Simons' integrated hypothesis proposed a model of trigger point (TrP) activation to explain known TrP phenomena, particularly endplate noise. We propose an expansion of this hypothesis to account for new experimental data and established muscle pathophysiology.

The regeneration of skeletal muscles is a suitable model to study the development and differentiation of contractile tissues. Neural effects are one of the key factors in the regulation of this process. In the present work, effects of different reinnervation protocols (suture or grafting) were studied upon the regenerative capacity of rat soleus muscles treated with the venom of the Australian ...

The presence of residual neuromuscular block is often difficult to assess. Muscle tension or electrical activity in response to motor nerve stimulation is of limited value without control responses. Neuromuscular transmission which was suppressed by tubocurarine in the in vitro preparation could be briefly restored by application to the nerve of two or more very closely spaced stimuli; this occ...

The interaction between acetylcholinesterase (EC 3.1.1.7) and heparin, a sulphated glycosaminoglycan, was studied by affinity chromatography. A specific binding of the asymmetric acetylcholinesterase to an agarose gel containing covalently bound heparin was demonstrated. This interaction required an intact collagenous tail, shown by the fact that the binding is abolished by pretreatment with co...

OBJECTIVE To review the scientific status of the biopsychosocial (BPS) model and to propose a way to improve it. DISCUSSION Engel's BPS model added patients' psychological and social health concerns to the highly successful biomedical model. He proposed that the BPS model could make medicine more scientific, but its use in education, clinical care, and, especially, research remains minimal. M...

1. Some aspects of the pharmacology of neuromuscular transmission have been studied in the isolated diaphragm of the normal and dystrophic mouse. 2. The effects of (+)-tubocurarine and atropine on the indirectly elicited twitch responses of the dystrophic diaphragm were indistinguishable from normal. 3. Intracellular recording techniques revealed no significant differences between the rise time...

P/Q Ca2+ channels are genetically abnormal in most cases of familial hemiplegic migraine (FHM) and may be involved in other types of migraine. They are also found at the neuromuscular junctions, where they control stimulation-induced acetylcholine release. Prolonged aura is a very frequent clinical feature in FHM patients. The objective of this study was thus to explore neuromuscular transmissi...

The mechanism of action of tonically applied choline, the agonist of α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs), to the spontaneous and evoked release of a neurotransmitter in mouse motor synapses in diaphragm neuromuscular preparations using intracellular microelectrode recordings of miniature endplate potentials (MEPPs) and evoked endplate potentials (EPPs) was studied. Exogenous choline w...