Log on / register
BioMed Central home | Journals A-Z | Feedback | Support | My details
Open AccessResearch

Muscle oxidative metabolism accelerates with mild acidosis during incremental intermittent isometric plantar flexion exercise

Toshiyuki Homma1,2 email, Takafumi Hamaoka1,3 email, Takayuki Sako4 email, Motohide Murakami1 email, Kazuki Esaki5 email, Ryotaro Kime1 email and Toshihito Katsumura1 email

1Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, Tokyo Medical University, 6-1-1 Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, 160-8402, Japan

2Department of Sports Sciences, Japan Institute of Sports Sciences, 3-15-1 Nishigaoka, Kita-ku, Tokyo, 115-0056, Japan

3Department of Sports Performance, National Institute of Fitness and Sports in Kanoya, Shiromizu-cho 1, Kagoshima, 891-2393, Japan

4Department of Food and Nutrition, Japan Women's University, 2-8-1 Mejirodai, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 112-8681, Japan

5Institute of Health and Sport Sciences, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba, 305-8574, Japan

author email corresponding author email

Dynamic Medicine 2005, 4:2doi:10.1186/1476-5918-4-2

Published: 20 February 2005

Abstract

Background

It has been thought that intramuscular ADP and phosphocreatine (PCr) concentrations are important regulators of mitochondorial respiration. There is a threshold work rate or metabolic rate for cellular acidosis, and the decrease in muscle PCr is accelerated with drop in pH during incremental exercise. We tested the hypothesis that increase in muscle oxygen consumption (o2mus) is accelerated with rapid decrease in PCr (concomitant increase in ADP) in muscles with drop in pH occurs during incremental plantar flexion exercise.

Methods

Five male subjects performed a repetitive intermittent isometric plantar flexion exercise (6-s contraction/4-s relaxation). Exercise intensity was raised every 1 min by 10% maximal voluntary contraction (MVC), starting at 10% MVC until exhaustion. The measurement site was at the medial head of the gastrocnemius muscle. Changes in muscle PCr, inorganic phosphate (Pi), ADP, and pH were measured by 31P-magnetic resonance spectroscopy. o2mus was determined from the rate of decrease in oxygenated hemoglobin and/or myoglobin using near-infrared continuous wave spectroscopy under transient arterial occlusion. Electromyogram (EMG) was also recorded. Pulmonary oxygen uptake (o2pul ) was measured by the breath-by-breath gas analysis.

Results

EMG amplitude increased as exercise intensity progressed. In contrast, muscle PCr, ADP, o2mus, and o2pul did not change appreciably below 40% MVC, whereas above 40% MVC muscle PCr decreased, and ADP, o2mus, and o2pul increased as exercise intensity progressed, and above 70% MVC, changes in muscle PCr, ADP, o2mus, and o2pul accelerated with the decrease in muscle pH (~6.78). The kinetics of muscle PCr, ADP, o2mus, and o2pul were similar, and there was a close correlation between each pair of parameters (r = 0.969~0.983, p < 0.001).

Conclusion

With decrease in pH muscle oxidative metabolism accelerated and changes in intramuscular PCr and ADP accelerated during incremental intermittent isometric plantar flexion exercise. These results suggest that rapid changes in muscle PCr and/or ADP with mild acidosis stimulate accelerative muscle oxidative metabolism.


© 1999-2009 BioMed Central Ltd unless otherwise stated. Part of Springer Science+Business Media.