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Intramuscular Distribution of Fibre Types in the Gluteus Medius of the Horse: A Histochemical Analysis
Author(s) -
Rivero J. L. Loapez,
Diz A. M.,
Monterde J. G.,
Agüera E.
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
anatomia, histologia, embryologia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.34
H-Index - 35
eISSN - 1439-0264
pISSN - 0340-2096
DOI - 10.1111/j.1439-0264.1993.tb00361.x
Subject(s) - medius , fibre type , anatomy , horse , biology , dorsum , muscle fibre , skeletal muscle , paleontology
Summary The results from a recent study by B ruce and S churg (1990) indicate that the gluteus medius (Gm) of the horse is a complex muscle subdivided by an internal tendinous sheet into two regions (dorsal and ventral) which may subserve different functions. In the present study, both regions were found to contain a similar proportion of histochemically‐determined muscle fibre types. Fibre type composition did not generally vary over the length of the muscle at the same relative depth. In contrast, there was a significant tendency for the percentage of type I fibres to increase gradually in accordance with depth. These histochemical results do not suggest that the two regions of the Gm assume distinct functional roles; they do, however, indicate that at a given relative depth the muscle fibre type distribution is relatively uniform over the length of the muscle. Nevertheless, care should be exercised in sampling and interpreting data obtained from limited biopsy of equine Gm, due to the substantial histochemical variation of fibre type compositon as a function of sampling depth.