Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Establishment of an animal model for delayed-onset muscle soreness after high-intensity eccentric exercise and its application for investigating the efficacy of low-load eccentric training

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Journal of Orthopaedic Science

Abstract

Background

Delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS) occurs after unaccustomed exercise and is particularly associated with eccentric exercise. Previous studies have proposed the use of a single bout of eccentric exercise to prevent the muscle damage subsequent to a bout of eccentric exercise. This study aimed to establish a suitable animal model to evaluate the pain in DOMS and to assess whether low-load eccentric training confers a protective effect against a subsequent high-intensity eccentric exercise bout.

Methods

Thirty-six female Wistar rats were divided into five groups: rats that received muscular compression only (Comp); those that received high-intensity eccentric exercise only (HE); those that received muscular compression at 3, 24, 48, and 96 h after high-intensity eccentric exercise (HE + Comp/3, 24, 48, and 96 h); those that received muscular compression 48 h after a single low-load eccentric exercise (LE); and those that received a week of low-load eccentric training before high-intensity eccentric exercise, which was followed by muscular compression 48 h later (LET). Immunohistochemistry was used to investigate c-fos expression in the dorsal horn of the spinal cord.

Results

For the HE + Comp/48 h rats, the total number of c-fos-positive neurons at the L2–3 segments was significantly greater than that in the Comp and HE rats in the same segments. A week of low-load eccentric training resulted in a decreased number of c-fos-ir neurons relative to that in the HE + Comp/48 h rats.

Conclusions

Muscle tenderness after high-intensity eccentric exercise was evaluated by c-fos expression in the dorsal horn of the rat spinal cord. Using this rat model, the present study clarified that the muscle tenderness following high-intensity eccentric exercise is inhibited by prior low-load eccentric training.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Armstrong RB. Mechanisms of exercise-induced delayed onset muscular soreness: a brief review. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 1984;16:529–38.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Graven-Nielsen T, Arendt-Nielsen L. Induction and assessment of muscle pain, referred pain, and muscular hyperalgesia. Curr Pain Headache Pep. 2003;7:443–51.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Smith LL. Acute inflammation: the underlying mechanism in delayed onset muscle soreness. Med Sci Sports Exer. 1991;26:542–51.

    Google Scholar 

  4. Asmussen E. Observations on experimental muscular soreness. Acta Rheumatol Scand. 1956;2:109–16.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Newham DJ. The consequences of eccentric contractions and their relationship to delayed onset muscle pain. Eur J Appl Physiol. 1988;57:353–9.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Armstrong RB, Ogilvie RW, Schwane JA. Eccentric exercise-induced injury to rat skeletal muscle. J Appl Physiol. 1983;54:80–93.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Proske U, Allen TJ. Damage to skeletal muscle from eccentric exercise. Exerc Sport Sci Rev. 2005;33:98–104.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Talbot JA, Morgan DL. Quantitative analysis of sarcomere non-uniformities in active muscle following a stretch. J Muscle Res Cell Motil. 1996;17:261–8.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. McHugh MP. Recent advances in the understanding of the repeated bout effect against muscle damage from a single bout of eccentric exercise. Scand J Med Sci Sport. 2003;13:88–97.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Nosaka K, Clarkson PM. Muscle damage following repeated bouts of high force eccentric exercise. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 1995;27:1263–9.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Brown SJ, Child RB, Day SH, Donnelly AE. Exercise-induced skeletal muscle damage and adaptation following repeated bouts of eccentric muscle contractions. J Sports Sci. 1997;15:215–22.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Clarkson PM, Tremblay I. Exercise-induced muscle damage, repair, and adaptation in humans. J Appl Physiol. 1988;65:1–6.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Lavender AP, Nosaka K. A light load eccentric exercise confers protection against a subsequent bout of more demanding eccentric exercise. J Sci Med Sports. 2008;11:291–8.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Hunt SP, Pini A, Evan G. Induction of c-fos-like protein in spinal cord neurons following sensory stimulation. Nature. 1987;328:632–4.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Taguchi T, Matsuda T, Tamura R, Sato J, Mizumura K. Muscular mechanical hyperalgesia revealed by behavioural pain test and c-Fos expression in the spinal dorsal horn after eccentric contraction in rats. J Physiol. 2005;564:259–68.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Maruhashi Y, Kitaoka K, Yoshiki Y, Nakamura R, Okano A, Nakamura K, Tsuyama T, Shima Y, Tomita K. ROS scavenging activity and muscle damage prevention in eccentric exercise in rats. J Physiol Sci. 2007;57:211–6.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Molander C, Xu Q, Grant G. The cytoarchitectonic organization of the spinal cord in the rat. I. The lower thoracic and lumbosacral cord. J Comp Neurol. 1984;230:133–41.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Lima D, Avelino A, Coimbra A. Differential activation of c-fos in spinal neurones by distinct classes of noxious stimuli. Neuroreport. 1993;4:747–50.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Peyronnard JM, Charrona LF, Lavoiea J, Messier JP. Motor, sympathetic and sensory innervation of rat skeletal muscles. Brain Res. 1986;373:288–302.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Takahashi Y, Aoki Y, Doya H. Segmental somatotopic organization of cutaneous afferent fibers in the lumbar spinal cord dorsal horn in rats. Anat Sci Int. 2007;82:24–30.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Brushart TM, Mesulam MM. Transganglionic demonstration of central sensory projections from skin and muscle with HRP-lectin conjugates. Neurosci Lett. 1980;17:1–6.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Chen TC, Nosaka K, Sacco P. Intensity of eccentric exercise, shift of optimum angle, and the magnitude of repeated-bout effect. J Appl Physiol. 2007;102:992–9.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Chen TC, Chen HL, Lin MJ, Wu CJ, Nosaka K. Potent protective effect conferred by four bouts of low-intensity eccentric exercise. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2010;42:1004–12.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. McHugh MP. Recent advances in the understanding of the repeated bout effect: the protective effect against muscle damage from a single bout of eccentric exercise. Scand J Med Sci Sports. 2003;13:88–97.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The authors thank Ms. Yoko Kasai and Ms. Miyako Shimasaki for skillful technical assistance.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Graduate School of Medical Science, Kanazawa University, 13-1, Takara-machi, Kanazawa, Ishikawa, 920-8641, Japan

    Teppei Munehiro, Katsuhiko Kitaoka, Yoshinobu Maruhashi & Hiroyuki Tsuchiya

  2. Department of Pathophysiological and Experimental Pathology, Kanazawa Medical University, Ishikawa, Japan

    Yoshimichi Ueda

Authors
  1. Teppei Munehiro
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Katsuhiko Kitaoka
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Yoshimichi Ueda
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Yoshinobu Maruhashi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Hiroyuki Tsuchiya
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Teppei Munehiro.

About this article

Cite this article

Munehiro, T., Kitaoka, K., Ueda, Y. et al. Establishment of an animal model for delayed-onset muscle soreness after high-intensity eccentric exercise and its application for investigating the efficacy of low-load eccentric training. J Orthop Sci 17, 244–252 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00776-012-0212-1

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00776-012-0212-1

Keywords

Search

Navigation