The contribution of myofibers and fibrocytes to palmitate oxidation in skeletal muscle.

Myofibers and fibrocytes were separated from a cell suspension of rat m. flexor digitorum brevis. The procedure was successful only when myofibers were intentionally damaged prior to separation. Density gradient centrifugation yielded a fraction containing 82% of fibrocytes and 20% of myofibers and a second fraction with the complementary 18% and 80% of fibrocytes and myofibers, respectively. Since the damaged myofibers had a negligible palmitate oxidation activity, the relative contribution of fibrocytes and myofibers to palmitate oxidation in the parent cell suspension with intact myofibers could be established, and amounted to 13% and 87%, respectively.