Summary
A biometric study was made on 810 muscle spindles in 214 muscles. The absence of atrophy of the intra-fusal muscle fibres and the frequency of spindles with focal dilatation of the periaxial space were the prominent features in denervated muscles. Thickening of the spindle capsule without atrophy of the intra-fusal muscle fibres was often seen in dystrophic muscles. The frequency of changes was greatest in cases of myositis. Eleven spindles were studied by histochemical techniques. In one case of denervation atrophy, all the intrafusal muscle fibres had an enzyme pattern similar to the grouping that occurs in extra-fusal fibres during reinnervation. The outer membranes of the thickened spindle capsule, frequent in dystrophic muscles, were 5-Nucleotidase rich an ATPase poor. The inner membrane was ATPase rich and 5-Nucleotidase poor.
The pathology of the muscle spindle is less atypical than previous studies suggest.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Adams, R. D., Denny-Brown, D., Pearson, C. M.: Diseases of muscle a study of pathology, 2nd Ed. New York: Hoeber 1962
Barka, T., Anderson, P. J.: Histochemistry. New York: Hoeber 1965
Beckett, E. B., Bourne, G. H.: Some histochemical observations on human dystrophic muscle. Science126, 357 (1957)
Brzin, M., Tennyson, V., Duffy, D.: Acetylcholinesterase in frog sympathetic and dorsal root ganglia. J. Cell Biol.31, 215–242 (1966)
Cazzato, G., Walton, J.: The pathology of the muscle spindle: a study of biopsy material in various muscular and neuromuscular diseases. J. neurol. Sci.7, 15–70 (1968)
Cooper, S., Daniel, P. M.: Muscle spindles in man: their morphology in the lumbricals and the deep muscles of the neck. Brain86, 563–594 (1963)
De Reuck, J., Ansari, K.: A technique of comparison of muscle fibre size distribution in human skeletal muscles. Medikon7, 311–313 (1973)
De Reuck, J., Vander Eecken, H., Roels, H.: Biometrical and histochemical comparison between extra-fusal and intra-fusal muscle fibres in denervated and re-innervated rat muscle. Acta neuropath. (Berl.)25, 249–258 (1973)
De Reuck, J.: Biometric analyses of spindles in normal human skeletal muscles. Acta neurol. belg.73, 339–347 (1973)
Dubowitz, V.: Histochemical aspects of muscle disease. In: Disorders of voluntary muscle, pp. 239–276. Ed. J. Walton. London- Churchill 1969
Gömori, G.: A improved histochemical technic for phosphatase. Stain Technol.25, 81 (1950)
Grüner, E.: La structure fine du fuseau neuromusculaire humain. Rev. neurol.104, 490–507 (1961)
Kennedy, W. R.: Innervation of normal human muscle spindles Neurology (Minneap.)20, 463–475 (1970)
Kennedy, W. R.: Innervation of muscle spindles in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Proc. Mayo Clin.46, 245–257 (1971)
Lapresle, J., Milhaud, M.: Pathology du fuseau neuro-musculaire. Rev. neurol.110, 97–122 (1964)
Mair, W. G. P., Tomé, F. M. S.: Atlas of the ultrastructure of diseased human muscle. Edinburgh: Churchill 1972
Margreth, A., Salvati, G.: Biochemical changes in slow muscle by re-innervation with fast nerve fibres. In: Clinical studies in myology. pp. 337–345. Ed. B. A. Kakulas. Amsterdam: Excerpta Medica 1973
Moore, M. J., Rebeiz, J. J., Holden, M., Adams, R. D.: Biometric analyses of normal skeletal muscle. Acta neuropath. (Berl.)19, 51–69 (1971)
Olkowski, Z., Manocha, S. L.: Muscle Spindle: In: The structure and function of muscle, vol. II, pp. 366–482 Ed. G. H. Bourne. New York: Academic Press 1973
Patel, A. N., Lalitha, V. S., Dastur, D. K.: The spindle in normal and pathological muscle: an assessment of the histological changes. Brain91, 737–750 (1968)
Pearse, E.: Histochemistry: theoretical and applied, p. 910. London: Churchill 1960
Romanul, F. C., Van der Meulen, J. P.: Slow and fast muscles after cross-innervation: enzymatic and physiological changes. Arch. Neurol. (Chic.)17, 387–402 (1967)
Saghal, V., Nayyar, R., Betts, H. B.: Histochemical profile of human intra-fusal fibres. In: Basic research in myology, pp. 41–48. Ed. B. A. Kakulas. Amsterdam: Excerpta Medica 1973
Spiro, A., Beilin: Human muscle spindle histochemistry. Arch. Neurol. (Chic.)20, 271–274 (1969)
Shantha, T. R., Golarz, M. N., Bourne, G. H.: Histological and histochemical observation on the capsule of the muscle spindle in normal and denervated muscle. Acta anat. (Basel)69, 632–646 (1968)
Swash, M., Fox, K. P.: The effect of age on human skeletal muscle. Studies of the morphology and innervation of muscle spindles. J. neurol. Sci.16, 417–432 (1971)
Swash, M.: The morphology and innervation of the muscle spindle in dystrophia myotonia. Brain95, 357–368 (1972)
Swash, M., Fox, K. P.: The pathology of the human muscle spindle: effect of denervation. J. neurol. Sci.22, 1–24 (1974)
Siegel, S.: Non parametric statistics for the behavioral siences: “the Kolmogorov-Smirnov two sample test”, pp. 127–136. New York: McGraw-Hill 1956
Takeuchi, T., Kuriaki, H.: Histochemical detection of phosphorylase in animal tissue. J. Histochem. Cytochem.3, 153 (1955)
Tower, S. S.: Atrophy and degeneration in the muscle spindle. Brain55, 77–90 (1932)
Wachstein, M., Meisel, E.: Histochemistry of hepatic phosphatase at a physiological Ph. Amer. J. clin. Path.27, 13 (1957)
Wohlfahrt, S.: Muscular atrophy in the diseases of the lower motor neuron. Arch. Neurol. Psychiat. (Chic.)61, 599 (1949)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
De Reuck, J. The pathology of the human muscle spindle. Acta Neuropathol 30, 43–50 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00685321
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00685321