MRI & MRS in the Assessment of Dietary-Induced & Age-Related Changes of the Muscle in an Animal Model for Sarcopenic Obesity

Claudia Fellner¹, Christine Hechtl², Marianne Vorbuchner³, Roland Bttner², Christian Stroszczynski¹, Okka W. Hamer¹, Cornelius Bollheimer²

To assess dietary-induced and age-related changes of the muscle, 7 high fat fed rats (HFR) and 14 control animals (CR) fed with standard diet underwent MRI and MRS at the age of 16 and 21 months. Maximum cross sectional area of the M. quadriceps was smaller in HFR compared with CR and decreased with increasing age. HFR yielded increased lipid content and prolonged T2 relaxation times compared with control animals. Although all effects aggravated with increasing age, dietary-induced differences were most pronounced at the age of 16 month. The results of our pilot study support the hypothesis of sarcopenic obesity.