The relationship between myodural bridges, hyperplasia of the suboccipital musculature, and intracranial pressure

PLoS One. 2022 Sep 2;17(9):e0273193. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0273193. eCollection 2022.

Abstract

During mammalian evolution, the Myodural Bridges (MDB) have been shown to be highly conserved anatomical structures. However, the putative physiological function of these structures remains unclear. The MDB functionally connects the suboccipital musculature to the cervical spinal dura mater, while passing through the posterior atlanto-occipital and atlanto-axial interspaces. MDB transmits the tensile forces generated by the suboccipital muscles to the cervical dura mater. Moreover, head movements have been shown to be an important contributor to human CSF circulation. In the present study, a 16-week administration of a Myostatin-specific inhibitor, ACE-031, was injected into the suboccipital musculature of rats to establish an experimental animal model of hyperplasia of the suboccipital musculature. Using an optic fiber pressure measurement instrument, the present authors observed a significant increase in intracranial pressure (ICP) while utilizing the hyperplasia model. In contrast, surgically severing the MDB connections resulted in a significant decrease in intracranial pressure. Thus, these results indicated that muscular activation of the MDB may affect CSF circulation, suggesting a potential functional role of the MDB, and providing a new research perspective on CSF dynamics.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Dura Mater / physiology
  • Humans
  • Hyperplasia
  • Intracranial Pressure*
  • Mammals
  • Neck
  • Neck Muscles*
  • Rats

Grants and funding

“Grant sponsor: This work was supported by the young scientist’s foundation of Liaoning provincial department of education (507058); Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC31871213, NSFC31571234, NSFC32071184). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.