In vivo measurement of hindlimb neuromuscular function in mice.

Introduction: In vitro or in situ methods to assess neuromuscular performance in rodents are invasive and inadequate to fully assess large hindlimb muscles.

Methods: An in vivo hindlimb exertion force test (HEFT) was developed to quantify muscle function peak force (PF), peak rate of force development (PRFD), and short- and long-latency reaction times (SLRT and LLRT, respectively) in C57BL/6J mice.

Results: PF did not change with one- and three-times-per-week repeated HEFT trials, demonstrating assessment reproducibility.