Seven subjects cycled to fatigue [75 +/- 5 (SE) min] at a work load corresponding to approximately 75% of their maximal oxygen uptake. Biopsies were taken from the quadriceps femoris muscle at rest and during exercise. Muscle glycogen decreased from a preexercise level of 445 +/- 33 mmol glucosyl units/kg dry wt to 50 +/- 14 at fatigue. The sum of the measured tricarboxylic acid cycle intermediates (TCAI = malate + citrate + fumarate + oxaloacetate) was 0.49 +/- 0.05 mmol/kg dry wt at rest, increased to 4.41 +/- 0.23 after 5 min of exercise, and then decreased continuously to 3.33 +/- 0.29 and to 2.83 +/- 0.27 mmol/kg dry wt after 40 min of exercise and at fatigue (P less than 0.05 vs. 5 min), respectively. The point of fatigue was characterized by an enhanced deamination of AMP (judged by increase in IMP) and reduced contents (vs. 5 min of exercise) of lactate, pyruvate, and alanine. In contrast, acetylcarnitine (reflects the availability of acetylunits) increased threefold at the onset of exercise and was maintained approximately at this level until fatigue. It is concluded that prolonged exercise to fatigue at moderate work loads results in glycogen depletion, energy deficiency (increased AMP deamination), reduced levels of three-carbon compounds and TCAI (compared with the initial phase of exercise) but in maintained levels of acetylunits. The present data indicate that carbohydrate depletion may impair aerobic energy production by reducing the level of TCAI.

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Exercise increases glucose transport into skeletal muscle via a pathway that is poorly understood. We investigated the role of endogenously produced reactive oxygen species (ROS) in contractionmediated glucose transport. Repeated contractions increased 2-deoxyglucose (2-DG) uptake roughly threefold in isolated, mouse extensor digitorum longus (fast-twitch) muscle. N -Acetylcysteine (NAC), a non-specific antioxidant, inhibited contraction-mediated 2-DG uptake by ∼50% (P < 0.05 versus control values), but did not significantly affect basal 2-DG uptake or the uptake induced by insulin, hypoxia or 5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide-1-β-D-ribofuranoside (AICAR, which mimics AMP-mediated activation of AMP-activated protein kinase, AMPK). Ebselen, a glutathione peroxidase mimetic, also inhibited contraction-mediated 2-DG uptake (by almost 60%, P < 0.001 versus control values). Muscles from mice overexpressing Mn2+ -dependent superoxide dismutase, which catalyses H 2 O 2 production from superoxide anions, exhibited a ∼25% higher rate of contractionmediated 2-DG uptake versus muscles from wild-type control mice (P < 0.05). Exogenous H 2 O 2 induced oxidative stress, as judged by an increase in the [GSSG]/[GSH + GSSG] (reduced glutathione + oxidized glutathione) ratio to 2.5 times control values, and this increase was substantially blocked by NAC. Similarly, NAC significantly attenuated contraction-mediated oxidative stress as judged by measurements of glutathione status and the intracellular ROS level with the fluorescent indicator 5-(and-6)-chloromethyl-2 ,7 -dichlorodihydrofluorescein (P < 0.05). Finally, contraction increased AMPK activity and phosphorylation ∼10-fold, and NAC blocked ∼50% of these changes. These data indicate that endogenously produced ROS, possibly H 2 O 2 or its derivatives, play an important role in contraction-mediated activation of glucose transport in fast-twitch muscle.

Skeletal muscle often shows a delayed force recovery after fatiguing stimulation, especially at low stimulation frequencies. In this study we focus on the role of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in this fatigue-induced prolonged low-frequency force depression. Intact, single muscle fibres were dissected from flexor digitorum brevis (FDB) muscles of rats and wild-type and superoxide dismutase 2 (SOD2) overexpressing mice. ] i in wild-type mouse fibres, whereas rat fibres and mouse SOD2 overexpressing fibres instead displayed a decreased myofibrillar Ca 2+ sensitivity. The SOD activity was ∼50% lower in wild-type mouse than in rat FDB muscles. Myoplasmic ROS increased during repeated tetanic stimulation in rat fibres but not in wild-type mouse fibres. The decreased Ca 2+ sensitivity in rat fibres could be partially reversed by application of the reducing agent dithiothreitol, whereas the decrease in tetanic [Ca 2+ ] i in wild-type mouse fibres was not affected by dithiothreitol or the antioxidant N -acetylcysteine. In conclusion, we describe two different causes of fatigue-induced prolonged low-frequency force depression, which correlate to differences in SOD activity and ROS metabolism. These findings may have clinical implications since ROS-mediated impairments in myofibrillar function can be counteracted by reductants and antioxidants, whereas changes in SR Ca 2+ handling appear more resistant to interventions.

Creatine kinase (CK) is a key enzyme for maintaining a constant ATP/ADP ratio during rapid energy turnover. To investigate the role of CK in skeletal muscle fatigue, we used isolated whole muscles and intact single fibers from CK-deficient mice (CK(-/-)). With high-intensity electrical stimulation, single fibers from CK(-/-) mice displayed a transient decrease in both tetanic free myoplasmic [Ca(2+)] ([Ca(2+)](i), measured with the fluorescent dye indo-1) and force that was not observed in wild-type fibers. With less intense, repeated tetanic stimulation single fibers and EDL muscles, both of which are fast-twitch, fatigued more slowly in CK(-/-) than in wild-type mice; on the other hand, the slow-twitch soleus muscle fatigued more rapidly in CK(-/-) mice. In single wild-type fibers, tetanic force decreased and [Ca(2+)](i) increased during the first 10 fatiguing tetani, but this was not observed in CK(-/-) fibers. Fatigue was not accompanied by phosphocreatine breakdown and accumulation of inorganic phosphate in CK(-/-) muscles. In conclusion, CK is important for avoiding fatigue at the onset of high-intensity stimulation. However, during more prolonged stimulation, CK may contribute to the fatigue process by increasing the myoplasmic concentration of inorganic phosphate.