Chemical changes in skeletal muscle during development

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Abstract
Skeletal muscle from man and the pig was analysed for water, inorganic and nitrogenous constituents at various stages of development before and after birth. The N was divided into 4 fractions: non-protein N, sarco-plasmic-protein N, fibrillar-protein N and extracellular-protein N. There was an increase in the concentration of the cellular constituents, N, K, P and Mg with development, and a decrease in the concentration of the extracellular ions Na and chloride. There was also a decrease in the concentration of Ca. The concentration of non-protein N increased in the early stages of development but reached its adult level soon after birth. There was little change in the concentration of sarcoplasmic protein before birth, but an increase after. The biggest change took place in the fibrillar fraction, which increased in concentration throughout development. The highest concentration of extracellular protein N was found in the muscle of babies and piglets during the suckling period. An attempt was made to discover whether the muscle cell of the fetus had the same chemical composition as that of the adult, and the chemical findings were related to the histological appearance of the muscle at different ages.