THE RESPIRATORY METABOLISM OF ATROPHIC MUSCLE

Abstract

The O consumption of isolated strips of atrophic gastrocnemii of rats, 7, 14, 21 and 28 days after denervation, showed no significant variation from the O consumption rates of control muscles, perhaps because the loss of weight in muscular atrophy due to denervation is chiefly in cytoplasm and any absolute decrease in O consumption caused thereby is compensated by the coincident increase of nuclei per unit weight. The rate of glyco-genolysis and lactic acid formation during 30 min. anaerobic autolysis was the same for control and 3- and 7-day atrophy muscles. The succinodehydrase activity of extracts prepared from denervated muscles was about 50% less than that of similar extracts prepared from control muscles.