THE EXTRACELLULAR SPACE IN RED AND WHITE MUSCLES OF THE RAT

Abstract

The inulin space of the extensor digitorum longus (EDL) and soleus muscle (SOL) of both Wistar-King and Sprague-Dawley rats was determined. The inulin space of EDLs is in general smaller than that of SOLs in both strains. However, a great variation of the space values was observed for both kinds of muscles; the variability of the space was related to a variation in the muscle weight. It has been found that the dimension of the space is linearly related to the reciprocal of the weight in both kinds of muscles and that in the Wistar-King rats the magnitudes of the space (y) in both muscles are expressed by one and the same function, y=659.80/x+2.67, (x, muscle weight).The dry-to-wet-weight ratio was not significantly different between two kinds of muscles of varying weights in both strains of rats.