Histochemical fiber type distribution and epinephrine sensitivity in normal and cross-transplanted rat muscles

The metabolic integrity of fully regenerated transplants was investigated by measuring induced changes in glycogen concentration. The extensor digitorum longus and the soleus muscles were cross transplanted: the extensor digitorum longus into the soleus muscle bed (SOLT) and the soleus muscle into the extensor digitorum longus bed (EDLT). The histochemical fiber type distribution of the regenerated muscles was determined and was found to transform in cross-transplanted EDLT and SOLT. After transplantation and regeneration, both muscles had initially low glycogen concentrations. However, the EDLT glycogen concentration was not significantly different from that of the contralateral extensor digitorum longus control muscle after 60 days. In the SOLT, glycogen gradually increased but remained less than in the contralateral soleus control muscle. SOLT and control soleus muscles responded with a significant glycogen depletion to an epinephrine dose two orders of magnitude less than the lowest dose affecting glycogen levels in EDLT and extensor digitorum longus muscles. These results indicate that transplanted muscles are capable of regenerating normal glycogenolytic responses and that the sensitivity of the response observed depends on the site of transplantation and is related to the type of innervation and histochemical fiber type.     

Postnatal development of thiamine metabolism in rat skeletal muscle.

1. The activities of 2-oxoglutarate dehydrogenase, transketolase, thiamine pyrophosphokinase and thiamine triphosphatase and the concentrations of thiamine phosphates were almost the same between rat extensor digitorum longus and soleus muscles at 2 weeks of age. 2. These enzyme activities changed after 3 weeks of age in a different way depending on the muscle phenotype. 3. Thiamine diphosphate level and the activity of 2-oxoglutarate dehydrogenase increased only in soleus muscle and thiamine triphosphate level increased only in extensor digitorum longus during development.     

Regulation of protein metabolism by a physiological concentration of insulin in mouse soleus and extensor digitorum longus muscles. Effects of starvation and scald injury.

1. Although high concentrations of insulin affect both synthesis and degradation of skeletal-muscle protein, it is not known to what extent these effects occur with physiological concentrations. The effects of a physiological concentration of insulin (100 mu units/ml) on muscle protein synthesis, measured with [3H]tyrosine, and on muscle protein degradation, measured by tyrosine release in the presence of cycloheximide, were studied in mouse soleus and extensor digitorum longus muscles in vitro. 2. Insulin significantly stimualated protein synthesis in both muscles, but an inhibition of degradation was seen only in the extensor digitorum longus. 3. Starvation for 24 h decreased the rate of protein synthesis and increased the rate of breakdown in the extensor digitorum longus. Sensitivity to insulin-stimulation of proteins synthesis in the soleus was increased by starvation. 4. ;a 20%-surface-area full-skin-thickness dorsal scald injury produced a fall in total protein content in soleus and extensor digitorum muscles, maximal on the third day after injury. Soleus muscles 2 days after injury showed an impairment of protein synthesis; degradation was unaffected and neither synthesis nor degradation in vitro was significantly affected in the extensor digitorum longus. 5. The advantages and limitations of studies of protein metabolism in vitro are discussed.     

The effects of cutting or of stretching skeletal muscle in vitro on the rates of protein synthesis and degradation.

Rates of protein synthesis were significantly lower in the cut soleus and extensor digitorum longus muscles than in their uncut counterparts. Rates of protein degradation were significantly higher in cut soleus muscles, but not in cut extensor digitorum longus muscles as compared with their uncut controls. Concentrations of ATP and phosphocreatine were significantly lower in cut soleus and extensor digitorum longus muscles after incubation in vitro in contrast with respective control uncut muscles. These data indicate that cutting of muscle fibres alters rates of protein synthesis and degradation, in addition to altering concentrations of high-energy phosphates. Since these findings stressed the importance of using intact muscles to study protein metabolism, additional studies were made on intact muscles in vitro. Stretched soleus muscles had higher concentrations of high-energy phosphates at the end of an incubation period than did unstretched muscles. However, the length of the soleus, extensor digitorum longus and diaphragm muscles during incubation did not affect rates of protein degradation.U     

