Activity of the Tibialis Anterior Muscle Associated with the Paw Withdrawal Reflex can be Considered as an Indicator for Estimating Chronic Muscle Pain

Abstract Objectives Women report more musculoskeletal pain than men. A dysfunctional pain inhibitory system has been launched as a contributing factor for these gender differences. This study used a diffuse noxious inhibitory controls (DNIC) paradigm and asked the following questions: (1) is electrically induced muscle pain inhibited by a painful heat stimulus to the forearm, and (2) does women show signs of reduced inhibition compared to men?. Methods Forty healthy subjects (20 females; 18–45 years) participated in a cross-over design with painful (45–49 °C) or non-painful (35 °C) conditioning heat stimuli (in balanced order) to the contralateral forearm. The subjects received 10 painful electrical stimuli in the tibialis anterior muscle before, during and after conditioning and rated each electrical stimulus on a 0–10cm visual analogue scale (VAS). There was 30 min between experiments. All VAS scores were normalized to scores before conditioning (100%) and analyzed by RM-ANOVA. Females participated during the ovulatory phase (days 12–14). Results There was a main effect of conditioning. VAS scores during conditioning were reduced to 90 ± 24% (mean ± S.D.) with respect to before conditioning (p = 0.02). There was no difference between painful and non-painful conditioning (p = 0.31). Neither was there any difference between genders (p = 0.28); mean male VAS scores were 91 ± 21% and mean female scores were 89 ± 27% during (vs. before) conditioning. Conclusion Electrically induced muscle pain was not inhibited by a painful heat stimulus to the forearm. The reduction in muscle pain may be results of habituation. The lack of a DNIC effect may have been caused by the relatively small skin area receiving the conditioning stimulus, and excludes a conclusion on gender effects.

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Automated Nociceptive Withdrawal Reflex Measurements Reveal Normal Reflex Thresholds and Augmented Pain Ratings in Patients with Fibromyalgia

Journal of Clinical Medicine ◽

10.3390/jcm9061992 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 9 (6) ◽

pp. 1992

Author(s):

Johannes Ydrefors ◽

Tomas Karlsson ◽

Ulrika Wentzel Olausson ◽

Bijar Ghafouri ◽

Ann-Charlotte Johansson ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Tibialis Anterior ◽

Pain Sensitivity ◽

Tibialis Anterior Muscle ◽

Electromyographic Activity ◽

Nociceptive Withdrawal Reflex ◽

Withdrawal Reflex ◽

Pain Ratings ◽

Subjective Pain ◽

Electrical Stimuli ◽

Spinal Sensitization

The nociceptive withdrawal reflex (NWR) is used to probe spinal cord excitability in chronic pain states. Here, we used an automated and unbiased procedure for determining the NWR threshold and compared the reflex thresholds and corresponding pain ratings in a well-characterized cohort of fibromyalgia (n = 29) and matched healthy controls (n = 21). Surface electrical stimuli were delivered to the foot in a stepwise incremental and decremental manner. The surface electromyographic activity was recorded from the ipsilateral tibialis anterior muscle. Fibromyalgia patients reported significantly higher scores for psychological distress and pain-related disability and a significantly lower score for perceived state of health compared to the matched controls. The subjective pain ratings were significantly higher in patients. The NWR thresholds were similar to the controls. In the patients, but not in controls, the NWR thresholds and subjective pain ratings were significantly correlated. Our results showed an increased subjective pain sensitivity in fibromyalgia, but we found no evidence for spinal sensitization based on the reflex measures.

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Surface EMG analysis of tibialis anterior muscle in walking with FES in stroke subjects

2010 Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology ◽

10.1109/iembs.2010.5627503 ◽

2010 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

S K Sabut ◽

R Kumar ◽

P K Lenka ◽

M Mahadevappa

Keyword(s):

Tibialis Anterior ◽

Tibialis Anterior Muscle ◽

Surface Emg

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A High Protein Diet Does Not Improve Protein Synthesis in the Nonweight-Bearing Rat Tibialis Anterior Muscle

Journal of Nutrition ◽

10.1093/jn/126.1.266 ◽

1996 ◽

Vol 126 (1) ◽

pp. 266-272 ◽

Cited By ~ 20

Author(s):

