Clofibrate effects: Mitochondria vs exercise tolerance in aging hamsters

Abstract

Mitochondria in skeletal and cardiac muscle have been found to be less stable in aging hamsters, in contrast to preparations from young animals. We have found previously that clofibrate (Atromid-S) will reverse this degeneration in the older hamsters. This study examined the exercise tolerance of aged hamsters, to see if clofibrate had a parallel effect on exercise tolerance as had been shown for muscle mitochondria stability. Maximal duration of exercise for hamsters on a treadmill was measured in a control and treatment group before and after treatment with clofibrate. There was no improvement in exercise tolerance with clofibrate. We conclude that inferences of functional effects in intact animals from changes found in isolated tissue preparations should be drawn with caution.