Microscopic Findings in a Muscular Pain Induced Murine Model

Abstract

Background: It has been suggested that muscular pain may induce skeletal muscle damage. But the mechanism of such skeletal muscle damage is not known. This study was performed to investigate the effect of carrageenan induced muscular pain on the tibialis anterior muscle of the rat. Methods: Muscular pain was induced by injecting 0.1 ml of carrageenan into the tibialis anterior muscle of Sprague-Dawley rats. 48 hours after carrageenan injection, animals were killed, and tissues were fixed in 10% neutral buffered formalin (NBF). The tissues were then dehydrated, embedded, sectioned at 5 , stained with phosphotungstic acid hematoxylin (PTAH), and observed under a light microscope. Results: Carrageenan induced muscular pain was associated with a wave-like arrangement of muscle cells, which were separated by intercellular gaps in tibialis anterior muscle. Conclusions: This finding suggests that carrageenan may induce muscular pain damage in the tibialis anterior muscle of rat, as evidenced by a divided wave like muscle cell arrangement.