A comparison of pain responses, hemodynamic reactivity and fibre type composition between Bergström and microbiopsy skeletal muscle biopsies

Abstract

This study tested the hypotheses that 1) skeletal muscle biopsies performed with the Bergström needle evoke larger perceptions of pain and greater hemodynamic reactivity compared to biopsies performed with the microbiopsy needle, and 2) both needles yield samples with similar fibre type compositions when samples are collected at similar skeletal muscle depths. Fourteen healthy (age: 21.6 ± 3.2 years; VO 2 peak: 41.5 ± 5.8 mL/kg/min) males (n = 7) and females (n = 7) provided two resting skeletal muscle biopsies, one with each needle type, following a randomized crossover design. Participants completed the short-form McGill Pain Questionnaire and the Brief Pain Inventory before, during, and after the skeletal muscle biopsies. Hemodynamic reactivity was assessed by measuring heart rate (HR) and mean arterial pressure (MAP) at rest and during the biopsy procedures. Immunofluorescence analysis was used to assess fibre type composition in vastus lateralis samples. Compared to the microbiopsy needle, the Bergström needle elicited a larger perception of pain but similar hemodynamic reactivity during the biopsy. Both needles yielded skeletal muscle samples with similar fibre type composition and resulted in similar perceptions of pain and pain-related interference during the post-biopsy recovery period. Collectively, these findings suggest that studies should consider using the microbiopsy needle rather than the Bergström needle unless large amounts of muscle tissue or certain muscle fibre lengths are required. However, future work should determine whether our findings are generalizable to biopsies performed with different procedures and/or types of Bergström/microbiopsy needles.

Microbiopsy Sampling for Examining Age-Related Differences in Skeletal Muscle Fiber Morphology and Composition

“…It has been suggested that as few as 50 fibers ( McCall et al, 1998 ) is necessary to accurately characterize the sample collected, but depending on the specific fiber type, the need to harvest up to 200 fibers has been reported ( McGuigan et al, 2002 ). Townsend et al (2016) analyzed ∼150 fibers on average in young males using the microbiopsy in a pilot study, but fiber yield is unclear for other studies using this technique ( Hughes et al, 2015 ; Bonafiglia et al, 2020 ). We were able to analyze a few hundred fibers (>500) per microbiopsy sample in a young and older cohort, and a yield of several hundred fibers was possible by combining data from multiple cross-sections of tissue.…”

“…The microbiopsy is an appealing alternative to the Bergström given its smaller needle diameter and decreased level of invasiveness. Indeed, subjects report less pain and a preference for the microbiopsy technique compared to the Bergström ( Hayot et al, 2005 ; Bonafiglia et al, 2020 ). Despite its increasing popularity, there is a paucity of work using the microbiopsy for histological analyses, which is at least partially owed to hesitation regarding the smaller tissue sample reported to range from 14 to 22 mg ( Hayot et al, 2005 ; Hughes et al, 2015 ; Townsend et al, 2016 ).…”

Intramuscular hematoma of the vastus lateralis following percutaneous skeletal muscle microbiopsy: a case report

“…Furthermore, considering the small muscle biopsy sample—when compared to the Bergstrom technique—the percutaneous biopsy technique is not useful for comprehensive histological and molecular assessment. Despite being perceived as less painful compared to the Bergstrom technique (Bonafiglia et al, 2020 ), continued use of the percutaneous muscle biopsy technique should be met with caution.…”

“…Recently, percutaneous microbiopsy needles have been used as an alternative to the Bergstrom needle for obtaining human skeletal muscle biopsy (Hughes et al, 2015 ). Although the microbiopsy technique results in the extraction of a smaller piece of muscle tissue than the Bergstrom needle, it does not require a pre‐biopsy incision of the skin, involves a lower gauge needle and is perceived as being less invasive and painful than the Bergstrom technique (Bonafiglia et al, 2020 ; Hughes et al, 2015 ).…”

Examining interindividual differences in select muscle and whole‐body adaptations to continuous endurance training

“…All three whole‐body aerobic outcomes were assessed during incremental step tests to exhaustion before and after training: was calculated as the highest 30 s average oxygen consumption (collected via gas exchange using a metabolic cart), WR peak was calculated as the highest 30 s average work rate, and OBLA was determined as the work rate during when blood lactate levels exceeded 4.0 mmol/l. Using the Bergström skeletal muscle biopsy technique as previously described (Bonafiglia et al, 2020), vastus lateralis biopsies were collected from the REL and CTRL groups only. Biopsies were collected after an overnight fast (∼12 h) before (pre) and ∼72 h (post) following the final REL session or the end of the no‐exercise control intervention.…”