THE MUSCLE

Presented by
Dr.Zahoor Alam
Introduction
• Muscle is a contractile tissue that produces movement.

• The muscle is derived from MUS which means mouse.

• They are named so because they resemble a mouse.

• They are the motors of the body.

Functions of muscle
• Mobility

• Stability

• Posture

• Heat production

• Organ protection
Classification of muscles

• Striated muscles

• Non striated muscles

Striated muscles

• Skeletal muscles

• Cardiac muscles
Striated muscles
• These muscles have characteristic light and dark bands.

• These muscles are present in limbs, body walls, tongue,

pharynx and beginning of esophagus.

• These can be multinucleated or uninucleated.

• Striated muscles can be voluntary or involuntary.

• These muscles contract rapidly.

Non striated muscles
• These muscles have no light and dark bands.

• They are involuntary muscles and make the walls of blood

vessels and present in esophagus, urogenital tract,

urinary bladder, iris of eye, arrector pilli muscle.

• The cells of these muscles are uninucleated.

• They contract slowly.

Skeletal muscles
• Makes the flesh or meat of animals.

• Nerve supply is from motor nerve

which is mixed nerve consisting of

Motor and sensory fibers.

Parts of skeletal muscles
• Two ends:
✓ Origin
✓ Insertion

• Two parts:
✓ Fleshy part is contractile and is called belly.
✓ Fibrous part is non contractile and inelastic and is called tendon.
Connective Tissue Covering Skeletal
Muscle
• Epimysium
• Surrounds entire muscle
• Perimysium
• Surrounds bundles of muscle fibers
• Fascicles

• Endomysium
• Surrounds individual muscle fibers
Structure of a muscle
Microstructure of
Skeletal Muscle

• Sarcolemma: Muscle cell membrane

• Myofibrils Threadlike strands within muscle fibers
• Actin (thin filament)
• Myosin (thick filament)
• Sarcomere
• Z-line, M-line, H-zone, A-band & I-band
 Epimysium
Tendon Perimysium

Muscle
fasciculi

Endomysium

Skeletal
muscle
Muscle
bundle
• Each muscle is composed of muscle fasciculi which are
bundles of muscle fibers.
• Muscle fibers are multinucleated, cross striated cylindrical
cells.
• Cell membrane sarcolemma
• Cytoplasm sarcoplasm
• The sarcoplasm contains nuclei and myofibrils.
• Nuclei are arranged around the periphery and myofibrils
are scattered in the sarcoplasm.
• Myofibrils have dark and light bands.
• A – band, I – band, Z – discs
Within the
Sarcoplasm
Structure of myofibril
• Composed of myofilaments.
• Myofilaments are of two types ;
I. Thin or actin filaments
II. Thick or myosin filaments

• Actin two strands of G-actin twisted in helical

manner. Tropomyosin and troponin.
SLOW AND FAST MUSCLE FIBERS
Type 1 (slow fibers)
• Present in postural muscles.
• These are red in color because of large amounts of
myoglobin. The fibres rich in mitochondria and oxydative
enzymes.
• Aerobic metabolism
• Fatigue resistant.
• e.g. Gluteus maximus muscle
 TYPE 2 (FAST FIBERS)
• Present in the muscles required for body movements
• These are paler in color because of small amounts of
myoglobin poor in mitochondia and oxydative enzymes.
• Glycolytic respiration
• Fatigue easily.

INTERMEDIATE FIBERS
• Type of fast fibers which are resistant to fatigue.
Classification of skeletal muscles
• According to fascicular architecture
• According to function
ACCORDING TO FASCICULAR
ARCHITECTURE
A. Parallel fasciculi
B. Oblique fasciculi
C. Spiral fasciculi
Parallel fasciculi
• The muscle fasciculi are arranged parallel to the line of

pull. This type of muscles are more concerned to the

movements. The muscles can be ;
I. Quadrilateral (thyrohyoid)

