Muscle elasticity: effect of muscle length and temperature

The present study describes a new method which allows the determination of muscle elasticity by applying quick releases at one end of a muscle and measuring the resulting tension drops at both ends, and simultaneously the propagation time of the mechanical impulse. The elasticity determined by both methods was examined on resting as well as on tetanized frog muscles (Rana esculenta, M. flexor hallucis brevis) in relation to muscle length and at two different temperatures 1 degree C and 20 degrees C. The average propagation velocity of the mechanical impulse of resting muscle was 55.7 +/- 4.7 m/s and of the contracting muscle 104.8 +/- 24.7 m/s at 1 degree C (L0, n = 6), which corresponds to elasticities of 3.3 +/- 0.5 N/mm2 and 14.4 +/- 6.2 N/mm2, respectively. The elasticity modulus calculated from the tension drop was for the resting muscle 2.3 +/- 0.5 N/mm2 and for the contracting muscle 11.1 +/- 2.1 N/mm2 (L0, 1 degree C, n = 6). When the muscle length is varied, the elasticity modulus corresponds to the length-tension relation of the resting and the isometrically contracting muscle. There is a strong correlation between the elasticity moduli which was determined by both methods for measurement of resting (r = 0.99, n = 19, p less than 0.05) and contracting muscle (r = 0.97, n = 19, p less than 0.05). This relation between elasticity and tetanic tension, i.e. filament overlap at constant temperature, can be interpreted in accordance with the sliding filament theory. But if the temperature is increased from 1 degree C to 20 degrees C, an increase of the tetanic tension (Q10 = 1.56) and a decrease of the elasticity measured by both methods (Q10 of 0.86 and 0.84) were obtained. This suggests that the increased tetanic force is generated by a smaller number of attached cross-bridges, but with a higher amount of force generated by each cross-bridge.