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The Journal of Experimental Biology Jul 2008The functional capacity of a muscle is determined by its architecture and metabolic properties. Although extensive analyses of muscle architecture and fiber type have...
The functional capacity of a muscle is determined by its architecture and metabolic properties. Although extensive analyses of muscle architecture and fiber type have been completed in a large number of muscles in numerous species, there have been few studies that have looked at the interrelationship of these functional parameters among muscles of a single species. Nor have the architectural properties of individual muscles been compared across species to understand scaling. This study examined muscle architecture and fiber type in the rat (Rattus norvegicus) hindlimb to examine each muscle's functional specialization. Discriminant analysis demonstrated that architectural properties are a greater predictor of muscle function (as defined by primary joint action and anti-gravity or non anti-gravity role) than fiber type. Architectural properties were not strictly aligned with fiber type, but when muscles were grouped according to anti-gravity versus non-anti-gravity function there was evidence of functional specialization. Specifically, anti-gravity muscles had a larger percentage of slow fiber type and increased muscle physiological cross-sectional area. Incongruities between a muscle's architecture and fiber type may reflect the variability of functional requirements on single muscles, especially those that cross multiple joints. Additionally, discriminant analysis and scaling of architectural variables in the hindlimb across several mammalian species was used to explore whether any functional patterns could be elucidated within single muscles or across muscle groups. Several muscles deviated from previously described muscle architecture scaling rules and there was large variability within functional groups in how muscles should be scaled with body size. This implies that functional demands placed on muscles across species should be examined on the single muscle level.
Topics: Animals; Body Size; Hindlimb; Male; Models, Animal; Muscle Fibers, Skeletal; Muscle, Skeletal; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Species Specificity
PubMed: 18587128
DOI: 10.1242/jeb.017640 -
Acta Anatomica 1997The spatial representation of muscle spindles (Sps) in the small (approximately 0.2 g), simply structured capsularis muscle that crosses anterior to the cat's hip joint... (Review)
Review
The spatial representation of muscle spindles (Sps) in the small (approximately 0.2 g), simply structured capsularis muscle that crosses anterior to the cat's hip joint was compared with the distribution of the slow oxidative (SO) and few (< 10%) fast oxidative-glycolytic (FOG) fibers of which it is composed to see if their distributions were consistent with a hypothesis that sensory input from Sps influences the incidence of extrafusal fiber types. In frozen sections from 4 muscles, FOG fibers were enumerated along 1-mm strips across the muscle's maximum width, and between the 'superficial' surface and the 'deep' one that contacts the joint. The locations of Sps in complete serial sections of 2 paraffin-embedded muscles, one perfused with the hip joint flexed and the other with it extended, were plotted on an outline of each muscle at its midlength, and their numbers and density in horizontal and sagittal 'strata' determined. In general, the incidence of Sps increased down the superficial-to-deep axis, while FOG fibers became fewer, as is consistent with support of SO status by Sp input. Along the craniocaudal axis, i.e. width, the numbers of FOG fibers rose toward the hip joint, but this was not associated with a monomodal gradient of Sps. In the extended muscle, however, the lengths of the axial bundle and capsular space of Sps in the half of the muscle next to the joint exceeded those in the longer, cranial half, implying that under stretch the input from Sps became higher toward the joint. In the non-extended muscle these lengths did not differ, although the lengths of extrafusal fibers isolated from 2 macerated muscles and normalized according to sarcomere length decreased linearily by approximately 50% along craniocaudal axis. It is explained that if elastic resistance of a Sp's sensory region exceeded that of an equivalent length of septal tissue in-series, the progressive shift in the ratio of compliances across this trapezoidally-shaped muscle should result in relatively greater lengthening of Sps at the shorter border as the muscle was extended. Levels of discharge conducive to transition of some motor units to the FOG type might be attained. Thus, gradients in the discharge of Sps (but not necessarily incidence) along both transverse and superficial-to-deep axes may be consistent with Sp sensory input influencing the distribution of at least these types of motor units.
