COMPARISON OF RED AND WHITE VOLUNTARY SKELETAL MUSCLES OF SEVERAL SPECIES OF PRIMATES

There was a direct correlation between the qualitative histochemical classification by staining intensity for succinic dehydrogenase and the quantitative measurements of succinic dehydrogenase activity for the quadratus femoris (red), soleus (red), sartorius (predominantly red) and the superficial portion of the brachioradialis (predominantly white) muscles of the rhesus monkey. The relative succinic dehydrogenase activities were quadratus femoris > soleus > sartorius > brachioradialis, the quadratus femoris having 7 times more enzyme activity than the brachioradialis. The sartorius of male rhesus monkeys had a higher enzyme activity than that of the female. Muscle samples were stained with sirius red and graded for amounts of connective tissue as follows: soleus < sartorius < brachioradialis. These histochemical results were verified by chemical analyses. The soleus, sartorius and brachioradialis from 10 other species of primates had the same relative succinic dehydrogenase activities and histochemical staining patterns as the rhesus.