Inferior mechanical properties of spastic muscle bundles due to hypertrophic but compromised extracellular matrix material

Lieber RL, Runesson E, Einarsson F, Fridén J. Inferior mechanical properties of spastic muscle bundles due to hypertrophic but compromised extracellular matrix material. Musle & Nerve 28:464-471, 2003.

The passive mechanical properties of small muscle fiber bundles obtained from surgical patients with spasticity (n = 9) and patients without neuromuscular disorders (n = 21) were measured in order to determine the relative influence of intracellular and extracellular components. For both types of patient, tangent modulus was significantly greater in bundles compared to identical tests performed on isolated single cells (P <0.05).