Fig 1. Experimental muscle injury disrupts myofiber architecture and causes marked influx of inflammatory cells.

Mice underwent the eccentric contraction (EC) exercise regimen as described in Methods. At 24 hr post-EC, animals were euthanized and both left and right tibialis anterior (TA) muscles were harvested post-mortem for routine histopathology. One representative animal of 3 is depicted. The exercised muscle, but not the control TA, displays destruction of normal muscle architecture and a marked inflammatory cell influx. These pathologies, and the corresponding reduction in muscle force, are accepted criteria that define muscle injury.