Effects of aging on skeletal muscle regeneration

Abstract

Bupivacaine was injected into the anterior tibial muscles of 2-year-old rats. The induced degeneration - regeneration was slow, taking 3 weeks to completion (1 week in young rats). The reconstituted muscle showed small fiber size, an increased number of internal nuclei and longitudinal splitting. These findings may have implications for human muscular disorders and trauma in the aged.