Course: Anatomy & Physiology II
Code: GNS 121
Topic: MUSCULAR SYSTEM
Muscle also called muscle fibres are specialised contractile tissue. Derived from the mesodermal
layer of embryonic germ cells, they brings about the movements of organs and body as whole.
Types of muscles
There are three types of muscles (based on structure, location and function)
1. Skeletal muscle
2. Cardiac muscle
3. Smooth muscle
Classification of muscles
Smooth muscle and cardiac muscle are not under voluntary control and are called involuntary
muscles Skeletal muscles on the other hand are under voluntary control and are also known as
voluntary muscle; they are attached to bones via their tendons. Cardiac and skeletal muscles are
striated muscles because their characteristic stripes appearance. However, muscles generally
have the characteristics or properties of contractility and extensibility, irritability and elasticity.
The skeletal muscle fibers are classified mainly into two types:
1. Red (type I) fibers
2. White (type II) fibers
Red fibers are slow twitch fibers, i.e. their speed of contraction is slow but more sustained. They
are not easily fatigue e.g. long muscles of the back. White fibers on the other hand are fast
twitch fibers, i.e. their speed of contraction is fast but less sustained. They are easily fatigued e.g.
extraocular muscles of the eyeball.
Skeletal muscle
Skeletal muscles are the most abundant muscles in the body and are attached to bones via their
tendons. With over 600 muscles skeletal muscles account for 40–50% of the body weight in an
adult. One skeletal muscle may contain hundreds of thousands of muscle fibres and blood vessels
and nerves supplying it.
The entire muscle bundle is covered in a connective tissue sheath called the epimysium. Within
the muscle the cells are collected into separate bundles called fascicles, and each fascicle is
covered in its own connective tissue sheath called the perimysium. Within the fascicles, the
individual muscle cells are each wrapped in a fine connective tissue layer called the
endomysium. Each of these connective tissue layers runs the length of the muscle and blend
together at each end of the muscle to form the tendon.
Muscle often end as tendon which is rope-like but sometimes it forms a broad sheet called an
aponeurosis, e.g. the occipitofrontalis muscle. The fleshy part of the muscle is called the belly.
Microscopic structure of skeletal muscle
When skeletal muscle is processed and view under the microscope, the muscle cells appear
roughly cylindrical in shape, lying parallel to one another, with a distinctive banded appearance
consisting of alternate dark and light stripes. Individual fibres may be very long, up to 35cm in
the longest muscles e.g in the Sartorius muscle. Unlike other body cells, Each skeletal muscle
cell has several nuclei under the cell membrane (the sarcolemma) The cytoplasm of muscle cells,
also called sarcoplasm, has many mitochondria and is packed with tiny contractile filaments
running longitudinally along the length of the muscle. Also present within the sarcoplasm are
myoglobin, which is similar to the haemoglobin. In addition, there are extensive intracellular
stores of calcium, which is released into the sarcoplasm when the muscle is stimulated by its
motor nerve and is essential for the contractile activity of the myofilaments.
Actin, myosin and sarcomeres
There are two types of contractile myofilament within the muscle fibre. These are thick and thin
filaments. And they are arranged in repeating units called sarcomeres.
The thick filaments correspond to the dark bands and are made of the protein myosin. While the
thin filaments correspond to light/lighter bands and are made of the protein actin.
The contractile unit of muscle fibre is called sarcomere. Sarcomere are bounded at each end by a
dense stripe, the Z line, to which the actin fibres are attached (See image above). Running up the
middle of the sarcomere is the M line, with the myosin filaments projecting out from each side of
it. The ends of the myosin filaments overlap with the ends of the actin filaments. This is essential
so that they can bind to one another for contraction to occur.
Organization of connective tissue within skeletal muscle
Principle/mechanism of muscle contraction
For contraction to occur, first acetylcholine (Ach) is release at the neuromuscular junction to
generates action potential that spreads rapidly along the muscle cell membrane/sarcolemma and
sink into the cytoplasm/sarcoplasm.
This will consequently cause the release of calcium from the intracellular stores, which triggers
the binding of actin and myosin to each other, forming so-called cross-bridges between them. At
this point energy (ATP) split to provide the energy for actin and myosin filaments to slide over
each other, pulling the Z lines at each end of the sarcomere closer to one another and shortening
it. This is called the sliding filament theory. If enough fibres in the muscle are stimulated at the
same time, the whole muscle undergoes a degree of shortening. The greater the number of
individual fibres stimulated, the greater the degree of shortening (contraction).
The muscle relaxes when motor nerve stimulation stops. Calcium is pumped back into its
intracellular stores, breaking the cross-bridges between the actin and myosin filaments and the
filament slide back into their resting positions, lengthening the sarcomere and returning the
muscle to its original length.
The Neuromuscular junction
The junction between the terminal end of axon and sarcolemma of a muscle fiber is called
neuromuscular junction. Normally, the terminal end is not covered by Schwann sheath so that the
neurotransmitter, acetylcholine can easily be released into the synaptic cleft. The acetylcholine
then stimulate the contraction of skeletal muscle as described in the principle above.
When a muscle fibre contracts, it obeys the all-or-none law, i.e the whole fibre either contracts
completely or does not
contract at all. However, the degree of contraction depends on the number of fibres within it that
are contracting at any one time and how often they are stimulated. Muscle tone is a sustained,
partial muscle contraction that allows maintenance of posture without fatiguing the muscles
involved. For example, keeping the head upright requires constant activity of the muscles of the
neck and shoulders. However, muscle fatigue occurs when a muscle works at a level that exceeds
oxygen and glucose supplies. The chemical energy (ATP) that muscles require is usually derived
from the breakdown of carbohydrate and fat.
Muscle fatigue occurs when a muscle fibre can no longer contract despite continued neural
stimulation and occurs as a result of the oxygen debt that occurs during prolonged muscle
activity.
Some principal skeletal muscles
Every one of the body’s skeletal muscles is attached at a minimum of two points to bone or other
connective tissue. The proximal point of a muscle is often describe as it origin while it distal end
is the insertion. The origin of a muscle is on the stationary bone where it begins, and the muscle
ends at an insertion on the bone that moves.
Muscles can be named according to size, shape, location and number of origins, associated
bones and the action of the muscle. The body’s skeletal muscles can be divided into four areas:
• Head and neck muscles
• Muscles of the upper limbs (shoulder, arm, forearm)
• Trunk (thorax and abdomen)
• Muscles of the lower limbs (hip, pelvis/thigh, leg).
Functions of skeletal muscles
The muscular system plays four important roles in the body namely; maintains posture, produces
movement, stabilises joints, protection of internal organs and generates heat.
Applied anatomy/clinical correlate
1. Intramuscular injection: An intramuscular (IM) injection is given directly into a
selected muscle, and while there are several sites on the body that are suitable for IM
injections, the most common areas used are:
• the deltoid muscle of the upper arm;
• the vastus lateralis muscle, which forms part of the quadriceps muscle group of the thigh
• the gluteus medius (ventrogluteal site) muscle, which runs beneath the gluteus maximus
2. Muscular dystrophy: Muscular dystrophy is a broad term applied to an inherited group
of disorders that destroy the muscles by causing muscle fibres to degenerate, shrink in
size and eventually die. The muscle fibres that die are replaced with fat and connective
tissue. The most common form of the disease is Duchenne’s muscular dystrophy and
occurs predominantly in males and manifests between the ages of 2 and 6 years.
Assignment
In a tabular form, list the site and muscles involved in intermuscular injection of vaccine
/immunization in the following
1. Neonate
2. Infant
3. Adult
Mr. Olayi D.O
18/8/2024