ReviewFrontiers in physiology2018
Alterations in Leg Extensor Muscle-Tendon Unit Biomechanical Properties With Ageing and Mechanical Loading.
Review in Frontiers in physiology, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 31 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
31 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Maximal Lower Limb Strength in Patellar Tendinopathy: A Systematic Review With Meta-Analysis.Journal of athletic training · 2024Pooled it
- Mechanical, Material and Morphological Adaptations of Healthy Lower Limb Tendons to Mechanical Loading: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2022Pooled it
- Trial
- Gastrocnemius medialis muscle-tendon behavior during eccentric exercise in young and active older adults.GeroScience · 2026Article
- Sarcopenia beyond muscle: endocrine-metabolic regulation and inter-tissue crosstalk across the muscle-tendon unit.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2026Review
- Targeting dyspnoea through exercise intensity: insights from pulmonary rehabilitation and beyond, a narrative review.Frontiers in rehabilitation sciences · 2026Review
- Physical Impairments in People With Gout: A Scoping Review.Musculoskeletal care · 2025Article
- ESWT is able to change macromorphological and micromorphological parameters in patellar tendinopathy: a prospective cohort study.International journal of surgery (London, England) · 2025Article
- Observational
- Tendon mechanobiology in the context of tendon biofabrication.Frontiers in bioengineering and biotechnology · 2025Review
- Acute fatiguing effects and biomechanical characteristics of a single bout eccentric quasi-isometric resistance exercise of ankle plantar flexors.Frontiers in bioengineering and biotechnology · 2025Article
- Effects of minute oscillation stretching training on muscle and tendon stiffness and walking capability in people with type 2 diabetes.European journal of applied physiology · 2025Article
- Individual joint contributions to forward propulsion are not related to stability during walking in young or older adults.Gait & posture · 2024Article
- The effects of plantarflexor weakness and reduced tendon stiffness with aging on gait stability.PloS one · 2024Article
- Effect of Aging on Tendon Biology, Biomechanics and Implications for Treatment Approaches.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Review
- Ankle Joint Angle Influences Relative Torque Fluctuation during Isometric Plantar Flexion.Bioengineering (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Differences in the cross-sectional area along the ankle tendons with both age and sex.Journal of anatomy · 2023Article
- Understanding altered contractile properties in advanced age: insights from a systematic muscle modelling approach.Biomechanics and modeling in mechanobiology · 2023Article
- Foundational Principles and Adaptation of the Healthy and Pathological Achilles Tendon in Response to Resistance Exercise: A Narrative Review and Clinical Implications.Journal of clinical medicine · 2022Review
- Role of Knee and Ankle Extensors' Muscle-Tendon Properties in Dynamic Balance Recovery from a Simulated Slip.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Tendons transfer forces produced by muscle to the skeletal system and can therefore have a large influence on movement effectiveness and safety. Tendons are mechanosensitive, meaning that they adapt their material, morphological and hence their mechanical properties in response to mechanical loading. Therefore, unloading due to immobilization or inactivity could lead to changes in tendon mechanical properties. Additionally, ageing may influence tendon biomechanical properties directly, as a result of biological changes in the tendon, and indirectly, due to reduced muscle strength and physical activity. This review aimed to examine age-related differences in human leg extensor (triceps surae and quadriceps femoris) muscle-tendon unit biomechanical properties. Additionally, this review aimed to assess if, and to what extent mechanical loading interventions could counteract these changes in older adults. There appear to be consistent reductions in human triceps surae and quadriceps femoris muscle strength, accompanied by similar reductions in tendon stiffness and elastic modulus with ageing, whereas the effect on tendon cross sectional area is unclear. Therefore, the observed age-related changes in tendon stiffness are predominantly due to changes in tendon material rather than size with age. However, human tendons appear to retain their mechanosensitivity with age, as intervention studies report alterations in tendon biomechanical properties in older adults of similar magnitudes to younger adults over 12-14 weeks of training. Interventions should implement tendon strains corresponding to high mechanical loads (i.e., 80-90% MVC) with repetitive loading for up to 3-4 months to successfully counteract age-related changes in leg extensor muscle-tendon unit biomechanical properties.
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Registered trials
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