General pathological processes in somatic muscles in W/SSM rats with genetically determined metabolic myopathy

Hypertrophy, atrophy, and dystrophy, which reflect the balance between alterative and compensatory-adaptive processes at all levels of structural organization, predominate among structural changes in W/SSM rats with metabolic myopathy under conditions of progressive chronic disorders of cellular homeostasis. Primary universal reactions of striated muscles to damage (myofibril contractures and intracellular myocytolysis) are observed at the ultrastructural level. Increased incidence of focal changes and the time course of morphological and stereological parameters in a constantly functioning organ (diaphragm) indicate that working muscle fibers are most susceptible to injury. Translated fromByulleten' Eksperimental'noi Biologii i Meditsiny, Vol. 126, No. 8, pp. 228–233, August, 1998