| Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools. |
The Effects of Ad Libitum Feeding and Marked Dietary Restriction on Spontaneous Skeletal Muscle Pathology in Sprague–Dawley Rats
1 Merck Sharp & Dohme-Chibret Laboratories, Research Center, Department of Safety Assessment, Clermont-Ferrand Cedex 9, France Correspondence: Address correspondence to: Dr. Sylvain Molon-Noblot, Merck Sharp & Dohme-Chibret Laboratories, Research Center, Department of Safety Assessment, Route de Marsat, Riom 63963, Clermont-Ferrand Cedex 9, France; e-mail: sylvainmolonnoblot{at}merck.com The effects of ad libitum (AL) feeding and marked dietary restriction (DR) on spontaneous age-related skeletal muscle changes in male Sprague–Dawley (SD) rats were evaluated at 1 and 2 years. SD rats were fed Certified UAR A04C Rodent Chow ad libitum (AL), or DR at 50% of AL for (106 weeks). Body weights and organ weights were measured at the 1-year interim and 2-year final necropsies. In addition to the routine histopathologic examination, determination of 5 stereologic parameters was done in the vastus lateralis muscle after histochemistry of ATPase activity at 1 and 2 years. Body and skeletal muscle weights were proportional to the food intake. In AL-fed rats, muscle weights decreased between 1 and 2 years, in correlation with decreased type 2 myofiber numbers. In this group, fibrovascular index markedly increased with aging and muscle degeneration occurred at 2 years. In DR rats, there were no significant changes in muscle weights between 1 and 2 years. No histopathological changes were observed and the fibrovascular index was unchanged. These results demonstrated a protective effect of DR on the age-related skeletal muscle pathology in SD rats.
Key Words: Dietary restriction aging skeletal muscle sarcopenia
Toxicologic Pathology, Vol. 33, No. 5,
600-608 (2005) |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||

