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This Article Full Text Free Full Text (PDF) Free All Versions of this Article: 95/5/2004    most recent 00220.2003v1 Submit a response Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in ISI Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via ISI Web of Science (11) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Maas, H. Articles by Huijing, P. A. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Maas, H. Articles by Huijing, P. A.

Myofascial force transmission between a single muscle head and adjacent tissues: length effects of head III of rat EDL

¹Instituut voor Fundamentele en Klinische Bewegingswetenschappen, Faculteit Bewegingswetenschappen, Vrije Universiteit, 1081 BT Amsterdam; and ²Integrated Biomedical Engineering for Restoration of Human Function, Instituut voor Biomedische Technologie, Faculteit Werktuigbouwkunde, Universiteit Twente, 7500 AE Enschede, The Netherlands

Submitted 3 March 2003 ; accepted in final form 25 June 2003

Force transmission from muscle fibers via the connective tissue network (i.e., myofascial force transmission) is an important determinant of muscle function. This study investigates the role of myofascial pathways for force transmission from multitendoned extensor digitorum longus (EDL) muscle within an intact anterior crural compartment. Effects of length changes exclusively of head III of rat EDL muscle (EDL III) on myofascial force transmission were assessed. EDL III was lengthened at the distal tendon. For different lengths of EDL III, isometric forces were measured at the distal tendon of EDL III, as well as at the proximal tendon of whole EDL and at the distal tendons of tibialis anterior and extensor hallucis longus (TA+EHL) muscles. Lengthening of EDL III caused high changes in force exerted at the distal tendon of EDL III (from 0 to 1.03 ± 0.07 N). In contrast, only minor changes were found in force exerted at the proximal EDL tendon (from 2.37 ± 0.09 to 2.53 ± 0.10 N). Increasing the length of EDL III decreased TA+EHL force significantly (by 7%, i.e., from 5.62 ± 0.27 to 5.22 ± 0.32 N). These results show that force is transmitted between EDL III and adjacent tissues via myofascial pathways. Optimal force exerted at the distal tendon of EDL III (1.03 ± 0.07 N) was more than twice the force expected on the basis of the physiological cross-sectional area of EDL III muscle fibers (0.42 N). Therefore, a substantial fraction of this force must originate from sources other than EDL III. It is concluded that myofascial pathways play an important role in force transmission from multitendoned muscles.

connective tissue; extensor digitorum longus muscle; tibialis anterior muscle; extensor hallucis longus muscle; length-force characteristics

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