Understanding the Impact of Muscle and Bony Injury in the Lumbar Spine: How Multifidus Muscle and Facet Joint Damage Impact Muscle Architecture and Joint Degeneration in the Rat

Rodent models that experience a mechanical injury to the facet joint have had contradicting results regarding the degree of osteoarthritis that the injured joint experiences. This thesis sought to answer if this disagreement was caused by surgical injury to the paraspinal multifidus muscle. It was expected that muscle and joint injury would drive changes in the muscle architecture, collagen content, facet joint transverse plane angle and characteristics of osteoarthritis. No consistent changes in any muscle measures were seen outside of the injured multifidus muscle, which had a decrease in mass and fascicle length while the collagen content increased. No changes in the facet joint angles or osteoarthritis statuses were seen. It is suspected that the degree of fibrosis for the injured muscle may have inhibited osteoarthritis processes. Future work should explore the role of paraspinal muscles in facet joint osteoarthritis using nonsurgical models.

Year	Entry
1999	Ebbesen EN, Thomsen JS, Beck‐Nielsen H, Nepper‐Rasmussen HJ, Mosekilde L. Age‐ and gender‐related differences in vertebral bone mass, density, and strength. J Bone Miner Res. August 1999;14(8):1394-1403.
1966	Gordon AM, Huxley AF, Julian FJ. The variation in isometric tension with sarcomere length in vertebrate muscle fibres. J Physiol. 1966;184(1):170-192.
2010	Glasson SS, Chambers MG, Van Den Berg WB, Little CB. The OARSI histopathology initiative: recommendations for histological assessments of osteoarthritis in the mouse. Osteoarthritis Cartilage. October 2010;18(suppl 3):S17-S23.
2000	Lieber RL, Fridén J. Functional and clinical significance of skeletal muscle architecture. Muscle Nerve. November 2000;23(11):1647-1666.
1984	Powell PL, Roy RR, Kanim P, Bello MA, Edgerton VR. Predictability of skeletal muscle tension from architectural determinations in guinea pig hindlimbs. J Appl Physiol. December 1984;57(6):1715-1721.
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2005	Lee JH, Fitzgerald JB, DiMicco MA, Grodzinsky AJ. Mechanical injury of cartilage explants causes specific time-dependent changes in chondrocyte gene expression. Arthritis Rheum. August 2005;52(8):2386-2395.
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2008	Elsaid KA, Fleming BC, Oksendahl HL, Machan JT, Fadale PD, Hulstyn MJ, Shalvoy R, Jay GD. Decreased lubricin concentrations and markers of joint inflammation in synovial fluids from patients with anterior cruciate ligament injury. Arthritis Rheum. June 2008;58(6):1707-1715.

Year

Entry

1999

Ebbesen EN, Thomsen JS, Beck‐Nielsen H, Nepper‐Rasmussen HJ, Mosekilde L. Age‐ and gender‐related differences in vertebral bone mass, density, and strength. J Bone Miner Res. August 1999;14(8):1394-1403.

1966

Gordon AM, Huxley AF, Julian FJ. The variation in isometric tension with sarcomere length in vertebrate muscle fibres. J Physiol. 1966;184(1):170-192.

2010

Glasson SS, Chambers MG, Van Den Berg WB, Little CB. The OARSI histopathology initiative: recommendations for histological assessments of osteoarthritis in the mouse. Osteoarthritis Cartilage. October 2010;18(suppl 3):S17-S23.

2000

Lieber RL, Fridén J. Functional and clinical significance of skeletal muscle architecture. Muscle Nerve. November 2000;23(11):1647-1666.

1984

Powell PL, Roy RR, Kanim P, Bello MA, Edgerton VR. Predictability of skeletal muscle tension from architectural determinations in guinea pig hindlimbs. J Appl Physiol. December 1984;57(6):1715-1721.