Abstract
Summary
The daily administration of large doses of atropine to rats failed to retard the rate of atrophy of denervated muscle and did not enhance the rate of neuromuscular regeneration. Atropine did not significantly affect the creatine concentration and in vitro oxygen utilization of denervated and control muscle. When expressed as a fraction of the final body weight the strength and weight of the control muscles of the atropine-treated rats were found to be inferior to those of untreated control muscles. The change in weight of the contralateral control muscle following atropine administration invalidates any estimation of the extent and rate of atrophy or regeneration based solely on the differences between the terminal weights of the control and experimental muscle.
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