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The Role of Passive Stretch in Retarding Muscle Atrophy

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Electrical Stimulation and Neuromuscular Disorders

Abstract

The skeletal musculature comprises the largest single tissue of the body, contributing up to 40%–45% of the adult body weight and 75% of its protein mass (Goldspink et al. 1985). Clearly this means that muscle is extremely important to the organism in metabolic terms, in addition to its well recognized mechanical functions of locomotion and maintenance of posture. Like many other tissues of the body, skeletal muscle undergoes atrophy in response to the loss of functional demands. In contrast, rapid adaptive growth can be induced either by the subsequent return of these functions or by the imposition of new, greater work demands. This plasticity (Pette 1980) represents part of the overall biological economy of the body in maintaining, or withdrawing, structures according to the changing requirements of the organism. Such features are regularly observed clinically; situations of disuse producing muscle wasting and weakness, while compensatory growth of the relevant musculature is often linked to patient recovery and rehabilitation.

This work was supported by a grant from NASA-Ames No. NAG 2–272 and the Wellcome Trust to G. Goldspink, D.F. Goldspink was the recipient of a Wellcome Trust travel award

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Author information

Author notes

  1. G. Goldspink

    Present address: Department of Cell Biology, Royal Veterinary College, London, UK

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physiology, Medical Biology Centre, The Queen’s University of Belfast, 97 Lisburn Road, Belfast, BT9 7BL, Northern Ireland, UK

    D. F. Goldspink

  2. Department of Anatomy & Cellular Biology, School of Medicine, Tuft’s University, 136 Harrison Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts, 02111, USA

    G. Goldspink

Authors
  1. D. F. Goldspink
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  2. G. Goldspink
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Neurologische Klinik, Universitätskliniken, Langenbeckstr. 1, D-6500, Mainz, Germany

    W. A. Nix

  2. Department of Anatomy and Centre for Neuroscience, University College, Gower Street, WC1E 6BT, London, UK

    G. Vrbová

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© 1986 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Goldspink, D.F., Goldspink, G. (1986). The Role of Passive Stretch in Retarding Muscle Atrophy. In: Nix, W.A., Vrbová, G. (eds) Electrical Stimulation and Neuromuscular Disorders. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-71337-8_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-71337-8_10

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-71339-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-71337-8

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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