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Resting tension characteristics in differentiating intact rat fast- and slow-twitch muscle fibers

¹Department of Physiology, School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1TD; and ²School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, United Kingdom

Submitted 25 October 2002 ; accepted in final form 25 June 2003

The postnatal changes in resting muscle tension were investigated at 20°C by using small muscle fiber bundles isolated from either the extensor digitorum longus or the soleus of both neonatal (7–21 days old) and adult rats. The results show that the tension-extension characteristics of the bundles depended on the age of the rats. For example, both the extensor digitorum longus and soleus bundles of rats older than 14 days showed characteristic differences that were absent in bundles from younger rats. Furthermore, the tension-extension relation of the adult slow muscle fiber bundles were similar to those of the two neonatal muscles and were shifted to longer sarcomere lengths relative to those of the adult fast-fiber bundles. Thus, at the extended sarcomere length of 2.9 µm, the adult fast muscle fiber bundles developed higher resting tensions (5.6 ± 0.5 kN/m²) than either the two neonatal (3 kN/m²) or the adult slow (3.1 ± 0.4 kN/m²) muscle fiber bundles. At all ages examined, the resting tension responses to a ramp stretch were qualitatively similar and consisted of three components: a viscous, a viscoelastic, and an elastic tension. However, in rats older than 14 days, all three tension components showed clear fast- and slow-fiber type differences that were absent in younger rats. Bundles from 7-day-old rats also developed significantly lower resting tensions than the corresponding adult ones. Additionally, the resting tension characteristics of the adult muscles were not affected by chemical skinning. From these results, we conclude that in rats resting muscle tension, like active tension, differentiates within the first 3 wk after birth.

skeletal muscle; rats; passive tension; viscoelasticity

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