Topics: Animals; Cats; Female; Glycolysis; Muscle Fibers, Skeletal; Muscle Spindles; Muscle, Skeletal; Oxidation-Reduction; Thigh
PubMed: 9575362
DOI: 10.1159/000147974 -
Biological Reviews of the Cambridge... Aug 2022The size and arrangement of fibres play a determinate role in the kinetic and energetic performance of muscles. Extrapolations between fibre architecture and performance... (Review)
Review
The size and arrangement of fibres play a determinate role in the kinetic and energetic performance of muscles. Extrapolations between fibre architecture and performance underpin our understanding of how muscles function and how they are adapted to power specific motions within and across species. Here we provide a synopsis of how this 'fibre to function' paradigm has been applied to understand muscle design, performance and adaptation in animals. Our review highlights the widespread application of the fibre to function paradigm across a diverse breadth of biological disciplines but also reveals a potential and highly prevalent limitation running through past studies. Specifically, we find that quantification of muscle architectural properties is almost universally based on an extremely small number of fibre measurements. Despite the volume of research into muscle properties, across a diverse breadth of research disciplines, the fundamental assumption that a small proportion of fibre measurements can accurately represent the architectural properties of a muscle has never been quantitatively tested. Subsequently, we use a combination of medical imaging, statistical analysis, and physics-based computer simulation to address this issue for the first time. By combining diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and deterministic fibre tractography we generated a large number of fibre measurements (>3000) rapidly for individual human lower limb muscles. Through statistical subsampling simulations of these measurements, we demonstrate that analysing a small number of fibres (n < 25) typically used in previous studies may lead to extremely large errors in the characterisation of overall muscle architectural properties such as mean fibre length and physiological cross-sectional area. Through dynamic musculoskeletal simulations of human walking and jumping, we demonstrate that recovered errors in fibre architecture characterisation have significant implications for quantitative predictions of in-vivo dynamics and muscle fibre function within a species. Furthermore, by applying data-subsampling simulations to comparisons of muscle function in humans and chimpanzees, we demonstrate that error magnitudes significantly impact both qualitative and quantitative assessment of muscle specialisation, potentially generating highly erroneous conclusions about the absolute and relative adaption of muscles across species and evolutionary transitions. Our findings have profound implications for how a broad diversity of research fields quantify muscle architecture and interpret muscle function.
Topics: Animals; Computer Simulation; Diffusion Tensor Imaging; Muscle Fibers, Skeletal; Muscle, Skeletal; Running
PubMed: 35388613
DOI: 10.1111/brv.12856 -
Scientific Reports Jan 2021Physiological cross-sectional area (PCSA), an important biomechanical variable, is an estimate of a muscle's contractile force potential and is derived from dividing...
Physiological cross-sectional area (PCSA), an important biomechanical variable, is an estimate of a muscle's contractile force potential and is derived from dividing muscle mass by the product of a muscle's average fascicle length and a theoretical constant representing the density of mammalian skeletal muscle. This density constant is usually taken from experimental studies of small samples of several model taxa using tissues collected predominantly from the lower limbs of adult animals. The generalized application of this constant to broader analyses of mammalian myology assumes that muscle density (1) is consistent across anatomical regions and (2) is unaffected by the aging process. To investigate the validity of these assumptions, we studied muscles of rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) in the largest sample heretofore investigated explicitly for these variables, and we did so from numerous anatomical regions and from three different age-cohorts. Differences in muscle density and histology as a consequence of age and anatomical region were evaluated using Tukey's HSD tests. Overall, we observed that older individuals tend to have denser muscles than younger individuals. Our findings also demonstrated significant differences in muscle density between anatomic regions within the older cohorts, though none in the youngest cohort. Approximately 50% of the variation in muscle density can be explained histologically by the average muscle fiber area and the average percent fiber area. That is, muscles with larger average fiber areas and a higher proportion of fiber area tend to be denser. Importantly, using the age and region dependent measurements of muscle density that we provide may increase the accuracy of PCSA estimations. Although we found statistically significant differences related to ontogeny and anatomical region, if density cannot be measured directly, the specific values presented herein should be used to improve accuracy. If a single muscle density constant that has been better validated than the ones presented in the previous literature is preferred, then 1.0558 and 1.0502 g/cm would be reasonable constants to use across all adult and juvenile muscles respectively.
Topics: Age Factors; Aging; Animals; Biomechanical Phenomena; Female; Forelimb; Head; Hindlimb; Male; Models, Biological; Muscle Fibers, Skeletal; Muscle, Skeletal; Rabbits; Torso
PubMed: 33483576
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-81489-w -
Journal of Applied Physiology:... Mar 1980This study examined the relationship between the respiratory capacity of an individual's skeletal muscle and the work rate at which blood lactate accumulation begins...
