Mechanical properties of tenotomized and denervated-tenotomized muscles

Mechanical properties of rat soleus and plantaris muscles were studied in vitro following tenotomy, denervation, or tenotomy plus denervation, all of 3 wk duration. Controls included muscles from sham-operated animals and from animals with muscle tendons severed but immediately resutured. Results of twitch times, times to peak tension, and times to half-relaxation for 145 muscles clearly showed that the slight increase in muscle speed that occurs in the soleus muscles only is due to severance of the muscle tendon per se and not related to muscle shortening and possible related alterations in muscle spindle activity that occurs in simple tenotomy. Furthermore, any demonstrable mechanical changes that occur with tenotomy or with section and resuturing of the tendon requires the presence of intact innervation. We conclude that, contrary to published opinion, tenotomy does not transform slow contracting muscles into fast contracting muscles and that comments concerning the role of stretch receptors in this postulated transformation are pure conjecture, unsupported by experimental data.