Skeletal Muscle Force Analysis in Male and Female Mus musculus With Aging

Skeletal muscle injury commonly limits lifestyle habits that prevent disease. The amount of force generated by a muscle can be used as a measure of muscle injury and healing. This technique can also be used to analyze the effectiveness of injury treatments, such as anti-inflammatory drugs or temperature therapy. We used barium chloride (BaCl2) to mimic mechanical injury in the tibialis anterior (TA) and NaCl as control. The amount of agent injected was based on body weight to induce uniform injury. Using an ex vivo procedure and the AD Instruments Wide Range Force transducer, contractile force was measured 12 days post-injury. The analysis was performed in male and female mice at 8, 12 and 39 weeks. Our results showed that our injury was not uniform. We found evidence that severe muscle injury can be caused with excess volume load and could induce a model of compartment syndrome. We also found a correlation between body weight and the weight of the TA. Future studies will be completed on 24 and 52 week old mice to determine the proper muscle weight to body weight ratio. This ratio will be used to deliver the appropriate volume and concentration of BaCl2 to produce consistent injury