Gerontologische Untersuchungen an Rattenherz-mitochondrien

Abstract

In the total number of 19,023 cardiac mitochondria taken from 23 Sprague-Dawley rats 5 months old and from 21 rats 20-21 months old, the number of mitochondria per unit of cell section area, the section area of the individual mitochondria and the total section area of mitochondria in per cent of the cell section area were determined by means of electron microscopy. It was established with the t-test that, in the case of the old animals, the number of mitochondria per unit of cell section area was significantly greater, but the individual section areas of mitochondria were significantly smaller than in the case of young animals. The total section area of mitochondria in per cent of the cell section area failed to show any statistically reliable difference between the young and the old animals. The variance analysis showed that the significant causes of scatter within the groups yielded a scatter between the animals, and within an animal, a scatter between the plates.