Highlights
- •Maximum semitendinosus muscle-tendon unit length in vivo was 105% slack length.
- •Knee immobilization decreased knee joint extension range of motion.
- •Immobilization stiffened muscle within limit of muscle-tendon unit length in vivo.
- •Muscle stiffness matched the control beyond limit of muscle-tendon unit length.
- •Collagen content of semitendinosus muscle slightly increased with immobilization.
Abstract
Background
The effects of immobilization on passive muscle mechanical properties are inconsistent
between studies. Here, we investigated the mechanical properties of immobilized muscle
by obtaining length-force curves within and beyond the physiological muscle-tendon
length in a knee-contractured rat model.
Methods
Unilateral rat knee joints were immobilized using an external fixator for up to 21 days.
Length-passive force relationships in the immobilized and contralateral semitendinosus
muscles were determined by tensile testing.
Findings
The semitendinosus muscle-tendon length at end physiologic length in vivo was approximately
at 5% strain of the slack length. Dynamic, elastic, and viscous force (three aspects
of muscle mechanical properties) evoked by instantaneous constant stretch were higher
than contralateral side within the physiological muscle-tendon length limit (strains
of 5% or 5%–7.5% slack length). When beyond muscle-tendon length corresponding to
the maximum knee extension (strains of 7.5% or 10%–20% slack length), there was no
difference between the two sides. Dynamic and elastic stiffness were also larger,
as estimated by tangent angles of length-force curves, at strains of 5% slack length,
and matched contralateral levels at strains of 7.5% slack length on day 21. There
were no differences in semitendinosus muscle-tendon lengths overtime. Despite significantly
reductions in knee extension range of motion, collagen content only showed slight
changes and correlation was hardly detected between collagen and mechanical properties
on day 21.
Interpretation
Viscoelasticity in immobilized semitendinosus muscle increased within the physiological
muscle-tendon length. Collagen content may have little effect on passive force and
stiffness.
Keywords
To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
Purchase one-time access:
Academic & Personal: 24 hour online accessCorporate R&D Professionals: 24 hour online accessOne-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
- Collagen crosslinking does not dictate stiffness in a transgenic mouse model of skeletal muscle fibrosis.J. Biomech. 2015; 48: 375-378
- Joint contracture following prolonged stay in the intensive care unit.Cmaj. 2008; 178: 691-697
- Passive extensibility of skeletal muscle: review of the literature with clinical implications.Clin. Biomech. 2001; 16: 87-101
- The passive mechanical properties of the extensor digitorum longus muscle are compromised in 2- to 20-mo-old mdx mice.J. Appl. Physiol. 2011; 1985: 1656-1663
- Rest length and compliance of non-immobilised and immobilised rabbit soleus muscle and tendon.Eur. J. Appl. Physiol. Occup. Physiol. 1997; 76: 472-479
- Relationship between extensibility and collagen expression in immobilized rat skeletal muscle.Muscle Nerve. 2018; 57: 672-678
- Total knee arthroplasty for severe flexion contracture in rheumatoid arthritis knees.Knee Surg Relat Res. 2016; 28: 325-329
- Effect of the position of immobilization upon the tensile properties of the rat gastrocnemius muscle.Arch. Phys. Med. Rehabil. 1992; 73: 253-257
- Organization and distribution of intramuscular connective tissue in normal and immobilized skeletal muscles. An immunohistochemical, polarization and scanning electron microscopic study.J. Muscle Res. Cell Motil. 2002; 23: 245-254
- Development of arthrogenic joint contracture as a result of pathological changes in remobilized rat knees.Journal of orthopaedic research : official publication of the Orthopaedic Research Society. 2017; 35: 1414-1423
- Nociception contributes to the formation of myogenic contracture in the early phase of adjuvant-induced arthritis in a rat knee.Journal of orthopaedic research : official publication of the Orthopaedic Research Society. 2017; 35: 1404-1413
- Morphological and biomechanical adaptations of skeletal muscle in the recovery phase after immobilization in a rat.Clin. Biomech. 2020; 75104992
- Muscle mechanical properties of adult and older rats submitted to exercise after immobilization.Acta Ortop Bras. 2012; 20: 218-222
- Half of the adults who present to hospital with stroke develop at least one contracture within six months: an observational study.J Physiother. 2012; 58: 41-47
- Inferior mechanical properties of spastic muscle bundles due to hypertrophic but compromised extracellular matrix material.Muscle Nerve. 2003; 28: 464-471
- Short-term immobilization causes morphometric and mechanical alterations on rat muscles.Braz J Phys Ther. 2007; 11: 261-266
- Larger muscle fibers and fiber bundles manifest smaller elastic modulus in paraspinal muscles of rats and humans.Sci. Rep. 2021; 11: 18565
- Contributions of biarticular myogenic components to the limitation of the range of motion after immobilization of rat knee joint.BMC Musculoskelet. Disord. 2014; 15: 224
- The determination of hydroxyproline.J. Biol. Chem. 1950; 184: 299-306
- Effects of reduced joint mobility on sarcomere length, collagen fibril arrangement in the endomysium, and hyaluronan in rat soleus muscle.J. Muscle Res. Cell Motil. 2004; 25: 159-166
- Biomechanical effects of immobilization and rehabilitation on the skeletal muscle of trained and sedentary rats.Ann. Biomed. Eng. 2008; 36: 1641-1648
- Regulation of connective tissue remodeling in the early phase of denervation in a rat skeletal muscle.Biomed. Res. 2013; 34: 251-258
- Collagen content does not alter the passive mechanical properties of fibrotic skeletal muscle in mdx mice.Am J Physiol Cell Physiol. 2014; 306: C889-C898
- Contractures secondary to immobility: is the restriction articular or muscular? An experimental longitudinal study in the rat knee.Arch. Phys. Med. Rehabil. 2000; 81: 6-13
- Disuse-induced preferential loss of the giant protein titin depresses muscle performance via abnormal sarcomeric organization.J Gen Physiol. 2008; 131: 33-41
- Non-linear scaling of passive mechanical properties in fibers, bundles, fascicles and whole rabbit muscles.Front. Physiol. 2020; 11: 211
- Connective tissue changes in immobilized muscle.J. Anat. 1984; 138: 343-350
- Intrinsic stiffness of extracellular matrix increases with age in skeletal muscles of mice.J. Appl. Physiol. 2014; 1985: 363-369
- Contractures complicating spinal cord injury: incidence and comparison between spinal cord Centre and general hospital acute care.Paraplegia. 1985; 23: 265-271
Article info
Publication history
Published online: November 07, 2022
Accepted:
October 31,
2022
Received:
November 24,
2021
Identification
Copyright
© 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
