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Title: Effect of cleft palate repair on the susceptibility to contraction-induced injury of single permeabilized muscle fibers from congenitally-clefted goat palates.

Author
item RADER, ERIK - UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
item CEDERNA, PAUL - UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
item MCCLELLAN, WILLIAM - DUKE UNIVERSITY MED. CTR
item CATERSON, STEPHANIE - BETH ISRAEL DEACONESS HOS
item Panter, Kip
item YU, DEBORAH - UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
item BUCHMAN, STEVEN - UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
item LARKIN, LISA - UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
item FAULKNER, JOHN - UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
item WEINZWEIG, JEFFREY - LAHEY CLINIC MED CTR

Submitted to: Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Journal
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/1/2007
Publication Date: 3/1/2008
Citation: Rader, E.P., Cederna, P.S., Mcclellan, W.T., Caterson, S.A., Panter, K.E., Yu, D., Buchman, S.R., Larkin, L.M., Faulkner, J.A., Weinzweig, J. 2008. Effect of Cleft Palate Repair on the Susceptibility to Contraction-Induced Injury of Single Permeabilized Muscle Fibers from Congenitally-Clefted Goat Palates. Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Journal. 45(2):113-120. DOI:10.1597/06-171.1

Interpretive Summary: A plant-induced cleft palate goat model was used to evaluate and compare age based surgical methods of cleft palate repair. Cleft palate repair surgery at a young age (2 months) in the goat model was effective at decreasing the percentage of injury-susceptible type 2 fibers to injury-resistant type 1 fibers when compared to surgery in older goats. Because fiber-type transformations appear to be necessary for changes in injury susceptibility, perhaps the success of repair is dependent on age. The implication then would be to repair palates in children earlier to promote fiber-type conversions to type 1 fibers. Further investigation of the factors that predispose muscle fibers to convert to type 1 fibers following surgery may help to decrease the percentage of type 2 fibers that remain and improve palatal movement and decrease the incidence of post surgical velopharyngeal incompetence.

Technical Abstract: Despite cleft palate repair, velopharyngeal competence is not achieved in ~ 15% of patients, often necessitating secondary surgical correction. Velopharyngeal competence postrepair may require the conversion of levator veli palatini muscle fibers from injury-susceptible type 2 fibers to injury-resistant type 1 fibers. As an initial step to determining the validity of this theory, we tested the hypothesis that, in most cases, repair induces the transformation to type 1 fibers, thus diminishing susceptibility to injury. Single permeabilized levator veli palatini muscle fibers were obtained from normal palates and nonrepaired congenitally-clefted palates of young (2months old) and adult (14 to 15 months old) goats and from repaired palates of adult goats (8 months old). Repair was done at 2 months of age using a modified von Langenbeck technique. Fiber type was determined by contractile properties and susceptibility to injury was assessed by force deficit, the decrease in maximum force following a lengthening contraction protocol expressed as a percentage of initial force. For normal palates and cleft palates of young goats, the majority of the fibers were type 2 with force deficits of ~ 40%. Following repair, 80% of the fibers were type 1 with force deficits of 20% plus or minus 2%; these deficits were 45% of those for nonrepaired cleft palates of adult goats (p > .0001). The decrease in the percentage of type 2 fibers and susceptibility to injury may be important for the development of a functional levator veli palatini muscle postrepair.