Abstract des Autors

Skeletal muscle has a great adaptability and a good regenerative capacity. Mechanical overload causes damage to the contractile elements and to the cytoskeleton. Thereafter secondary changes follow, including an inflammatory response. Usually complete recovery occurs within some weeks. In some cases extensive damage does occur with myoglobinuria and renal insufficiency. Because the time patterns of muscle soreness in humans parallells the inflammatory response in animals, it has long been assumed that muscle soreness is caused by an inflammatory response. Since the pain and inflammation in humans do not coincide, muscle soreness is still unexplained. Although muscle damage is associated with enzyme release the amount of enzyme in the blood is not a good indicator for the amount of muscle damage. Verf.-Referat