Study of histochemical characterizations of skeletal muscle fiber types in the rabbits ( Oryctolagus Cuniculus )

Abstract

This project has been conducted on New Zealand White Rabbits (newborns and adults) . Biceps brachii, soleus and abdominal wall of muscles were used in this study. Fresh pieces of muscle tissues were frozen to be cut at (10 μm) thick sections by the cryostat.Skeletal musclefibre types were investigated histochemically to demonstrate myosin adenosin triphosphatase (ATPase) activity using acid and alkaline preincubation and succinate dehydrogenase ( SDHase ) activity . In this way it may be possible to recognize the fast and slow twitch muscle fibers, as well as to explore the difference in reaching maturity between different muscles of the body. The results showed that, the biceps brachii and abdominal wall muscles consist predominantly of fast fibers, whilst the soleus muscle is made up of a near homogenous population of slow fibers. The immature abdominal wall muscle showed some reversal of the mature limb muscles staining pattern of the same animal.