Figure 2.

Disuse atrophy following 2 months of TTX blockade Bar chart illustrating average values of soleus muscle cross-sectional area from experiments in which TTX or saline cuffs were placed on the posterior tibial nerve of one side (for all bars, n = 4 animals). These data were obtained from the soleus muscles of the same animals used in the main series of experiments. In these experiments, motor axons supplying the soleus nerve remained intact because only the MG component of the posterior tibial nerve was crushed. Mean soleus muscle cross-sectional area was significantly decreased (P < 0.01) on sides on which TTX cuffs were placed compared with the contralateral muscle but not significantly different from normal on sides in which saline cuffs were placed. Cross-sectional areas for each muscle represent the average of 5 sections taken at midbelly.