Aspects of Ischemia-Induced Nonlinearity in the Muscle Force-Frequency Relationship: A Biomechanical In Situ Analysis
D. Zavodovskyi
, O. Lehedza
, N. Semenuk
Abstract: Objective: To evaluate the impact of 3-hour acute ischemia on the biomechanical parameters and fatigue kinetics of the rat gastrocnemius muscle across a range of physiological activation frequencies. Materials and methods: Ischemia was induced via surgical compression of the femoral artery in Wistar rats. Contractile activity was elicited through transneural stimulation of the sciatic nerve using a protocol of 20 consecutive trials, each incorporating sequential low, intermediate, and high-frequency stimulation phases. Linear Mixed-Effects Models (LMM) were utilized to analyze the hierarchical data and determine the rate of fatigue. Results: Ischemia caused a significant global reduction in total mechanical work (AUC, p = 0.023) and Peak Force (p = 0.007). A critical frequency-dependent failure was identified: at high frequency, profound metabolic exhaustion occurred (AUC deficit of -22.3%), whereas at low frequency, muscle function was largely preserved. At intermediate frequency, ischemic muscles exhibited transient post-tetanic potentiation followed by rapid exhaustion. Conclusion: Acute ischemia fundamentally alters the muscle's biomechanical response to activation patterns, emphasizing strict constraints on anaerobic ATP resynthesis and calcium homeostasis during acute hypoxic stress. These findings substantiate the necessity of utilizing low-frequency loading regimes in clinical electromyostimulation and rehabilitation protocols for patients with ischemic disorders.
Series on Biomechanics, Vol.40, No. 2 (2026), 15-26
DOI: 10.7546/SB.40.02.02.2026
Keywords: acute ischemia; area under the curve; linear mixed-effects models; Muscle biomechanics; muscle fatigue
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| Date published: 2026-07-17
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