For H&E staining, each slide was imaged using a 20× magnification on a Leica microscope (Wetzlar, Germany, DM3000) to take 20-40 fields of view per sample. The area of the myofibers was analyzed using Image J software (NIH, USA), with a minimum of 400 fibers per mouse being analyzed.
WGA lectin staining was performed as it is a fast, reliable and an inexpensive method used for skeletal muscle fiber, compared to other antibody-based techniques[38 (link)]. The frozen tissue sections were stained with WGA (1:200, Sigma, MO, USA), and photographed with Carl Zeiss fluorescence microscope (Oberkochen, Germany, Axio Imager M2) at 20× magnification, and the area of the myofibers was analyzed with Image J software with a minimum of 400 fibers per mouse being counted.