Objective: to analyze the morphometric and mechanical characteristics of the soleus and gastrocnemius muscles after immobilization in a shortened position. Methods: 20 Wistar rats (250 ± 20g) were divided equally into immobilized and control groups. The left hind limb was immobilized by means of an acrylic resin orthosis, with the ankle joint at maximum plantar flexion. After seven days of immobilization, the muscle mass, number and length of sarcomeres in series, muscle fiber cross-sectional area, density of the intramuscular connective tissue area and tensile strength of the triceps surae muscle were evaluated. The data were analyzed by the ANOVA and Tukey tests (p< 0.05). Results: The immobilized soleus muscle presented changes in all the morphometric variables analyzed, while some of these changes were not observed in the gastrocnemius muscle. Analysis of the mechanical test showed that the immobilized group presented a 20% decrease in the maximum tensile muscle strength. Conclusion: The results from this study showed that short-term immobilization causes changes to the morphometric parameters of the muscle fibers, with repercussions on muscle mechanics. These results suggest the need for rehabilitation of muscles subjected to immobilization, even if only for a short period, in order to achieve early recovery of normal muscle characteristics.

Objective: To compare the effect of electrical stimulation (ES) applied daily and on alternate days, on the area density of the connective tissue (CT) and on the cross-sectional area (CSA) of the denervated muscle fi bers. Methods: Thirty-fi ve rats were divided into the following groups: control (C), denervated (D), denervated + daily electrical stimulation (D+DES) and denervated + alternate-day electrical stimulation (D+ES). The application of ES on the gastrocnemius was started 24 hours after nerve damage of axonotmesis type and was applied for 20 and 30 days. Cross-sections were stained with hematoxylin-eosin to measure the CSA and area density of CT. The statistical analysis consisted of the Shapiro Wilk test followed by analysis of variance (ANOVA) F (one-way) and the Tukey test (p≤ 0.05). Results: Analysis of the area density of CT showed that only the D+DES Group presented values similar to those of the C Group, for the two periods analyzed. There was no difference in CSA in the 20-day Group between the ES Groups and the D Group (p> 0.05). After 30 days, all the experimental groups reached CSA values similar to the C Group. Conclusions: The ES was ineffi cient for minimizing the muscle fi ber atrophy. However, the CT was responsive to ES, and daily applications were more benefi cial for the muscle than were alternate-day applications, thus suggesting that the interval for applying ES to denervated muscle is an important variable for CT adaptation.