Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Search research articles

Related Experiment Videos

Morphometric study of the human muscle spindle.

Evangelia Kararizou¹, Panagiota Manta, Nikolaos Kalfakis

¹Department of Neurology, Athens National University, Eginition Hospital, Athens, Greece. ekarariz@med.uoa.gr

Analytical and Quantitative Cytology and Histology

|March 30, 2005

Summary

Aging reduces human muscle spindle diameter in some muscles, affecting fiber number and size. These morphometric changes in muscle spindles could be relevant for understanding age-related muscle conditions.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Disease-related and psychosocial factors associated with difficult-to-manage and treatment-refractory axial spondyloarthritis: insights from the Greek AxSpA Registry.

Rheumatology international·2026

Same author

EGPAware: a European Delphi consensus study on red flags for suspicion of eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis.

EULAR rheumatology open·2026

Same author

No benefit of adding glucocorticoids to maintenance treatment in reducing the risk of major relapses in ANCA-associated vasculitis: real life data from a longitudinal cohort study.

RMD open·2026

Same author

Beyond renal response: sustained systemic disease control protects against adverse long-term outcomes in lupus nephritis.

Lupus science & medicine·2026

Same author

Real-World Effectiveness of MEpolizuMaB in Eosinophilic Granulomatosis with Polyangiitis in Greece: A Protocol for a Multicentre Retrospective Observational Study - The MEMBER Study.

Mediterranean journal of rheumatology·2026

Same author

Bladder cancer patients hospitalized in a medicine ward including three fuo cases following bacillus calmette-guérin immunotherapy.

The Canadian journal of urology·2026

Area of Science:

Human anatomy
Skeletal muscle physiology
Aging research

Background:

Muscle spindles are sensory receptors crucial for proprioception and motor control.
Understanding their structural changes with age is vital for addressing age-related functional decline.

Purpose of the Study:

To characterize the morphometric properties of human muscle spindles.
To investigate how aging influences these characteristics in different muscles.

Main Methods:

Analysis of 72 muscle spindles from human subjects.
Measurement of spindle area, diameter, capsule thickness, fiber count, fiber area, fiber diameter, and nuclear count/area.

Main Results:

A significant reduction in muscle spindle diameter with age was observed in the deltoid and extensor digitorum brevis muscles.

Related Experiment Videos

No significant age-related changes were found in quadriceps femoris and biceps muscles.

The deltoid muscle showed decreased fiber number and increased fiber diameter with aging.

Conclusions:

Age-related morphometric alterations in muscle spindles vary between different human muscles.
These findings provide a basis for further research into muscle spindle function in disease states.