Equine myofascial structures

  • Equine myofascia
    • Characterisation of equine myofascial structures, including myofibroblasts, innervation of myofascia, and types of nerve receptorers present in different parts of the myofascial connective tissue

Characterisation of equine myofascial structures, including myofibroblasts, innervation of myofascia, and types of nerve receptorers present in different parts of the myofascial connective tissue 

Aim: To characterize the equine myofascial structures using molecular and histological methods. This will include identification and characterization of equine myofibroblasts, describing myofascia innervation, and determining the type of nerve receptors present in equine myofascial connective tissue. The results will be compared to previous findings from human studies.

Short description: Dysfunction and dysregulation of the myofascial structures play an important role in a number of debilitating conditions in humans, including back pain, tension headaches, and whip lash injuries. Myofascial release techniques known from human practice are used by manual therapists to treat back- and neck pain in horses. There are a number of studies available on myofascia in humans, but we know almost nothing about the equine myofascial structures. The purpose of this study is to characterize the equine myofascia and thereby provide new evidence to the field of myofascia.

Investigators: Vibeke Sødring Elbrønd, Lise C. Berg

Time frame: February 2015 - December 2015

Funding: Hesteafgiftsfonden, Videnscentret for Landbrug, Heste: http://www.hesteafgiftsfonden.dk

Illustration of myofascia sampling sites on horse

Figure: Myofascia sampling sites at junction sites (green), articulations (red), and 'neutral' regions (yellow) (modified from König & Liebich, 2004)