title: Succinic dehydrogenase and cholinesterase activities in the skeletal muscles of the desert rat and the albino rat.
abstract: The deltoid and gluteus maximus of the desert rat and the albino rat were examined histochemically for the distribution of succinic dehydrogenase (SDH) and cholinesterase (ChE). SDH activity showed that the deltoid and gluteus maximus muscles of the two animals consisted of three types of muscle fibres, with a predominance of muscle fibres that have higher SDH activity in both the deltoid and gluteus maximus muscles of the desert rat than in the albino rat. The mean diameter of all muscle fibres in the deltoid and gluteus maximus muscles and their ratios to the average body weight were determined in both animals. The desert rat showed a statistically significant increase in those ratios compared with the corresponding ratios for the albino rat. ChE activity showed that the deltoid and gluteus maximus muscles are richly innervated by intensely positive ChE motor end-plates with a predominance of plaque-like terminals. The mean diameters of the end-plates and the ratios of these diameters to the diameter of the muscle fibres together with their ratios to the body weight were determined. A correlation between these values and the histological findings is proposed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: F A
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: Moustafa
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002799:Cholinergic Fibers / Q000166:cytology / Q000201:enzymology*; D002802:Cholinesterases / Q000378:metabolism*; D009132:Muscles / Q000166:cytology / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000294:innervation; D051381:Rats; D013385:Succinate Dehydrogenase / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D013385:Succinate Dehydrogenase; D002802:Cholinesterases