Architecture, composition, and contractile properties of rat soleus muscle grafts

Skeletal muscle grafts have a deficit in tension development compared with control muscles, even after accounting for reduced mass and total muscle cross-sectional area. Our purpose was to determine relationships among the architecture, tissue composition, and contractile properties of rat soleus muscle grafts. Data were compared with control soleus muscles obtained from littermates. Female Wistar rats were anesthetized with pentobarbital sodium for grafting of soleus muscles with nerve implant and for dissection of muscles 56 days after grafting. Compared with control values, the maximum specific tension (N/cm2) of grafts was 76%, the interstitial (inulin) space was 135%, and the connective tissue protein concentration was 177%. For grafts, total muscle length and fiber length were 91 and 123% of control values, respectively. The extrapolated shortening velocity at zero load (fiber lengths/s) for grafts was not different from the control value. The deficit in specific tension of grafts is explained by a greater concentration of noncontractile tissue components. Changes in muscle architecture and composition following grafting had little affect on contraction dynamics.