PRODUCTION OF CONSISTENT CRUSH LESIONS OF MURINE SKELETAL-MUSCLE IN-VIVO USING AN ELECTROMECHANICAL DEVICE

The crush model of injury in skeletal muscle is widely used in the inv estigation of tissue degeneration and regeneration. Previously, such t rauma has been induced by using forceps to crush the muscle, commonly applying sufficient pressure to bring the mid-arms of the forceps toge ther. This report introduces a reliable electromechanical device desig ned to generate reproducible focal lesions in skeletal muscle of mice. The tibialis anterior was crushed in 17 young adult mice. Two days af ter injury, the muscles were examined microscopically. By morphometric analysis, it was determined that the volumes of the lesions produced were similar (mean 0.499 mm(3) +/- 0.098, range 0.278 - 0.601 mm(3)), and that the full extent of the damaged muscle was easily distinguishe d and readily quantifiable. This will allow a more precise comparison in future investigations into regenerative differences between age gro ups, satellite cell activation and the inflammatory response.