title: Is muscle spindle proprioceptive function spared in muscular dystrophies? A muscle tendon vibration study.
abstract: Muscular dystrophies (MDs) are characterized by the degeneration of skeletal muscle fibers. The aim of the present study was to determine whether the intrafusal fibers of muscle spindles are also affected in MD. The functional integrity of muscle spindles was tested by analyzing their involvement in the perception of body segment movements and in the control of posture. Twenty MD patients (4 with dystrophinopathy, 5 with myotonic dystrophies, 5 with fascioscapulohumeral MD, and 6 with limb-girdle dystrophies) and 10 healthy subjects participated in the study. The MD patients perceived passive movements and experienced illusory movements similar to those perceived by healthy subjects in terms of their direction and velocity. Vibratory stimulation applied to the neck and ankle muscle tendons induced postural responses in MD patients with spatial and temporal characteristics similar to those produced by healthy subjects. These results suggest that the proprioceptive function of muscle spindles is spared in muscular dystrophies.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Neurobiologie Humaine, UMR CNRS 6149-52 Faculté des Sciences de Saint-Jérôme, Case 362, Marseille 13397, France. rc@up.univ-mrs.fr
authors.forename: Edith
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ribot-Ciscar
authors.forename: Sylvie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tréfouret
authors.forename: Jean-Marc
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Aimonetti
authors.forename: Shahram
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Attarian
authors.forename: Jean
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pouget
authors.forename: Jean-Pierre
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Roll
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000842:Ankle; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009470:Muscle Spindles / Q000502:physiology*; D009136:Muscular Dystrophies / Q000503:physiopathology*; D020391:Muscular Dystrophy, Facioscapulohumeral / Q000503:physiopathology*; D009223:Myotonic Dystrophy / Q000503:physiopathology; D009333:Neck; D011434:Proprioception / Q000502:physiology*; D013710:Tendons / Q000502:physiology*; D014732:Vibration