The increase in steady-state force after active lengthening in skeletal muscle, termed force enhancement (FE), has been observed for nearly one century. Although demonstrated experimentally at various structural levels, the underlying mechanism(s) remain unknown. We recently showed that the Drosophila jump muscle is an ideal model for investigating mechanisms behind muscle physiological propert...

Premature birth accounts for the majority of fetal morbidity and mortality in the developed world and is disproportionately represented in some populations, such as African Americans in the United States. The costs associated with prematurity are staggering in both monetary and human terms. Present therapeutic approaches for the treatment of labor leading to preterm delivery are inadequate and ...

The dextran sodium sulphate (DSS) induced colitis in mice was used as a experimental model to study the contractility of murine longitudinal colonic smooth muscle during inflammation. Smooth muscle segments of proximal, middle and distal colon were mounted in organ baths. Smooth muscle contraction was induced by carbachol showing an aboral increase in activity, whereas in the inflamed middle co...

A subthreshold pharyngeal stimulus induces lower esophageal sphincter (LES) relaxation and inhibits progression of ongoing peristaltic contraction in the esophagus. Recent studies show that longitudinal muscle contraction of the esophagus may play a role in LES relaxation. Our goal was to determine whether a subthreshold pharyngeal stimulus induces contraction of the longitudinal muscle of the ...

Instrumentation has been developed to detect rapidly the polarization of tryptophan fluorescence from single muscle fibers in rigor, relaxation, and contraction. The polarization parameter (P( perpendicular)) obtained by exiciting the muscle tryptophans with light polarized perpendicular to the long axis of the muscle fiber had a magnitude P( perpendicular) (relaxation) > P( perpendicular) (con...

BACKGROUND The influence of muscle relaxation on the intra-operative neuromonitoring of the recurrent laryngeal nerve during thyroid surgery is unclear. METHODS In a prospective study involving 200 patients undergoing elective thyroid surgery, the influence of muscle relaxation on neuromonitoring of the recurrent laryngeal nerve was investigated. The patients received balanced anaesthesia wit...

The level of intramyocellular lipids (IMCL) is a physiological marker of skeletal muscle function. (1)H-magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) is an established method to measure IMCL contents in vivo. However, all of the MR systems do not always contain measurement instruments for (1)H-MRS, thus in a clinical setting, alternative methods for estimation of IMCL content are needed. Here, we inves...

An Extended Prediction Self-Adaptive Control (EPSAC) strategy is applied to the rocuronium administration, a neuromuscular blocking drug used in anaesthesia to facilitate endotracheal intubation and to provide skeletal muscle relaxation during surgery. A safe anaesthesia should provide comfort to the patient and best possible working conditions for the surgeon. The muscle relaxant plays an impo...

Effects of capsaicin on the circular muscle motility of the isolated guinea-pig ileum were investigated. Capsaicin produced a contraction followed by a relaxation of the circular muscle. Both responses were easily desensitized. As the late relaxation response was not sufficiently intense to be analyzed, the inhibitory effect of capsaicin on substance P-induced contractions was explored. Capsaic...