Motor and sensory reinnervation of fast and slow mammalian muscles

Summary 1. The formation of endplates outside the original endplate region of a muscle fibre was studied in slow and fast rat muscles. It was found that such new endplates are readily formed on the soleus muscle, whereas hardly at all in the fast extensor digitorum longus. Most new endplates appear to be morphologically normal within 2 months after nerve implantation.2. The time course of recovery of slow and fast cat muscles was followed after crushing the sciatic nerve. It was found that the slow soleus muscle recovers more rapidly than the fast flexor hallucis longus muscle.3. The endplates of reinnervated cat muscles are more complicated than those of the control muscles, but have nevertheless fewer nerve terminals per endplate. Reinnervated muscles are more sensitive to curare and it is suggested that this is due to a decrease in transmitter release, for it was found that less acetylcholine is released from reinnervated rat hemidiaphragms than from control ones.4. Motor and sensory reinnervation of spindles and tendon organs was studied. At the time when motor reinnervation is almost completed the sensory endings from spindles and tendon organs are highly abnormal. Thus sensory reinnervation proceeds much more slowly than motor.     

Effects of dexamethasone treatment on insulin-stimulated rates of glycolysis and glycogen synthesis in isolated incubated skeletal muscles of the rat.

1. Rats were treated with dexamethasone for 4 days before measurement of the rates of lactate formation [which is an index of hexose transport; see Challiss, Lozeman, Leighton & Newsholme (1986) Biochem. J. 233, 377-381] and glycogen synthesis in response to various concentrations of insulin in isolated incubated soleus and extensor digitorum longus muscle preparations. 2. The concentration of insulin required to stimulate these processes half-maximally in soleus and extensor digitorum longus muscles isolated from control rats was about 100 muunits/ml. 3. Dexamethasone increases the concentration of insulin required to stimulate glycolysis half-maximally in soleus and extensor digitorum longus preparations to 250 and 300 muunits/ml respectively. The respective insulin concentrations necessary to stimulate glycogen synthesis half-maximally were about 430 and 370 muunits/ml for soleus and extensor digitorum longus muscle preparations isolated from steroid-treated rats. 5. Dexamethasone treatment did not change the amount of insulin bound to soleus muscle.     

Decreased lysosomal protease content of skeletal muscles from streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats: a biochemical and histochemical study

Summary The activity of four lysosomal proteases in soleus and extensor digitorum longus muscles was studied in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats using newly developed fluorescence histochemical and biochemical techniques. The results indicate that the content of lysosomal protease in skeletal muscle cells was decreased three weeks after the induction of diabetes. The reduction was most pronounced in the extensor digitorum longus for all the proteases tested, but in the soleus only cathepsin B and dipeptidyl peptidase II showed a decrease. Biochemical assays on total muscle homogenates and muscle extracts confirmed the histochemical observations that protease activity was significantly lower in diabetic muscles. This decrease in activity varied with the duration of diabetes beginning as early as 48 h for the soleus. In conclusion, myofibre-specific decreases in lysosomal proteases occur following diabetes.     

The effect of a growth promoting drug,clenbuterol, on fibre frequency and area in hind limb muscles from young male rats

The effect of dietary administration of clenbuterol on soleus and extensor digitorum longus muscles was studied after 4 and 21 days. Both muscles showed an increase in wet weight with no significant change in total fibre number. After 4 days fibre cross-sectional areas were increased in soleus, but not in extensor digitorum longus, and after 21 days there was a change in fibre frequencies in extensor digitorum longus but not soleus muscles.     

Difference in thiamine metabolism between extensor digitorum longus and soleus muscles

1. Thiamine diphosphate level was higher in soleus muscle than in extensor digitorum longus muscle in various animals, whereas thiamine triphosphate level was less in the former muscle than in the latter except for mouse. 2. 2-Oxoglutarate dehydrogenase, transketolase and thiamine pyrophosphokinase activities were higher in soleus muscle than in extensor digitorum longus in rat and guinea pig. 3. The differences between rat two muscle phenotypes in thiamine diphosphate, but not thiamine triphosphate, level and the thiamine-related enzyme activities disappeared after denervation. 4. Tenotomy had little effect on thiamine phosphate levels and the thiamine-related enzyme activities in rat skeletal muscles.     

