Skeletal Muscle Development in the Fetal Pig after Decapitation in utero

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Abstract
The effect of fetal decapitation on skeletal muscle growth and development in utero was studied in the pig. Pig fetuses were decapitated at 45 days of gestation and the peroneus longus muscle was analyzed at 110 days of gestation. Muscle wet weight, length, minimum fiber diameter, DNA, RNA, protein content, and incidence of muscle fiber nuclei and satellite cell nuclei were determined in the decapitated fetus and in sham-decapitated control fetuses. Decapitation did not significantly influence (p > 0.05) any of the traits measured. Muscle and satellite cell ultrastructure was not altered by decapitation. Therefore, an intact brain and hypothalamic-hypophyseal axis are not critical to growth and development of fetal pig skeletal muscle as measured in this study.