Suwankanit Kanokwan, Shimizu Miki
Department of Veterinary Diagnostic Imaging, Faculty of Agriculture, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, 3-5-8 Saiwai-cho, Tokyo 183-0054, Japan.
Department of Clinical Sciences and Public Health, Faculty of Veterinary Science, Mahidol University, Nakhon Pathom 73170, Thailand.
Biology (Basel). 2022 Dec 7;11(12):1781. doi: 10.3390/biology11121781.
Muscle contracture is an abnormal pathologic process resulting in fibrosis and muscle atrophy, which can lead to limitation of joint motion. To establish a diagnostic method to detect muscle contracture and a method to control its progression, we investigated an appropriate method to create an animal model of quadriceps contracture using rats. Eighteen Wistar rats were divided into three groups, and bilateral hindlimbs were immobilized with either a cast (Group I), a Velcro hook-and-loop fastener (Group V), or steel wire (Group S) with the knee and ankle joints in extension position for two weeks. Five rats in a control group (Group C) were not immobilized. After two weeks, the progression of quadriceps contracture was assessed by measuring the range of joint motion and pathohistological changes. Muscle atrophy and fibrosis were observed in all immobilization groups. The knee joint range of motion, quadriceps muscle weight, and muscle fiber size decreased only in Group S compared to the other immobilization groups. Stress on rats due to immobilization was less in Group S. These results indicate that Group S is the superior quadriceps contracture model. This model aids research investigating diagnostic and therapeutic methods for muscle contracture in humans and animals.
肌肉挛缩是一种导致纤维化和肌肉萎缩的异常病理过程，可导致关节活动受限。为了建立一种检测肌肉挛缩的诊断方法和一种控制其进展的方法，我们研究了一种使用大鼠创建股四头肌挛缩动物模型的合适方法。将18只Wistar大鼠分为三组，双侧后肢分别用石膏（I组）、尼龙搭扣（V组）或钢丝（S组）固定，膝关节和踝关节处于伸展位，持续两周。对照组（C组）的5只大鼠未进行固定。两周后，通过测量关节活动范围和病理组织学变化来评估股四头肌挛缩的进展。在所有固定组中均观察到肌肉萎缩和纤维化。与其他固定组相比，仅S组的膝关节活动范围、股四头肌重量和肌纤维大小减小。S组中因固定对大鼠造成的应激较小。这些结果表明S组是较好的股四头肌挛缩模型。该模型有助于研究人类和动物肌肉挛缩的诊断和治疗方法。