Insulin binding and 2-deoxy-D-glucose uptake in fast- and slow-twitch mouse skeletal muscle at 18 and 37 degrees C

Insulin binding, insulin degradation, and 2-deoxyglucose uptake were examined at 18 and 37 degrees C in soleus and extensor digitorum longus muscles of mice. Insulin binding and degradation were greater in the soleus than in the extensor digitorum longus at both temperatures (p less than 0.05). At 37 degrees C, binding was decreased in both muscles while percentage degradation was increased in comparison with 18 degrees C (p less than 0.05). Dose--response curves (percentage of binding at 4 nM of insulin) remained the same for both muscles at the two temperatures. Basal (no insulin) 2-deoxyglucose uptake was increased at 37 degrees C in the extensor digitorum longus but not the soleus. Insulin responsiveness in terms of the amount of 2-deoxyglucose taken up per femtomole of insulin bound was almost identical for the two muscles at 18 degrees C, whereas at 37 degrees C it was increased more in the soleus than in the extensor digitorum longus. The results indicate that in the presence of physiological concentrations of insulin (0.2-4 nM), insulin binding trends are minimally affected by increased temperature. In contrast, the ability of insulin to stimulate 2-deoxyglucose uptake varies between the two temperatures, and at the higher temperature between fast- and slow-twitch muscle.     

Coexistence of twitch potentiation and tetanic force decline in rat hindlimb muscle

An experimental protocol designed to assess fatigability in motor units has been applied to two hindlimb muscles of anesthetized adult rats to study the effects of whole-muscle fatigue on the isometric twitch. Both soleus and extensor digitorum longus exhibited a linear relationship between fatigability (i.e., force decline after a 360-s fatigue test) and the magnitude of the twitch force following the fatigue test. Twitch force after the fatigue test was potentiated (i.e., greater than the value before the fatigue test) in many muscles, despite the development of considerable fatigue. This coexistence of fatigue and twitch potentiation was observed in 7% (5/70) of soleus and 48% (31/64) of extensor digitorum longus muscles. The coexistence was exhibited only by the least fatigable muscles of the fast-contracting extensor digitorum longus. The extensor digitorum longus muscles that did not exhibit twitch potentiation probably experienced a higher proportion of muscle-fiber inactivation, such as due to failure of neuromuscular propagation, that was induced by the fatigue regimen.     

Effects of torbafylline on muscle atrophy: prevention and recovery.

The effects of torbafylline on the prevention of and the recovery from 5 weeks of hindlimb suspension induced atrophy were analyzed in rat soleus and extensor digitorum longus muscles. Muscle alterations were investigated by determining a suite of electrophysiological, histochemical, and muscle ultrastructural characteristics. Administration of torbafylline during the suspension period was ineffective in preventing any of the observed muscle atrophic changes. Application of torbafylline during the recovery period resulted in a faster recovery of some soleus muscle structural and functional properties. Mitochondrial volume densities and capillary to fiber ratios returned towards baseline values earlier in the recovery process with torbafylline. Furthermore, the drug significantly improved soleus muscle fatigue resistance 4 weeks after cessation of hindlimb suspension.     

Inhibition of carbonic anhydrases in type I muscle fibers influences contractility

We tested the effects of inhibiting the carbonic anhydrase activity of rat soleus and extensor digitorum longus muscles on the isometric contractile properties and the resistance to fatigue. SOL and EDL muscles from female rats were incubated in vitro in the presence of methazolamide, a specific inhibitor of carbonic anhydrase, before determining their contractile properties. Methazolamide had no effects on the contractile properties of the soleus muscle (10(-5) or 10(-3) M) and extensor digitorum longus (10(-3) M), except for the half-relaxation time of the soleus muscle which increased significantly. Values for half-relaxation time were significantly increased with both concentrations of the inhibitor. Muscles were then submitted to a fatigue protocol lasting 30 min. During the fatigue test, no significant difference was observed between control and 10(-5) M methazolamide soleus muscles. In presence of 10(-3) M methazolamide however, the soleus muscle showed a significantly increased resistance to fatigue compared with control preparations. No significant effect was observed with the extensor digitorum longus muscle exposed to 10(-3) M methazolamide. Results are discussed in terms of the presence of two different isoforms of carbonic anhydrase that may be associated with calcium uptake and energy metabolic processes, respectively.     

