(1) Department of Anatomy, University of Bern, Bühlstrasse 26, CH-3000 Bern 9;(2) Department of Physiology, University of Geneva, CMU, 1 rue Michel Servet, CH-1211 Genève 4;(3) Ciba-Geigy AG, CH-4002 Basel, (Switzerland)
Abstract:
Summary Muscle ultrastructural changes during a typical expedition to the Himalayas were analyzed by taking muscle biopsies from seven climbers before and after their sojourn at high altitude (over 5000 m for 8 weeks). M. vastus lateralis samples were analyzed morphometrically from electron micrographs. A quantitative evaluation was made of lipofuscin, satellite cells and myonuclei. Significant increases of the volume densities of lipofuscin (+235%) and satellite cells (+215%) were observed.