This study examined the relationship between the respiratory capacity of an individual's skeletal muscle and the work rate at which blood lactate accumulation begins (lactate threshold). Comparisons were also made among fiber type, VO2max, and the lactate threshold. Muscle biopsies were taken from the vastus lateralis muscle for determination of respiratory capacity and fiber type (myosin ATPase). The lactate threshold was assessed in terms of both the absolute work rate (VO2) and relative work rate (%VO2max). The capacity of muscle homogenates to oxidize pyruvate was significantly (P less than 0.01) related to the absolute (r = 0.94) and relative (r = 0.83) lactate thresholds. Significant positive correlations (P less than 0.01) were also found between the percent of slow-twitch fibers and absolute (r = 0.74) and relative (r = 0.70) lactate thresholds. The results suggest that the muscle's respiratory capacity is of primary importance in determining the work rate at which blood lactate accumulation begins. They also suggest that the proportion of slow-twitch fibers may play an important role in determining the relative lactate threshold.
Topics: Adult; Humans; Lactates; Male; Muscle Contraction; Muscles; Oxygen Consumption
PubMed: 7372524
DOI: 10.1152/jappl.1980.48.3.523 -
The Journal of Neuroscience : the... Nov 1985The snake transversus abdominis muscle is an extremely simple segmentally repeating muscle containing 80 to 100 muscle fibers in a single-fiber-thick sheet. This muscle...
The snake transversus abdominis muscle is an extremely simple segmentally repeating muscle containing 80 to 100 muscle fibers in a single-fiber-thick sheet. This muscle exhibits a striking pattern of muscle fiber types: twitch fibers alternate with tonic fibers and, among the twitch fibers, slower and faster contracting subtypes also alternate. Thus, in many regions of the muscle the pattern of fiber types is: faster twitch, tonic, slower twitch, tonic, faster twitch, tonic, and so on. The existence of a spatial pattern of fiber types, perhaps discernible in this muscle because of the muscle's extreme geometrical simplicity, provides good evidence for an intrinsic component to muscle fiber differentiation.
Topics: Action Potentials; Animals; Chlorides; Electrophysiology; Gold; Motor Endplate; Muscles; Phenotype; Snakes; Staining and Labeling
PubMed: 2414418
DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.05-11-02979.1985 -
Journal of Cachexia, Sarcopenia and... Aug 2017As muscle capillarization is related to the oxidative capacity of the muscle and the size of muscle fibres, capillary rarefaction may contribute to sarcopenia and... (Comparative Study)
Comparative Study
BACKGROUND
As muscle capillarization is related to the oxidative capacity of the muscle and the size of muscle fibres, capillary rarefaction may contribute to sarcopenia and functional impairment in older adults. Therefore, it is important to assess how ageing affects muscle capillarization and the interrelationship between fibre capillary supply with the oxidative capacity and size of the fibres.
METHODS
Muscle biopsies from healthy recreationally active young (22 years; 14 men and 5 women) and older (74 years; 22 men and 6 women) people were assessed for muscle capillarization and the distribution of capillaries with the method of capillary domains. Oxidative capacity of muscle fibres was assessed with quantitative histochemistry for succinate dehydrogenase (SDH) activity.
RESULTS
There was no significant age-related reduction in muscle fibre oxidative capacity. Despite 18% type II fibre atrophy (P = 0.019) and 23% fewer capillaries per fibre (P < 0.002) in the old people, there was no significant difference in capillary distribution between young and old people, irrespective of sex. The capillary supply to a fibre was primarily determined by fibre size and only to a small extent by oxidative capacity, irrespective of age and sex. Based on SDH, the maximal oxygen consumption supported by a capillary did not differ significantly between young and old people.
CONCLUSIONS
The similar quantitative and qualitative distribution of capillaries within muscle from healthy recreationally active older people and young adults indicates that the age-related capillary rarefaction, which does occur, nevertheless maintains the coupling between skeletal muscle fibre size and capillarization during healthy ageing.
