Effects of Growth on Muscle, Tendon, and Aponeurosis Tissues in Rabbit Shank Musculature

Abstract

There exist several studies using morphological analyses of skeletal muscles to obtain a better understanding of muscle structure. The structural information obtained are primarily determined from single muscle components using individual animals of discrete ages. Further, little is known about changing dimensions of the aponeurosis, which is an important load-transferring interface in muscle mechanics. Thus, the aim of the present study was to determine how the muscle, tendon, and particularly the aponeurosis geometry of the rabbit shank musculature (M. soleus, M. extensor digitorum longus, and M. plantaris) change during growth. In doing so, morphological studies on muscles of eighty-nine female rabbits aged between 18 and 108 days were conducted. We found an almost linear increase over time in all of the geometrical parameters observed. The aponeurosis of the muscles exhibited lower growth rates in width than in length. The distal and proximal aponeurosis areas were nearly identical. The ratio of aponeurosis area to the physiological cross-sectional area was 2.54, 2.54, and 1.88 for M. soleus, M. extensor digitorum longus, and M. plantaris, respectively. M. extensor digitorum longus and M. soleus exhibited a nearly similar tendon-muscle fascicle length ratio during growth, increasing from 2.86 to 5.30 and 3.48 to 6.16, respectively. Interestingly, the tendon-muscle fascicle length ratio of the M. plantaris started initially with a much higher value (∼8) and increased to ∼18. Taken together, these results provide insight into the structure of the muscle-tendon complex and thus, a general understanding of muscle growth. Anat Rec, 300:1123-1136, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Identification of the Differentially Expressed Genes of Muscle Growth and Intramuscular Fat Metabolism in the Development Stage of Yellow Broilers

“…Myoblasts originate from the mesoderm of the embryo. They proliferate in large numbers, migrate, and fuse into polynucleated cells to form muscle tubes, and then differentiate to form muscle fibers by regulation of Wnt, Shh, MyoD, and Myf5 [4][5][6]. The number of skeletal muscle fibers is mainly determined at the embryonic stage, and the increase of meat produced is mainly due to the increase in muscle cells volume [7,8].…”

Architectural model for muscle growth during maturation

“…The deviations, e.g., in fascicle length growth, might be due to methodical differences. Böl et al (2016) measured only a few fascicles from a specific muscle region for each muscle by caliper, which might have missed the overall growth trend apparent in this study, where the entire fascicle architecture was recorded. In another study on rabbits, Siebert et al (2015) determined the pennation angle of adult rabbit PLA.…”

“…To the best of the authors' knowledge, there is only one study in the literature dealing with architectural changes in the developing rabbit PLA (Böl et al 2016). However, this study did not measure 3D fascicle architecture but mainly Table 1 Model errors for different rabbit calf muscles For the PLA and SOL, the model input data were obtained from a 29 d old animal For the GM, the initial data set was from a 21 d old animal.…”

“…However, investigations on adaptations in muscle architecture during growth are sparse. Among studies on rabbits, Böl et al ( 2016 ) determined the aponeuroses dimensions and fascicle length of M. soleus (SOL), M. plantaris (PLA), and M. extensor digitorum longus during growth. They found that increases in aponeuroses dimensions far exceeded the increase in fascicle lengths.…”

Forelimb musculoskeletal-tendinous growth in frogs

“…However, few studies have investigated the ontogenetic variation of the musculotendinous system, which could be responsible for generating and transmitting force to produce and control body movements. This active force is produced by the muscle fibers and is transmitted to the bones through aponeuroses and tendons (Biewener, 1998;Böl, Leichsenring & Siebert, 2017).…”