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Low-frequency fatigue is fibre type related and most pronounced after eccentric activity in rat medial gastrocnemius muscle

  • Skeletal Muscle
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Abstract

Effects of fibre type composition and type of contraction on low-frequency fatigue (LFF) were investigated in isolated rat medial gastrocnemius (GM) muscle. Fast oxidative or fast glycolytic GM muscle parts of anaesthetised male Wistar rats (n=18) were activated selectively by maximal electrical stimulation of the nerve after selective cutting of sub-branches. LFF was induced by a series of 40 isometric, concentric or eccentric contractions. Post exercise (55 min), the force–frequency curves differed significantly from the pre-exercise curves. Decreased forces were exerted mainly at the lower frequencies. This effect was significantly greater for glycolytic than oxidative muscle parts and following eccentric compared to isometric and concentric exercise. Seventy minutes following eccentric exercise, the relative values of the 60:200 Hz force ratios for the oxidative compared to the glycolytic parts were 65.6±2.2% and 43.6±4.6% (mean±SE) of the pre-fatigue values (=100%), respectively. In conclusion, for conditions of identical activation, eccentric exercise led to significantly more LFF than isometric and concentric exercise. In addition, and independent of the exercise type, fast glycolytic muscle parts were more susceptible to LFF than fast oxidative muscle parts.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Fundamental and Clinical Human Movement Sciences, Vrije Universiteit, Van der Boechorststraat 9, 1081 BT , Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    J. M. Rijkelijkhuizen, C. J. de Ruiter, P. A. Hui**g & A. de Haan

  2. Integrated Biomedical Engineering for Restoration of Human Function, Instituut voor Biomedische Technologie, Faculteit Construerende Wetenschappen, Universiteit Twente, Postbus 217, 7500 AE , Enschede, The Netherlands

    P. A. Hui**g

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  1. J. M. Rijkelijkhuizen
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  2. C. J. de Ruiter
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  3. P. A. Hui**g
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  4. A. de Haan
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Correspondence to J. M. Rijkelijkhuizen.

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Rijkelijkhuizen, J.M., de Ruiter, C.J., Hui**g, P.A. et al. Low-frequency fatigue is fibre type related and most pronounced after eccentric activity in rat medial gastrocnemius muscle. Pflugers Arch - Eur J Physiol 447, 239–246 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00424-003-1172-2

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