Dear Parastoo

Biopsy is a minimal surgical intervention that involves making an incision in the skin to obtain small fragments , either of their own skin, peripheral nerves or muscles in order to allow themselves to detailed histological examination , immunohistochemistry or biochemistry.

Biopsies are usually minor procedures and special training is not required . However , if the patient is using drugs that reduce the ability of blood clotting , such as aspirin , warfarin ( Coumadin ) , ticlopidine ( Ticlid ) , clopridrogrel ( Plavix ) , heparin , enoxiparian ( Clexane ) , and corticosteroids ( prednisone , prednisolone , hydrocortisone , dexamethasone and others) is informed professional that will perform the biopsy with a minimum advance of 48 hours in order to take necessary measures according to each case.

In the case of muscle biopsies is recommended not to submit the biopsied muscle to mechanical loads for at least fifteen days.

The procedure in most cases is done under local anesthesia with lidocaine . After the appropriate selection of the muscle biopsy , the skin is cleaned with appropriate antiseptic agents are installed and applied sterile field at the site of the incision anesthetic numbing the skin and subcutaneous tissue.

The removal of the stitches is made between three and 10 days, depending on where the incision was performed skin .

Observing the aseptic techniques and appropriate antisepsis , the use of prophylactic antibiotics is not necessary , except the physician's discretion .

Most biopsied muscles are the biceps in the arms, thigh quadriceps and gastrocnemius muscles in the legs . Other muscles such as the deltoid can be biopsied as indicated

Skeletal muscle fibers contain enzymes that help differentiate the fibers in physiological types , and give information of great importance for the diagnosis . To harness this potential , the fragment of muscle can not be fixed in formalin , because this inactivates the enzyme activity . It is necessary to freeze the muscle , preferably a few minutes after the withdrawal , while cells are alive and intact ultrastructure and enzymatic activity .

During freezing is common - form ice crystals in the tissue , inside and outside the cells The crystals compress cellular structures and can completely disable the material for morphological studies . This problem is avoided if the freeze is very fast ( fractions of a second ) , so it does not form crystals . When the procedure is successful, the muscle structure is better than the paraffin embedding . There is conservation of myofibrils and intermyofibrillary sarcoplasm , or cytoplasm and organelles ( such as mitochondria and sarcoplasmic reticulum ) that ensure the functioning of fiber

Dear Dr. Elias,

Thanks for ur complete response.

What about ligament or tendon? Can I use from a human sample, before and after an 8-week training?

Unfortunately I do not know about this at all ! But I wanna start a research and I need to use such samples. ( a small sample and study its cell mechanics using AFM(atomic force microscopy).

Dear Parastoo

The same

Regards

Dear Parastoo,

I have had several (dozen) muscle biopsies conducted on myself for research and know people who have undergone tendon biopsies.

A much smaller gauge needle is used for tendon vs muscle biopsies. This is a common one: Bard Magnum biopsy instrument and a 14-gauge needle (models MG1522 and MN1410, CR Bard, Covington, GA).

These articles may be of use to you regarding tendon biopsies if you have not already seen them:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11085566?access_num=11085566&link_type=MED&dopt=Abstract

http://jp.physoc.org/content/567/3/1021?ijkey=bf97fae51848df76136bade1bcfd306b449e78a8&keytype2=tf_ipsecsha

http://jap.physiology.org/content/106/2/468

Regards,

James