Encoding of tensile stress and strain during stretch by muscle mechano-nociceptors

Groups III and IV muscle mechano-nociceptors (MNs) can be stimulated during noxious stretch, as may occur during hyperextension of a joint. However, the mechanical state (characterized by stress and strain) encoded by MNs during stretch has not previously been determined. The current study used an ex vivo gracilis muscle-nerve preparation in a rat model to apply either a uniform uniaxial or pseudo-shear-loading paradigm. Single mechanically sensitive group III or IV MNs were mechanically stimulated while plane stress and strain were measured at the location of the MN's receptive field. Linear regression was used to evaluate the relationships between neural response and mechanical stress and strain. The mean neural response (threshold, 47.2 kPa; sensitivity, 0.05 Hz/kPa) was highly correlated to tensile stress, tensile strain, and in-plane compressive strain but was significantly and substantially less correlated with shear strain. Although the overall stress and strain relationship was nonlinear, it was reasonably linear (r2 = 0.92) for levels suprathreshold for MNs. Hence, at tensile loads sufficient to stimulate MNs, the muscle was acting as a pseudo-elastic tissue. Thus, muscle MNs encode noxious stretch differently than compression and exhibit different encoding of stretch than cutaneous MNs.