Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

A morphometrical comparison of right and left whole human vastus lateralis muscle: how to reduce sampling errors in biopsy techniques

Lexell, Jan LU and Taylor, C C (1991) In Clinical Physiology 11(3). p.271-276
Abstract
In studies of the effects of different training programmes, one muscle--most commonly the vastus lateralis--is used for the experiment while the contralateral muscle serves as a control, at the same time as muscle biopsies are taken from both sides. In order to increase the reliability of such studies, the sources and the magnitude of the sampling errors in the biopsy techniques need to be assessed in detail. In this study, cross-sections of whole right and left vastus lateralis muscle from six young sedentary right-handed men were prepared, and the total number and size of fibres and the proportion of the different fibre types were calculated. A significant difference (P less than 0.05-P less than 0.001) between the right and the left... (More)
In studies of the effects of different training programmes, one muscle--most commonly the vastus lateralis--is used for the experiment while the contralateral muscle serves as a control, at the same time as muscle biopsies are taken from both sides. In order to increase the reliability of such studies, the sources and the magnitude of the sampling errors in the biopsy techniques need to be assessed in detail. In this study, cross-sections of whole right and left vastus lateralis muscle from six young sedentary right-handed men were prepared, and the total number and size of fibres and the proportion of the different fibre types were calculated. A significant difference (P less than 0.05-P less than 0.001) between the right and the left muscle was found for at least one of the three variables in each of the six men, but there was no systematic difference and, therefore, no significant right-left difference for the whole group. The maximum difference between the right and the left side for the mean fibre size was 25% and for the fibre type proportion 5%; these differences are much smaller than the known variation within individual muscles. In conclusion, any study involving biopsies from both the right and the left vastus lateralis may use either muscle for the experiment while the contralateral muscle serves as a control without leading to systematic sampling error, whereas the errors involved in taking small samples from each muscle are much more important to control and to reduce. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
microtomy, human, histocytochemistry, statistics, reference values, cell counts, Biopsy
in
Clinical Physiology
volume
11
issue
3
pages
271 - 276
publisher
John Wiley & Sons Inc.
external identifiers
  • pmid:1893684
  • scopus:0025780053
ISSN
1365-2281
DOI
10.1111/j.1475-097X.1991.tb00458.x
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
d9a6a05a-8ed4-47c2-96ab-6ff943fd81b7 (old id 1105987)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 12:25:44
date last changed
2021-07-18 05:47:44
@article{d9a6a05a-8ed4-47c2-96ab-6ff943fd81b7,
  abstract     = {{In studies of the effects of different training programmes, one muscle--most commonly the vastus lateralis--is used for the experiment while the contralateral muscle serves as a control, at the same time as muscle biopsies are taken from both sides. In order to increase the reliability of such studies, the sources and the magnitude of the sampling errors in the biopsy techniques need to be assessed in detail. In this study, cross-sections of whole right and left vastus lateralis muscle from six young sedentary right-handed men were prepared, and the total number and size of fibres and the proportion of the different fibre types were calculated. A significant difference (P less than 0.05-P less than 0.001) between the right and the left muscle was found for at least one of the three variables in each of the six men, but there was no systematic difference and, therefore, no significant right-left difference for the whole group. The maximum difference between the right and the left side for the mean fibre size was 25% and for the fibre type proportion 5%; these differences are much smaller than the known variation within individual muscles. In conclusion, any study involving biopsies from both the right and the left vastus lateralis may use either muscle for the experiment while the contralateral muscle serves as a control without leading to systematic sampling error, whereas the errors involved in taking small samples from each muscle are much more important to control and to reduce.}},
  author       = {{Lexell, Jan and Taylor, C C}},
  issn         = {{1365-2281}},
  keywords     = {{microtomy; human; histocytochemistry; statistics; reference values; cell counts; Biopsy}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{3}},
  pages        = {{271--276}},
  publisher    = {{John Wiley & Sons Inc.}},
  series       = {{Clinical Physiology}},
  title        = {{A morphometrical comparison of right and left whole human vastus lateralis muscle: how to reduce sampling errors in biopsy techniques}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-097X.1991.tb00458.x}},
  doi          = {{10.1111/j.1475-097X.1991.tb00458.x}},
  volume       = {{11}},
  year         = {{1991}},
}