Comparison of tail-suspension and sciatic nerve crush on the musculoskeletal system in young-adult mice.

Musculoskeletal unloading and disuse result in significant muscle and bone loss. These phenomena can be modeled using sciatic nerve crush or tail-suspension. Mature animals eliminate the complication of growth superimposed on bone and muscle loss. In the current study, young-adult (12-week old male) C57BL/6J mice were subjected to sciatic nerve crush (NC; n = 9) or tail-suspension (TS; n = 9) for 14 days, with a normal ambulatory control (n = 10). The soleus, gastrocnemius, and EDL muscles were collected and weighed at sacrifice. Femurs were analyzed in three-point bending for stiffness, elastic force and maximum force. Muscle masses in tail suspended mice were reduced by 41.9% (p < 0.001), 17.5% (p < 0.001), and 9.1% (N.S.) for the soleus, gastrocnemius, and EDL, respectively. In NC mice, muscle masses were reduced by 18.6% (p = 0.004), 37.2% (p < 0.001), and 22.5% (p = 0.003). Femur stiffness, elastic and maximum forces were reduced by 20.9% (p = 0.014), 14.7% (N.S.), and 11.6% (N.S.) in TS, compared to NC where masses were reduced by 15.5% (p = 0.022), 0.2% (N.S.) and 11.2% (N.S.) in the crushed leg compared to the contralateral control. NC resulted in a greater reduction of muscle mass in the gastrocnemius and EDL muscle; whereas tail-suspension had a greater effect on the soleus. Tail-suspension had the greatest effect on bone mechanical properties. When comparing these results to actual spaceflight data, it appears as though TS most closely models muscle loss, and NC most closely models changes in bone mechanical properties. These unloading models have tissue-specific effects that impact their applications for musculoskeletal research.