Article: Quantitative succinate-dehydrogenase histochemistry. III. Variations in histochemical succinatedehydrogenase activity in different cross-sections of the same muscle fibre

The variation in histochemical SDH-activity at different levels in the same muscle fibre was determined in muscle fibre cross-sections both by visual classification and quantitative determination of the formazan-deposits. This work resulted in a confirmation of the earlier micro-biochemical studies of Spamer AND Pette (1977, 1979) and Lowrey et al. (1978) that the activity of enzymes of the citric acid cycle is not homogeneously distributed in a muscle fibre over its entire length. In addition it is shown that the observed variations in histochemical SDH-activity strongly interfere with the visual muscle fibre typing. Some of the possible causes for these variations in histochemical SDH-activity (section-thickness, presence of the motor-endplate) and the implications of these findings for the relation between histochemical characteristics and functional properties of the muscle fibres are briefly discussed.

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Quantitative Succinate-dehydrogenase Histochemistry. III. Variations in Histochemical Succinatedehydrogenase Activity in Different Cross-sections of the Same Muscle Fibre