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Updated: Mar 11, 2026

Tissue Triage and Freezing for Models of Skeletal Muscle Disease
Published on: July 15, 2014
Muscle fiber type proportion and size is not altered in mcardle disease
Franclo Henning1,2, Carol Anne Cunninghame1, Miguel Angel Martín3,4,5
1Division of Exercise Science and Sports Medicine, Department of Human Biology, University of Cape Town, PO Box 115, Newlands, 7725, South Africa.
Introduction:
McArdle disease is a metabolic myopathy that presents with exercise intolerance and episodic rhabdomyolysis. Excessive muscle recruitment has also been shown to be present during strenuous exercise, suggesting decreased power output. These findings could potentially be explained by either impaired contractility, decreased fiber size, or altered fiber type proportion. However, there is a paucity of data on the morphological features seen on muscle histology.
Methods:
We examined muscle biopsies of patients with McArdle disease from a Spanish cohort and compared the findings with healthy controls.
Results:
We found no significant difference in the fiber type proportion or mean fiber size between McArdle patients and controls in the biceps brachii or vastus lateralis muscles.
Conclusions:
No alterations in muscle fiber type proportion or size were found on muscle histology of patients with McArdle disease. Future research should focus on assessment of muscle fiber contractility to investigate the functional impairment. Muscle Nerve 55: 916-918, 2017.
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