Daniel Taillandier ◽

Charles-Yannick Guezennec ◽

Philippe Patureau-Mirand ◽

Xavier Bigard ◽

Maurice Arnal ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Protein Synthesis ◽

Tibialis Anterior ◽

Tibialis Anterior Muscle ◽

High Protein Diet ◽

High Protein ◽

Protein Diet

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Structure of the cortical cytoskeleton in fibers of postural muscles and cardiomyocytes of mice after 30-day 2-g centrifugation

Journal of Applied Physiology ◽

10.1152/japplphysiol.00812.2014 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 118 (5) ◽

pp. 613-623 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Irina V. Ogneva ◽

V. Gnyubkin ◽

N. Laroche ◽

M. V. Maximova ◽

I. M. Larina ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Skeletal Muscle ◽

Tibialis Anterior ◽

Mechanical Load ◽

Tibialis Anterior Muscle ◽

Muscle Fibers ◽

Control Group ◽

Negative Effects ◽

Transverse Stiffness ◽

G 12 ◽

Cortical Cytoskeleton

Altered external mechanical loading during spaceflights causes negative effects on muscular and cardiovascular systems. The aim of the study was estimation of the cortical cytoskeleton statement of the skeletal muscle cells and cardiomyocytes. The state of the cortical cytoskeleton in C57BL6J mice soleus, tibialis anterior muscle fibers, and left ventricle cardiomyocytes was investigated after 30-day 2- g centrifugation (“2- g” group) and within 12 h after its completion (“2- g + 12-h” group). We used atomic force microscopy for estimating cell's transverse stiffness, Western blotting for measuring protein content, and RT-PCR for estimating their expression level. The transverse stiffness significantly decreased in cardiomyocytes (by 16%) and increased in skeletal muscles fibers (by 35% for soleus and by 29% for tibialis anterior muscle fibers) in animals of the 2-g group (compared with the control group). For cardiomyocytes, we found that, in the 2- g + 12-h group, α-actinin-1 content decreased in the membranous fraction (by 27%) and increased in cytoplasmic fraction (by 28%) of proteins (compared with the levels in the 2- g group). But for skeletal muscle fibers, similar changes were noted for α-actinin-4, but not for α-actinin-1. In conclusion, we showed that the different isoforms of α-actinins dissociate from cortical cytoskeleton under increased/decreased of mechanical load.

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Losing touch: age-related changes in plantar skin sensitivity, lower limb cutaneous reflex strength, and postural stability in older adults

Journal of Neurophysiology ◽

10.1152/jn.00339.2016 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 116 (4) ◽

pp. 1848-1858 ◽

Cited By ~ 17

Author(s):

Ryan M. Peters ◽

Monica D. McKeown ◽

Mark G. Carpenter ◽

J. Timothy Inglis

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Lower Limb ◽

Postural Stability ◽

Tibialis Anterior ◽

Tibialis Anterior Muscle ◽

Quiet Standing ◽

Detection Thresholds ◽

Cutaneous Reflex ◽

Age Related ◽

Age Related Changes

Age-related changes in the density, morphology, and physiology of plantar cutaneous receptors negatively impact the quality and quantity of balance-relevant information arising from the foot soles. Plantar perceptual sensitivity declines with age and may predict postural instability; however, alteration in lower limb cutaneous reflex strength may also explain greater instability in older adults and has yet to be investigated. We replicated the age-related decline in sensitivity by assessing monofilament and vibrotactile (30 and 250 Hz) detection thresholds near the first metatarsal head bilaterally in healthy young and older adults. We additionally applied continuous 30- and 250-Hz vibration to drive mechanically evoked reflex responses in the tibialis anterior muscle, measured via surface electromyography. To investigate potential relationships between plantar sensitivity, cutaneous reflex strength, and postural stability, we performed posturography in subjects during quiet standing without vision. Anteroposterior and mediolateral postural stability decreased with age, and increases in postural sway amplitude and frequency were significantly correlated with increases in plantar detection thresholds. With 30-Hz vibration, cutaneous reflexes were observed in 95% of young adults but in only 53% of older adults, and reflex gain, coherence, and cumulant density at 30 Hz were lower in older adults. Reflexes were not observed with 250-Hz vibration, suggesting this high-frequency cutaneous input is filtered out by motoneurons innervating tibialis anterior. Our findings have important implications for assessing the risk of balance impairment in older adults.

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