Striated skeletal muscle has been considered radioresistant because it is highly differentiated and post-mitotic. Striated muscle does, however, respond to irradiation with morphological and biochemical changes after short and long latency periods; vascular and/or neurological impairments might contribute to the delayed responses to irradiation.

The objective of the present study was to determine the susceptibility of three amphibian muscle fiber types to Co60 irradiation. In amphibians, the three major fiber types are 1) large twitch fibers, which contain low levels of mitochondrial enzymes and lipids, but intermediate levels of glycogen; 2) small twitch fibers, which contain high levels of both glycolytic and mitochondrial enzymes (FIG. 1); and tonic fibers, which contain low levels of all three histochemical markers. Thus, the determination of susceptibility of different amphibian fiber types to irradiation might indicate whether the metabolic characteristics of the fibers, rather than morphological or electrical properties, could serve as an early indicator of radiation damage.