Claudia Fellner1, Christine Hechtl1, Roland Bttner2, Okka H. Hamer1, Christian Stroszczynski1, Cornelius Bollheimer2
1Institute of Radiology, University Medical Center Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany; 2Internal Medicine I, University Medical Center Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany
Dietary-induced changes on quadriceps muscles were investigated in 20 female high fat fed rats (HFR) and 12 control rats (CR) fed with standard diet, who underwent MRI and MRS at the age of 6, 12, and 16 months. Until the age of 16 months, increased accumulation of body weight in HFR relative to CR was accompanied by a larger lipid content in quadriceps muscles without changing the cross sectional area of the muscle. During this period of time, age-related and dietary-induced changes of the T2 relaxation times in the muscle can not be explained exclusively by an increased lipid content.