Highlights
- •There was no difference in the passive stiffness in the menstrual cycle.
- •There was no difference noted in the triceps surae muscle stiffness in the menstrual cycle.
- •Passive stiffness in all menstrual phases in women was lower than men.
- •Soleus muscle stiffness in women was higher than men.
- •There was no gender difference in the muscle stiffness of the gastrocnemius.
Abstract
Background
We aimed to investigate the menstrual cycle variation and the gender difference of
the triceps surae muscle stiffness and passive stiffness of the ankle joint.
Methods
The subjects of the study included 12 healthy young women and 12 healthy young men.
Shear elastic moduli of the lateral gastrocnemius, medial gastrocnemius, and soleus
muscles were measured as an index of muscle stiffness using shear wave elastography.
The passive stiffness of the ankle joint was calculated from passive torque when the
ankle joint was passively dorsiflexed. Measurements were conducted in the follicular,
ovulatory, and luteal phases to examine the menstrual cycle variation.
Findings
There was no difference noted in the passive stiffness or triceps surae muscle stiffness
for young women in the menstrual cycle. As for gender differences, passive stiffness
in all menstrual phases in women was lower while the soleus muscle stiffness in women
was higher, compared to that in men.
Interpretation
Our findings suggest that passive stiffness and muscle stiffness did not differ in
the menstrual cycle. In addition, the measured part of the soleus was more tensioned
in women than in men.
Keywords
To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
Purchase one-time access:
Academic and PersonalOne-time access price info
- For academic or personal research use, select 'Academic and Personal'
- For corporate R&D use, select 'Corporate R&D Professionals'
Subscribe:
Subscribe to Clinical BiomechanicsAlready a print subscriber? Claim online access
Already an online subscriber? Sign in
Register: Create an account
Institutional Access: Sign in to ScienceDirect
References
- Sex differences in whole body skeletal muscle mass measured by magnetic resonance imaging and its distribution in young Japanese adults.Br. J. Sports Med. 2003; 37: 436-440
- Age-related differences in muscle shear moduli in the lower extremity.Ultrasound Med. Biol. 2015; 41: 2906-2912
- Tendons and ligaments: a morphological and biochemical comparison.J. Orthop. Res. 1984; 1: 257-265
- Menstrual cycle variations in oestradiol and progesterone have no impact on in vivo medial gastrocnemius tendon mechanical properties.Clin. Biomech. 2009; 24: 504-509
- Measurement of gastrocnemius muscle elasticity by shear wave elastography: association with passive ankle joint stiffness and sex differences.Eur. J. Appl. Physiol. 2016; 116: 823-830
- The relationship between elbow flexor volume and angular stiffness at the elbow.Clin. Biomech. 1997; 12: 383-392
- Sonographic studies of human soleus and gastrocnemius muscle architecture: gender variability.Eur. J. Appl. Physiol. 2000; 82: 236-244
- Validation of shear wave elastography in skeletal muscle.J. Biomech. 2013; 46: 2381-2387
- Influence of the menstrual cycle phase and menstrual symptoms on maximal anaerobic performance.Med. Sci. Sports Exerc. 2000; 32: 486-492
- Contractile and connective tissue protein content of human skeletal muscle: effects of 35 and 90 days of simulated microgravity and exercise countermeasures.Am. J. Phys. Regul. Integr. Comp. Phys. 2007; 293: R1722-R1727
- Evidence for intermuscle difference in slack angle in human triceps surae.J. Biomech. 2015; 48: 1210-1213
- Medical Use of X Rays, Intermediate Physics for Medicine and Biology.Fourth ed. Springer, New York2007: 437-480
- Elastography for muscle biomechanics: toward the estimation of individual muscle force.Exerc. Sport Sci. Rev. 2015; 43: 125-133
- Relative importance of various tissues in joint stiffness.J. Appl. Physiol. 1962; 17: 824-828
- The association of the menstrual cycle with the laxity of the anterior cruciate ligament in adolescent female athletes.Clin. J. Sport Med. 2000; 10: 162-168
- Architectural and functional features of human triceps surae muscles during contraction.J. Appl. Physiol. 1998; 85: 398-404
- Is passive stiffness in human muscles related to the elasticity of tendon structures?.Eur. J. Appl. Physiol. 2001; 85: 226-232
- Gender differences in the viscoelastic properties of tendon structures.Eur. J. Appl. Physiol. 2003; 88: 520-526
- Muscle and tendon properties during menstrual cycle.Int. J. Sports Med. 2009; 30: 139-143
- Stiffness mapping of lower leg muscles during passive dorsiflexion.J. Anat. 2017; 230: 639-650
- Estrogen affects the cellular metabolism of the anterior cruciate ligament. A potential explanation for female athletic injury.Am. J. Sports Med. 1997; 25: 704-709
- Characterization of passive elastic properties of the human medial gastrocnemius muscle belly using supersonic shear imaging.J. Biomech. 2012; 45: 978-984
- The reliability of shear elastic modulus measurement of the ankle plantar flexion muscles is higher at dorsiflexed position of the ankle.J. Foot Ankle Res. 2017; 10: 18
- Relationships between lower-body muscle structure and lower-body strength, power, and muscle-tendon complex stiffness.J. Strength Cond. Res. 2015; 29: 2221-2228
- Contribution of the lower extremity joints to mechanical energy in running vertical jumps and running long jumps.J. Sports Sci. 1998; 16: 177-186
- Effect of estrogen on cellular metabolism of the human anterior cruciate ligament.Clin. Orthop. Relat. Res. 1999; : 229-238
- The effects of the menstrual cycle on anterior knee laxity: a systematic review.Sports Med. 2006; 36: 847-862
Article Info
Publication History
Published online: December 19, 2018
Accepted:
December 17,
2018
Received:
February 22,
2018
Identification
Copyright
© 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
