Effects of voluntary wheel running on satellite cells in the rat plantaris muscle

This study investigated the effects of voluntary wheel runningon satellite cells in the rat plantaris muscle. seventeen 5-weekoldmale wistar rats were assigned to a control (n = 5) ortraining (n = 12) group. each rat in the training group ranvoluntarily in a running-wheel cage for 8 weeks. after thetraining period, the animals were anesthetized, and the plantarismuscles were removed, weighed, and analyzedimmunohistochemically and biochemically. although therewere no significant differences in muscle weight or fiber areabetween the groups, the numbers of satellite cells and myonucleiper muscle fiber, percentage of satellite cells, and citratesynthase activity were significantly higher in the training groupcompared with the control group (p < 0.05). the percentage ofsatellite cells was also positively correlated with distance run inthe training group (r = 0.61, p < 0.05). voluntary running caninduce an increase in the number of satellite cells withoutchanging the mean fiber area in the rat plantaris muscle; thisincrease in satellite cell content is a function of distance run.