Takafumi Goto

The Effect of Denervation on the Degenerative Process of Type I Fibers in the Biceps Brachii Muscle of the Chick

An intact, healthy and active nerve supply is required for normal muscle growth and function. Denervation is a general procedure to assess correlations between motor nerves and muscle growth. It is well known that denervation leads to a number of functional changes, including fiber atrophy5,20 ). The influence of denervation of muscle, however, is also different in the developmental stage of animals17). In a previous study12), we reported that type I fibers of the intact brachial muscles (biceps brachii, scapulotriceps and humerotriceps mucles) showed a degenerative process in early posthatching development. However, it is not known if the degeneration of type I fibers is under the control of the motor nerve. In response to the previous results12), this study was designed to examine what kind of role the motor nerve plays in the degenerative process of type I fibers or in the developmental process of the biceps brachii muscle, by cutting the motor nerve supply to muscles in a chick. Materials and Methods