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Muscle fibre types and their distribution in the biceps and triceps brachii of the rat and rabbit

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 February 1998

I. FUENTES
Affiliation:
Department of Morphological Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Odontology, University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain
A. R. COBOS
Affiliation:
Department of Morphological Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Odontology, University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain
L. A. G. SEGADE
Affiliation:
Department of Morphological Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Odontology, University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain
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Abstract

Muscle fibre type composition and distribution in the biceps brachii (long head) and triceps brachii (long head) of the rat and rabbit were investigated using the following histochemical techniques: myosin ATPase, with preincubation at pH 10.4 and 4.35; succinate dehydrogenase (SDH) and glycogen phosphorylase. The muscle fibres were classified into slow-twitch (SO), fast-twitch glycolytic (FG), fast-twitch oxidative glycolytic (FOG and FOg) and fast-twitch oxidative fibres (FO). Significant differences in the regional distribution of muscle fibre types have been observed between the rat and the rabbit. In the rat, SO fibres were restricted to the deep regions of both biceps and triceps brachii, whereas FG fibres were located in the intermediate and superficial regions (the superficial regions contained the highest percentages of FG fibres). In the rabbit, SO and FG fibres were spread over the entire muscle, although SO and FG fibres were most abundant in the deep and superficial regions respectively. These findings indicate that the biceps and triceps brachii are more regionalised in the rat than in the rabbit.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© Anatomical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 1998

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