Muscle contraction slow twitch

Hypothyroid myopathy occurs in about 30% of patients with hypothyroidism irrespective of its cause. Muscle pain, cramps, and stiffness may be seen, and are often exacerbated by cold weather. Pseudomyotonic features of delayed muscle contraction and relaxation are common. Myoedema (the mounding phenomenon) is due to the painless, electrically silent contracture produced on direct percussion. Muscle biopsy often shows a predominance of type 1 (slow-twitch) fibers, again analogous to that seen in experimental hypothyroidism (Figure 22). Muscle hypertrophy with weakness and slowness of movement occurs in the Debre-Semelaigne syndrome seen in severely hypothyroid children, and Hoffman s syndrome is a similar condition seen in adults with hypothyroidism, but is also accompanied by painful spasms. 

Fast-twitch muscle fibers develop tension two to three times faster than slow-twitch muscle fibers because of more rapid splitting of ATP by myosin ATPase. This enables the myosin crossbridges to cycle more rapidly Another factor influencing the speed of contraction involves the rate of removal of calcium from the cytoplasm. Muscle fibers remove Ca++ ions by pumping them back into the sarcoplasmic reticulum. Fast-twitch muscle fibers remove Ca++ ions more rapidly than slow-twitch muscle fibers, resulting in quicker twitches that are useful in fast precise movements. The contractions generated in slow-twitch muscle fibers may last up to 10 times longer than those of fast-twitch muscle fibers therefore, these twitches are useful in sustained, more powerful movements. 

Muscle contraction responses to different patterns of nerve stimulation used in monitoring skeletal muscle relaxation. The alterations produced by a nondepolarizing blocker and depolarizing and desensitizing blockade by succinylcholine are shown. In the train of four (TOF) pattern, four stimuli are applied at 2 Hz. The TOF ratio (TOF-R) is calculated from the strength of the fourth contraction divided by that of the first. In the double burst pattern, three stimuli are applied at 50 Hz, followed by a 700 ms rest period and then repeated. In the posttetanic potentiation pattern, several seconds of 50 Hz stimulation are applied, followed by several seconds of rest and then by single stimuli at a slow rate (eg, 0.5 Hz). The number of detectable posttetanic twitches is the posttetanic count (PTC)., first posttetanic contraction. 

There is probably no biological phenomenon that has excited more interest among biochemists than the movement caused by the contractile fibers of muscles. Unlike the motion of bacterial flagella, the movement of muscle is directly dependent on the hydrolysis of ATP as its source of energy. Several types of muscle exist within our bodies. Striated (striped) skeletal muscles act under voluntary control. Closely related are the involuntary striated heart muscles, while smooth involuntary muscles constitute a third type. Further distinctions are made between fast-twitch and slow-twitch fibers. Fast-twitch fibers have short isometric contraction times, high maximal velocities for shortening, and high rates of ATP hydrolysis. 

Muscle fibers can be classified as either fast-twitch or slow-twitch. The slow-twitch fibers, or type 1 fibers (also called slow-oxidative), contain large amounts of mitochondria and myoglobin (giving them a red color), utilize respiration and oxidative phosphorylation for energy, and are relatively resistant to fatigue. Compared with fast-twitch fibers, their glycogen content is low. The slow-twitch fibers develop force slowly but maintain contractions longer than fast-twitch muscle. 

EXAMPLE 13.20 Type I muscle fibers are often referred to as red muscle fibers because they are colored a distinct reddish brown by their relatively large numbers of mitochondria that contain colored cytochromes in the electron transport chain (Chap. 10 Fig. 10-17). They are also characterized by their association with a dense blood supply and a high concentration of the red-colored oxygen-binding protein, myoglobin. On arrival of a nerve impulse, these cells contract relatively slowly, so they are often referred to as slow-twitch muscle fibers. Thus, type I fibers have evolved for slow, endurance contractions such as are used for maintaining posture. 

The function of muscle is to generate a force on contraction, either to maintain or change the position of a joint. There are two main types of muscle fibres Type 1 (slow twitch), which allow sustained low energy contraction, and Type 2 (fast twitch), which allow rapid forceful contractions. Muscles are comprised of varying proportions of both types of fibres. Postural muscles are composed mainly of Type 1 fibres, with a predominantly linear arrangement of fibres, whereas non-postural muscles... 

Comment A common association of type-2 fiber atrophy (discussed in Chapter 1) is an aspect of a lower-motor-neuron abnormality resulting in functional "dysinnervation," as may be part of the pathogenic mechanism in this patient. Note that routine diagnostic EMG cannot quantify the size of the type-2 muscle-fiber fast-twitch units because they are activated only by vigorous contraction, whereas slow-twitch type-1 motor-units are activated by... 

In 17 rats, twitch contraction of the anterior tibialis muscle in response to single Indirect stimuli continued until a mean dose of soman had been given that was more than 2.100 times the minimal dose that altered the magnitude of the twitch. 2 Eventual failure of the twitch response was seen to be always connected with marked slowing of the heart. This observation raises the possibility that the effect of soman on the twitch response of skeletal muscle depends on... 

Mammalian skeletal muscle can be separated Into two distinct fiber populations, based on relative contraction characteristics, and are referred to as slow-twltch (Type I) or fast-twitch (Type II) fibers. The slow-twltch fiber type exhibits a relatively low shortening velocity (27), a low rate of tension development (27). a low myosin ATPase activity (28) and a low rate of calcium sequestration by the sarcoplasmic reticulum (29). The converse Is true for the fast-twitch fibers. Since contraction velocity highly correlates with myosin ATPase activity (30), It Is possible to easily Identify,... 

In summary, all mammals possess a large fraction of hlgh-oxl-datlve muscle. The ordered pattern of motor unit recruitment Involves these high oxidative muscle fibers before the low-oxldatlve fibers, as exercise Intensity progresses from mild, to moderate, to severe. This progression favors an enhanced exercise performance at submaxlmal exercise Intensities, since the slow and fast—twitch red fibers are capable of repeated contractions for long periods of time. 

In addition, SchistoFLRFamide had an effect upon the locust extensor-tibiae muscle preparation (somatic muscle). Low concentrations (.01 nM-10 nM) produced a potentiation of the amplitude of slow motor neuron induced twitch tension while higher concentrations (100 nM-1000 nM) produced a variable biphasic response with an amplitude of contraction decrease followed by an increase (25). 

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