II. Strap like (sartorius)

III. Strap like with tendinous intersections (rectus abdominis)

IV. Fusiform (digastric and biceps)

Oblique fasciculi
• In these muscles, muscle fasciculi are arranged obliquely
to the line of pull. These muscles are more powerful than
muscles with parallel fasciculi.
• These muscles can be;
I. Triangular ( temporalis)
II. Unipennate (extensor digitorum longus)
III. Bipennate ( rectus femoris)
IV. Multipennate (deltoid)
V. Circumpennate (tibialis anterior)
Spiral fasciculi
• Spiral fibers are found in trapezius, pectoralis major,
latissmus dorsi etc.
• In cruciate muscles, fasciculi are crossed.
According to function
• Agonist
• Antagonist
• Synergists
• Fixators
 Types of muscle action •

Agonists • Antagonists • Synergists • Fixators •

Prime movers • Conjoint •

Stabilizers •
Secondary movers •

Neutralizers •

Around •
On another joint •
The target joint •
Types of muscle actions or functions:
Agonists:
agonists are the muscles which contract to perform a certain action and they
include:
a) Prime movers:
Muscles which make the major contribution in any contraction ( e.g.
iliopsoas in hip flexion movement).
b) Secondary movers:
Muscles which cross the same joint but make less contribution in the
movement. They are also called accessory or assisted movers. They act
sometimes as prime movers when the force required increases or paralysis
occurs (e.g. Sartorius in hip flexion).
• Antagonists:
They are muscles which oppose the prime movers as they relax and
lengthen progressively to allow agonists to move. Therefore, the
movement is controlled . For every action, there are agonists and
antagonists (e.g. Gluteus maximus is antagonist for iliopsoas).

• Synergists:
• Synergists are muscles that work together in a close cooperation as
they either contract or relax to modify the action of the agonist.
Their aims are:
1) To make the agonist stronger
2) To eliminate the action of undesired movement.
They may alter the direction of pull and that depends on their power
in relation to the agonist muscle.
Types of Synergists:
• Conjoint.
• Neutralizer.
• Stabilizer.

a) Conjoint:
• They are the two muscles acting together to produce a
certain movement which neither of them could produce it
alone. They are considered as prime movers of agonists and
they are parallel to each other.
• E.g. tibialis anterior and peroneous latriolus work together to
produce dorsiflexion.
b) Neutralizer:
They are the muscles that neutralize or cancel the undesired action of other
muscles of prime movers or secondary movers.
This is more apparent in two- joint muscles which pass across more than one
joint and they are capable of performing more than one action which are
not needed, so the other muscles or neutralizers must contract to
counteract the undesired movement.
• Stabilizers:
Stabilizers are the muscles that surround the proximal joint. They contract
and become firm to allow distal joint to move smoothly. Their contraction is
generally isometric
• Fixators:
Fixators are the muscles which contract in both agonists and antagonists
simultaneously and that occur especially under stress conditions.
➢ The tension will develop inside both groups of muscles to prevent any degree
of freedom. That occurs in normal physiological conditions during strenuous
effort and increased demand (e.g. during standing on one leg).
Properties of Skeletal Muscles
• Irritability : is the ability of the muscle to respond to stimulus.

• Contracility: is the capacity of the muscle to produce tension between

it’s ends.

• Relaxation: is the opposite of contraction and is the giving up of

tension. Both contraction and relaxation progress from zero to maximal
values over a finite time.

• Distensibility: is the ability of the muscle to be stretched or lengthened

up to a certain limit by an outside force; e.g. pull of an antagonist
muscle, of gravity or by an opponent. The muscle suffers no harm so
long as it is not stretched beyond its physiological limits.

• Elasticity: is the ability of the muscle to recoil to its original length

when an outside force is removed unless it has been overstretched.
Blood supply of skeletal muscles
• Muscles are supplied by arterial blood by the muscular
branches of neighboring arteries. Each muscles receives
a principal artery which enters on he deep surface of the
muscles.
Nomenclature
• Muscles are named according to ;

I. Shape (trapezius, rhomboids)

II. Number of heads of origin (biceps, triceps, digastric)
III. Gross structure (semitendinosus)
IV. Location (temporalis, supraspinatus)
V. Attachments (stylohoid, cricothyroid)
VI. Action (adductor longus, abductor pollicis longus)
VII. Directions of fibers (transverse abdominis)
Clinical anatomy
• Paralysis
• Muscular spasm
• Disuse atrophy and hypertrophy
• Hyperplasia
• Myasthenia gravis
• Polymyositis
• Fibrillation
• Angina pectoris
• Myocardial infarction