Fatty acid pattern and cholesterol in skeletal muscle of men aged 22 to 73

In order to examine the relationship between fatty acid distribution of skeletal muscle membranes and age, a needle biopsy was performed on the vastus lateralis muscle of 20 healthy, non-obese males, ranging in age from 22 to 73 years. The muscle sample was homogenized, centrifuged at 100,000 x g, and the resulting pellet was saponified and acidified. The fatty acids and cholesterol were removed by a single hexane extraction and analyzed by gas--liquid chromatography with flame ionization detection. All subjects regardless of age had no consistent differences in the fatty acid profiles and cholesterol composition in the tissue. Correlation coefficients indicated no significant relationship between the age of the individual and any of the analyzed lipids. The results of this study indicated that aging may not be reflected by gross changes in the composition of structural lipids in the cell.