr (all p < 0.01). The results do not support the view that muscle force drives the growth of bone size during puberty. [source]

Length Dependent Potentiation in Electrically Stimulated Human Ankle Dorsiflexor Muscles

NEUROMODULATION, Issue 2 2002
Petra Mela PhD
Abstract The purpose of this study was to investigate the short-term history effect of a decreasing frequency train on force and the influence of joint angle on such effect in human dorsiflexor muscles. Six able-bodied and three spinal cord injured (SCI) subjects took part in the study. Their isometric left dorsiflexor muscles were stimulated with two-second bursts at three ankle joint positions and movements at the ankle were measured. Trains with constant stimulation frequencies (CSF: 50, 25, 20, 16, 12, 8 Hz) and with decreasing stimulation frequencies (DSF1,2) were used. Each DSF tetanus consisted of four 0.5 second bursts of different frequencies (DSF1: 50, 25, 16, 8 Hz; DSF2: 50, 20, 12, 8 Hz). To evaluate the effect of preceding higher stimulation frequencies (DSF), the average moment at corresponding time intervals in the DSF and CSF trials were compared for 25, 20, 16, 12, 8 Hz. Preceding higher stimulation frequencies caused increase of the moment elicited by a given frequency. This was true for all the subjects at dorsiflexed positions, but the effect is highly dependent on joint ankle. At plantar flexed positions moment enhancement was seen only in SCI subjects. We conclude that effects of joint angle as well as individual muscle properties should be taken into account when optimizing muscle force by means of frequency modulation. [source]