Relationship between muscle volume and contractile properties of the human knee extensors

Abstract

The present study was designed to investigate the relationship between volume and electrically evoked twitch properties of the quadriceps muscle. Supramaximal single and doublet stimulation of the femoral nerve was used to assess contractile properties at 45° and 80° knee flexion. Muscle volume was measured using a 1.5-Tesla magnetic resonance imaging scanner. Quadriceps muscle volume was only significantly correlated (r = 0.629) with peak twitch torque induced by doublet stimulation at 80° but not at 45° knee flexion.

Quadriceps Neuromuscular Impairments after Arthroscopic Knee Surgery: Comparison between Procedures

“…The lack of relationship between strength and thickness asymmetries is probably due to the fact that thickness was only evaluated for a single – even if representative – quadriceps muscle head (i.e., vastus lateralis), but not for the others (i.e., vastus medialis and intermedius, rectus femoris), which might even undergo greater muscle atrophy [12]. In contrast, the evaluation of muscle contractile function by means of the evoked torque provides a good estimation of the entire quadriceps muscle mass [23]. The observed evoked torque asymmetries might also indicate that qualitative besides quantitative alterations, such as fatty degeneration, may affect quadriceps function after ACL reconstruction.…”

Is there an intermuscular relationship in voluntary activation capacities and contractile kinetics?

“…As discussed below, our results supported that this strong relationship might be due to neural mechanisms. Since MVC torque is, in part, related to muscle size (Baxter and Piazza 2014) and it was previously reported that doublet twitch torque is moderately-to-highly correlated with muscle size (Ryan et al 2011;Mau-Moeller et al 2015;Behrens et al 2016), it could be expected between-muscle group correlations for evoked peak torque. However, only correlations between knee extensors and plantar flexors, knee extensors and elbow flexors, and dorsiflexors and elbows flexors were found.…”

“…This may suggest that the distribution of muscle quantity between human muscles is not always consistent within an individual. Nevertheless, the relationship between twitch peak torque and muscle size has been established only for plantar flexors and knee extensors (Ryan et al 2011; Mau -Moeller et al 2015;Behrens et al 2016) but not for elbow flexors and dorsiflexors. Furthermore, twitch peak torque is not only related to muscle size or force-generating capacity but also to other factors, such as muscle length, Ca 2+ sensitivity and muscle-tendon stiffness (Mayfield et al 2016) that can also influence between-muscle correlations in twitch peak torque.…”

“…The contractile kinetics of several muscle groups have been widely examined in vivo by evoking a single or a doublet supramaximal stimulation of motor nerve at rest and analysing some properties of the twitch torque/force signal, such as twitch contraction time and twitch half-relaxation time (Merton 1954;Fitch and McComas 1985;Allen et al 1995;Behm and St-Pierre 1997;Behrens et al 2016). In the last years, it has been observed that the analysis of a twitch resulting from a doublet stimulation (100 Hz frequency) at a supramaximal intensity, rather than a twitch resulting from a single stimulation at a comparable intensity, was a better estimate of muscle function and quantity (Ryan et al 2011;Mau-Moeller et al 2015;Behrens et al 2016). The study of contraction time and half-relaxation time of a doublet twitch in different human muscles can be used to identify whether human muscles share a common construct in their contractile kinetics.…”

Changes in Muscle Morphology Following Gastrocnemius Recession for Achilles Tendinopathy: A Prospective Cohort Imaging Study

“…Muscle volumes were calculated as the sum of crosssectional areas of each slice and the interpolated cross-sectional area of the slice gaps (Figure 1). 28,33,34 Muscle volume was selected over maximal anatomical cross-sectional area because muscle volume is a better predictor of joint torque and volume is a more complete measure of muscle mass. 28,35 Nevertheless, the Pearson product moment correlation between calculated muscle volumes and maximal cross-sectional areas were r =0.87 in our present study.…”