Analyses of mitochondrial respiratory chain function and mitochondrial DNA deletion in human skeletal muscle: effect of ageing

JM Cooper, VM Mann, AHV Schapira - Journal of the neurological sciences, 1992 - Elsevier
The analysis of human skeletal muscle mitochondria revealed a progressive decline in
mitochondrial respiratory chain function with age. The activities affected to the greatest
extent were those of complexes I and IV which were decreased by 59% and 47%
respectively between the ages of 20–30 years and 60–90 years of age. Quantitation of the 5
kb 'common'deletion of mtDNA using PCR revealed a progressive accumulation with age,
from approximately 1 in 100 000 at 21 years to 1 in 10 000 at 56 years and 1 in 5000 at 78 …