Topics: Adult; Aged; Aging; Biopsy; Capillaries; Cell Size; Female; Healthy Aging; Humans; Male; Muscle Fibers, Skeletal; Muscle, Skeletal; Oxygen Consumption; Young Adult
PubMed: 28382740
DOI: 10.1002/jcsm.12194 -
Canadian Journal of Applied Physiology... Feb 1998In this review, the term muscle fibre regionalization signifies the presence of regional intramuscular differences in fibre type composition. As is well known, highly... (Review)
Review
In this review, the term muscle fibre regionalization signifies the presence of regional intramuscular differences in fibre type composition. As is well known, highly regionalized muscles commonly have greater concentrations of slow fibres deep than superficially. However, the degree of regionalization varies markedly between muscles and is not confined to deep vs. superficial locations. Fibres of the same myosin type may show regionalized differences in their metabolic enzyme activity, even within single motor units (Larsson, 1992). Regionalization of fibre type composition occurs also within single neuromuscular partitions. The intraspinal position of motoneurones is often coarsely related to the intramuscular sites of their muscle units. Muscles with a marked fibre type regionalization tend to show a corresponding regionalization of activity; in several muscles, however, the activity regionalization may vary depending on the motor task. During early development, fibre type regionalization emerges even under aneural conditions. The mechanisms are still unknown; relevant aspects of early development are briefly reviewed.
Topics: Animals; Humans; Muscle Fibers, Skeletal
PubMed: 9494737
DOI: 10.1139/h98-001 -
Journal of the Mechanical Behavior of... Oct 2021Skeletal muscles ensure the mobility of mammals and are complex natural fiber-matrix-composites with a hierarchical microstructure. In this work, we analyze the muscle's...
Skeletal muscles ensure the mobility of mammals and are complex natural fiber-matrix-composites with a hierarchical microstructure. In this work, we analyze the muscle's mechanical behavior on the level of fascicles and muscle fibers. We introduce continuum mechanics hyperelastic material models for the connective tissue endomysium and the embedded muscle fibers. The coupled electrical, chemical and mechanical processes taking place in activated contracting muscle fibers are captured including the temporal change of the activation level and the spatial propagation of the activation potential in fibers. In our model, we investigate the material behavior of fascicle, fiber and endomysium in the fiber direction and examine interactions between muscle fiber and endomysium by considering the temporal and spatial change of muscle fiber activation. In addition, a loading case of normal and shear forces is applied to analyze the fiber lifting force and the lifting height of unipennate muscles with different pennation angles. Moreover, the development of local stresses and strains in fibers and endomysium for different strains are studied. The simulation results allow to identify regions in high risk of damage. Optimal arrangements of unipennate muscle microstructure are found for either very small or very large pennation angles.
Topics: Animals; Computer Simulation; Finite Element Analysis; Humans; Models, Biological; Muscle Fibers, Skeletal; Muscle, Skeletal; Stress, Mechanical
PubMed: 34274750
DOI: 10.1016/j.jmbbm.2021.104670 -
Journal of Applied Physiology... Aug 2007Diffusion-tensor magnetic resonance imaging (DT-MRI) offers great potential for understanding structure-function relationships in human skeletal muscles. The purposes of... (Clinical Trial)
Clinical Trial
Diffusion-tensor magnetic resonance imaging (DT-MRI) offers great potential for understanding structure-function relationships in human skeletal muscles. The purposes of this study were to demonstrate the feasibility of using in vivo human DT-MRI fiber tracking data for making pennation angle measurements and to test the hypothesis that heterogeneity in the orientation of the tibialis anterior (TA) muscle's aponeurosis would lead to heterogeneity in pennation angle. Eight healthy subjects (5 male) were studied. T(1)-weighted anatomical MRI and DT-MRI data were acquired of the TA muscle. Fibers were tracked from the TA's aponeurosis by following the principal eigenvector. The orientations of the aponeurosis and muscle fiber tracts in the laboratory frame of reference and the orientation of the fiber tracts with respect to the aponeurosis [i.e., the pennation angle (theta)] were determined. The muscle fiber orientations, when expressed relative to the laboratory frame of reference, did not change as functions of superior-to-inferior position. The sagittal and coronal orientations of the aponeurosis did not change in practically significant manners either, but the aponeurosis' axial orientation changed by approximately 40 degrees . As a result, the mean value for theta decreased from 16.3 (SD 6.9) to 11.4 degrees (SD 5.0) along the muscle's superior-to-inferior direction. The mean value of theta was greater in the deep than in the superficial compartment. We conclude that pennation angle measurements of human muscle made using DT-MRI muscle fiber tracking are feasible and reveal that in the foot-head direction, there is heterogeneity in the pennation properties of the human TA muscle.
Topics: Adult; Biomechanical Phenomena; Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Female; Humans; Male; Muscle Fibers, Skeletal; Muscle, Skeletal; Tibia
PubMed: 17446411
DOI: 10.1152/japplphysiol.00290.2007