Potentiation of the halothane-cooling contractures of mammalian muscles by denervation

Denervation potentiated the cooling-induced contractures and the halothane-cooling contractures of isolated extensor digitorum longus and soleus muscles of the mouse. These effects were more striking in extensor digitorum longus than in soleus muscles. Significant increases in the peak amplitudes of the halothane-cooling contractures of both muscles and of the cooling contractures of soleus muscle were observed within 2 and 7 days of denervation. The potentiation of the contractures persisted for 90 days, the period of this study. Denervation (greater than 2 days) endowed extensor digitorum longus with the ability to generate cooling contractures in the absence of halothane. The rate of tension development of cooling-induced contractures in the absence or presence of halothane was significantly greater in denervated (2-90 days) than in innervated muscles. Denervation also reduced the effectiveness of procaine in inhibiting the halothane-cooling contractures. It is proposed that the potentiation of cooling-induced contractures in denervated muscles results primarily from an increase in the rate of efflux and in the quantity of Ca2+ released from the sarcoplasmic reticulum, upon cooling and (or) when challenged with halothane.     

Muscle collagen content in diabetic rats

Collagen content (mg/dl of dry weight) was measured biochemically in the extensor digitorum longus and the soleus muscle in rats. Comparison of muscles from diabetic (induced by intraperitoneal streptozotocin injection /60 mg/kg body weight/) and non diabetic controls showed an increase in the collagen content of the extensor digitorum longus, and little change in the soleus. The differences did not attain statistical significance indicating that the accelerated collagen ageing attributed to diabetes may not necessarily be true in all tissues.     

Pattern of arborization of the motor nerve terminals in the fast and slow mammalian muscles.

A silver impregnation method and a morphometric approach were used to define differences existing in the motor nerve terminal branching pattern between a fast-twitch muscle (extensor digitorum longus) and a slow-twitch one (soleus) of the normal adult rat. Because no single measure can describe precisely all geometrical properties (ie both topology and metrics) of the nerve terminals, we evaluated morphologic parameters defining length and angular characteristics in the different terminal segments classified according to their centrifugal order. The main results indicate that the distal free-end segments in the extensor digitorum longus muscle are shorter and less divergent than in the soleus nerve terminals. The endings in the two muscles have different fractal dimensions. Findings are discussed in the context of the hypothetical mechanisms governing motor nerve terminal size and complexity.     

Postnatal growth and differentiation in three hindlimb muscles of the rat

Summary The postnatal development, between 0 and 90 days, of three hindlimb muscles and diaphragm of the rat was investigated with respect to fiber types and diameter (histochemistry) and substrate oxidation rates and enzyme activities (biochemistry). The process of muscle fiber differentiation into mature patterns was evaluated by visual classification into 3 or 4 groups having different staining intensities for 3 enzyme-histochemical reactions, enabling 26 fiber types to be distinguished. These exhibited specific sizes and growth rates that varied among the muscles. One of the hindleg muscles (flexor digitorum brevis) remained much more immature than soleus and extensor digitorum longus.The histochemical and biochemical findings correlated well. The capacity for pyruvate and palmitate oxidation, and the activities of cytochrome c oxidase and citrate synthase, increased markedly between 9 and 37 days in soleus and extensor digitorum longus (except citrate synthase in the latter) but not in flexor digitorum brevis. Creatine kinase activity increased in all hindlimb muscles. Both the capacity and the activity of pyruvate oxidation (determined in homogenates and intact isolated muscles, respectively), were in accordance with the fiber type composition. In contrast to oxidation capacity, the activity of pyruvate oxidation decreased after birth until the mature stage, when a value of 18–42% of that of early postnatal muscles was recorded.     

