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Whole muscle contractile parameters and thickness loss during 35-day bed rest

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Abstract

Extended exposure to microgravity leads to significant musculoskeletal adaptations. Contractile parameters of four skeletal muscles (biceps brachii–BB, vastus medialis–VM, biceps femoris–BF and gastrocnemius medialis–GM) were measured in ten healthy males (aged 22.3 ± 2.2 years) during 35 days of horizontal bed rest by a mechanomyography-based method termed ‘tensiomyography’ (TMG). Two contractile parameters: contraction time (Tc) and maximal displacement (Dm) were individually measured from electrically evoked maximal single twitch TMG response of all four muscles before and after bed rest. Significant changes in Tc were found after bed rest, as shown by an increase in GM muscle Tc by 18% (p < 0.01). Dm values significantly increased (p < 0.01) after bed rest, by 24, 26 and 30% in the VM, BF and GM muscles, respectively. In the GM, the change in Dm significantly correlated with the decrease in muscle thickness (r = −0.70, p < 0.01). In conclusion, bed rest induced changes in both Dm and Tc of the TMG signal; changes in Dm being inversely related to those of muscle thickness. Amongst the investigated muscles, most affected, in terms of atrophy and mechanical alterations, were those of the lower limbs. The observed increase in Dm may be attributed to a decrease in muscle, as well as tendon stiffness, causing larger muscle fibre and non-contractile tissue oscillations following contraction.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are particularly grateful to the staff of Orthopaedic Hospital Valdoltra for their valuable medical assistance and technical support. This work was supported in part by Ministry of Defence of Republic of Slovenia and Italian Space Agency. Finally, we are thankful to our study participants for their willingness to participate in a study of such magnitude.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Kinesiology Research, University of Primorska, Science and Research Centre of Koper, Garibaldijeva 1, 6000, Koper, Slovenia

    Rado Pišot, Boštjan Šimunič & Mihaela Jurdana

  2. Institute for Biophysical and Clinical Research into Human Movement, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, UK

    Marco V. Narici, Maarten De Boer & Olivier Seynnes

  3. Department of Clinical, Morphological and Technological Sciences, Division of Internal Medicine, University of Trieste, Trieste, Italy

    Gianni Biolo

  4. Department of Automation, Biocybernetics and Robotics, Institute of Josef Stefan, Ljubljana, Slovenia

    Igor B. Mekjavić

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  1. Rado Pišot
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  2. Marco V. Narici
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  3. Boštjan Šimunič
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  4. Maarten De Boer
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  6. Mihaela Jurdana
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  8. Igor B. Mekjavić
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Correspondence to Rado Pišot.

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Pišot, R., Narici, M.V., Šimunič, B. et al. Whole muscle contractile parameters and thickness loss during 35-day bed rest. Eur J Appl Physiol 104, 409–414 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-008-0698-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-008-0698-6

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