TY - JOUR ID - TI - SPECTROPHOTOMETRIC CHANGES IN GLYCOGEN CONTENT OF GASTROCNEMIUS AND SOLEUS MUSCLES IN RESPONSE TO ACHILLES TENOTOMY IN RAT AU - Firas M. Ghazy فراس محمد غازي AU - Hayder H. Abdul-Ameer حيدر حمادي عبد الامير AU - Muthanna A.A. Abdul-Lateef مثنى عبد الامير عبد اللطيف PY - 2013 VL - 11 IS - 4 SP - 375 EP - 380 JO - IRAQI JOURNAL OF MEDICAL SCIENCES المجلة العراقية للعلوم الطبية SN - 16816579 22244719 AB - Background:The glycogen content of individual muscle fibers varies according to their types as well as in response to workload changes. The effects of tenotomy on this glycogen content in skeletal muscles of the rat leg have long been studied, however, such effects on the contralateral limb was not detailed in most of these studies.Objective:To investigate the effect of tenotomy of the Achilles tendon on the glycogen content of gastrocnemius and soleus muscles fibers in both the tenotomized and contralateral limbs.Methods:Thirty adult male rats (Rattus rattus norvegicus albinus) divided into non-tenotomized (control) and tenotomized (experimental) groups. The Achilles tendon of the right hind limb was incised and left to heal for 2 weeks. Animals then were sacrificed and cross sections of the right and left gastrocnemius and soleus muscles were examined spectrophotometrically for the mean optical density of PAS stain.Results:A significant decrease in the glycogen content of the tenotomized and contralateral limbs of gastrocnemius muscle compared with the control group. Similar significant decrease was found for soleus muscle in tenotomized but not the contralateral limb of the experimental group compared with the control group.Conclusions:The disuse atrophy in the tenotomized limb causes decrease in the glycogen content of gastrocnemius and soleus muscle fibers. However, the change in glycogen content seems to affect the fast gastrocnemius rather than the slow soleus musclein the contralateral limb probably because the mechanical load on gastrocnemius during muscle contraction following tenotomy is higher than that exerted on soleus muscle.Key words:Skeletal muscle, Gastrocnemius, Soleus, Glycogen, Spectrophotometry.

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