Influence of tenotomy on posttetanic responses of the rat fast and slow muscle

The effect of two weeks of tenotomy on posttetanic isometric contractile responses of the rat fast: Extensor digitorum longus and slow: soleus muscles was studied in experiments on isolated muscle preparations. Direct tetanic stimulation (100 impulses, 50 Hz) increased the force of contractions by 20-25% (p < 0.05) of both, control and tenotomized fast muscles. Identical to above tetanic stimulation of control, slow muscle resulted in posttetanic depression, a decrease in the amplitude of contractile responses. Tenotomized slow muscles did not develop posttetanic depression. Caffeine (4 mM) increased and dandrolene (10 microM) decreased the force of unitary and tetanic contractions of control and tenotomized muscles. Neither drug, however, affected development of posttetanic phenomena in ether fast or slow muscles. The fact that in extensor digitorum longus, posttetanic potentiation is preserved for at least forty days of tenotomy but disappears after only 2 weeks of denervation suggests important role of neurotrophic influences in regulation of posttetanic responses of fast muscles.     

Life-long calorie restriction in Fischer 344 rats attenuates age-related loss in skeletal muscle-specific force and reduces extracellular space.

The decline in muscle function is associated with an age-related decrease in muscle mass and an age-related decline in strength. However, decreased strength is not solely due to decreased muscle mass. The age-related decline in muscle-specific force (force/muscle cross-sectional area), a measure of intrinsic muscle function, also contributes to age-related strength decline, and the mechanisms by which this occurs are only partially known. Moreover, changes in the extracellular space could have a profound effect on skeletal muscle function. Life-long calorie restriction in rodents has shown to be a powerful anti-aging intervention. In this study, we examine whether calorie restriction is able to attenuate the loss of muscle function and elevations in extracellular space associated with aging. We hypothesize that calorie restriction attenuates the age-associated decline in specific force and increases in extracellular space. Measurements of in vitro contractile properties of the extensor digitorum longus (type II) and soleus (type I) muscles from 12-mo and 26- to 28-mo-old ad libitum-fed, as well as 27- to 28-mo-old life-long calorie-restricted male Fischer 344 rats, were performed. We found that calorie restriction attenuated the age-associated decline in muscle mass-to-body mass ratio (mg/g) and strength-to-body mass ratio (N/kg) in the extensor digitorum longus muscle (P < 0.05) but not in the soleus muscle (P > 0.05). Importantly, muscle-specific force (N/cm2) in the extensor digitorum longus, but not in the soleus muscle, of the old calorie-restricted rats was equal to that of the young 12-mo-old animals. Moreover, the age-associated increase in extracellular space was reduced in the fast-twitch extensor digitorum longus muscle (P < 0.05) but not in the soleus muscle with calorie restriction. We also found a significant correlation between the extracellular space and the muscle-specific force in the extensor digitorum longus (r = -0.58; P < 0.05) but not in the soleus muscle (r = -0.38; P > 0.05). Hence, this study shows a loss of muscle function with age and suggests that long-term calorie restriction is an effective intervention against the loss of muscle function with age.     

Enzymatic activities in slow and fast denervated old rat muscles

The activities of five enzymes have been studied quantitatively in denervated extensor digitorum longus, gastrocnemius and soleus muscles of 24-month-old rats. The results have been compared with those obtained from normal muscles of a similar age group of rats. Three weeks after denervation, the activity of hexokinase was increased in gastrocnemius and extensor digitorum longus. Phosphofructokinase, lactate dehydrogenase, malate dehydrogenase and 3-hydroxyacyl-CoA-dehydrogenase showed decreased activities. These results suggest that enzyme which represents glucose uptake increased its activity in fast muscles and that enzymes for anaerobic glycolysis, lactate fermentation, citric acid cycle and beta-oxidation had a decreased activity in slow and fast muscles.