STUDIES IN THE METABOLISM OF MUSCLE

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Abstract
The respiratory quotient of mammalian muscle in the body has been studied by analyses of the O and CO2 contents and capacities of arterial and venous blood in 22 dogs; 37 pairs of samples were analyzed, some in which the venous blood was drawn directly from the femoral vein and others in which the blood was drawn after the circulation of the gastrocnemius and flexor digitorum subli-mis had been isolated. Expired air was analyzed for O and CO2. There were, in individual cases, wide variations between the respiratory quotients obtained from the blood and from the expired air. Nevertheless, few of the results of analysis of the blood were near unity and the averages of both series are close. The average for all isolated muscles is 0.71 [plus or minus]0.10, and for non-isolated 0.77[plus or minus]0.08, and for the expired air 0.80 [plus or minus]0.04 and 0.77 [plus or minus] 0.03 respectively. If it is permissible to take the average figures, the following conclusions may be drawn: (a) Resting muscle in situ has a respiratory quotient not of unity but probably close to that of the whole body; (b) Resting muscle under normal conditions oxidizes besides carbohydrate either fat or protein, or both, probably in the same proportions as does the rest of the body.

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