Variations in tendon stiffness due to diets with different glycotoxins affect mechanical properties in the muscle-tendon unit.
Passive elastic behavior of tendon tissue from rats subjected to different dietary treatments was characterized. For that purpose, twenty-four weanling Wistar rats (41.02 ± 0.16 g) were randomly distributed into four groups. During 88 days each group was fed on different diets: control diet and diets containing advanced glycation end products (AGEs) from glucose-lysine model system, from bread crust and bread dough, respectively. After the trial animals were sacrificed and tendon samples were extracted and tested mechanically to fracture in a uniaxial tensile test machine. A transversely-hyperelastic model was formulated based on stress-strain relationships and its parameters were fit to the experimental data using the Levenberg-Marquardt optimization algorithm. Material parameters were incorporated in a finite element model to study different stress-strain distributions in a muscle-tendon unit. Results show higher strains and stresses in the muscle belly when properties of a stiffer tendon associated with a diet rich in AGEs are included in the model. A real increase in this mechanical response of the tissue could imply possible pain in joint mobility.
Aragón Institute of Engineering Research, University of Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain. jgrasa@unizar.es
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Grasa
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Calvo
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Delgado-Andrade
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Navarro
D000818:Animals; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D001698:Biomedical Engineering; D003094:Collagen / Q000502:physiology; D003198:Computer Simulation; D004032:Diet / Q000009:adverse effects*; D004548:Elasticity; D005260:Female; D020342:Finite Element Analysis; D017127:Glycation End Products, Advanced / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000633:toxicity; D015416:Maillard Reaction; D008954:Models, Biological; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D013710:Tendons / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D013718:Tensile Strength
D017127:Glycation End Products, Advanced; D003094:Collagen