Effects of disuse and nerve stump length on the development of fibrillation in denervated soleus muscle.

Both in normal (control) and in cordotomized (disused) rats, the soleus muscle was denervated either by cutting the sciatic nerve near the trochanter (proximal denervation) or by cutting the soleus nerve near the insertion into the muscle (distal denervation). In the control muscles, the development of fibrillation was not dependent on the level of nerve section. In disused muscles, the development of fibrillation was greater following distal denervation that following the proximal one.