Starvation changes and sebsequent recovery of adult beef muscle

Abstract

Two pairs of identical twin steers and six other adult cattle were killed, and their carcasses and tissues examined as necessary to study: (a) the muscle changes resulting from severe weight loss from starvation; (b) the reversability of such changes, as shown at various stages in recovery of the animals' weight.Decrease in the cross-sectional area of muscle following starvation was associated with reduction in muscle fibre diameter. There was no suggestion of the complete loss of any fibres; thus, with regain of live weight, recovery both of whole-muscle dimensions and muscle fibre diameter, appeared to be complete.