Fig. 6

Effects of HME and BME on mouse muscle performance and physiological status. (A): Experimental design for animal study. (B): Changes in body weight within the experiment. (C): Ratio of skeletal muscle mass to body weight. (D): H&E staining of cross sections of the quadriceps muscle. (E): Cross-sectional area of muscle fibers in the quadriceps muscle. (F): Sirius red, without polarized light. (G): Sirius red, under polarized light. (H): Quantification of the total content of collagen stained by Sirius red. (I): The ratio of pixel areas between collagen I and collagen III under polarized light. (J): Grip strength test in different groups (n = 6). (K): Overall rod performance (ORP) of mice (protocol: 5–45 rpm, 300 s cutoff) (n = 3). (L-Q): Serum biochemical biomarkers. Data are presented as mean ± SE, the * indicates p < 0.05, N = 10–12