Effects of prolonged exposure to and physical training in hypobaric conditions on skeletal muscle morphology and metabolic enzymes in rats

Skeletal Muscle Fiber Type in Hypoxia: Adaptation to High-Altitude Exposure and Under Conditions of Pathological Hypoxia

Skeletal muscle is able to modify its size, and its metabolic/contractile properties in response to a variety of stimuli, such as mechanical stress, neuronal activity, metabolic and hormonal influences, and environmental factors. A reduced oxygen availability, called hypoxia, has been proposed to induce metabolic adaptations and loss of mass in skeletal muscle. In addition, several evidences indicate that muscle fiber-type composition could be affected by hypoxia. The main purpose of this review is to explore the adaptation of skeletal muscle fiber-type composition to exposure to high altitude (ambient hypoxia) and under conditions of pathological hypoxia, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), chronic heart failure (CHF) and obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS). The muscle fiber-type composition of both adult animals and humans is not markedly altered during chronic exposure to high altitude. However, the fast-to-slow fiber-type transition observed in hind limb muscles during post-natal development is impaired in growing rats exposed to severe altitude. A slow-to-fast transition in fiber type is commonly found in lower limb muscles from patients with COPD and CHF, whereas a transition toward a slower fiber-type profile is often found in the diaphragm muscle in these two pathologies. A slow-to-fast transformation in fiber type is generally observed in the upper airway muscles in rodent models of OSAS. The factors potentially responsible for the adaptation of fiber type under these hypoxic conditions are also discussed in this review. The impaired locomotor activity most likely explains the changes in fiber type composition in growing rats exposed to severe altitude. Furthermore, chronic inactivity and muscle deconditioning could result in the slow-to-fast fiber-type conversion in lower limb muscles during COPD and CHF, while the factors responsible for the adaptation of muscle fiber type during OSAS remain hypothetical. Finally, the role played by cellular hypoxia, hypoxia-inducible factor-1 alpha (HIF-1α), and other molecular regulators in the adaptation of muscle fiber-type composition is described in response to high altitude exposure and conditions of pathological hypoxia.

Alterations to mitochondrial fatty-acid use in skeletal muscle after chronic exposure to hypoxia depend on metabolic phenotype

We investigated the effects of chronic hypoxia on the maximal use of and sensitivity of mitochondria to different substrates in rat slow-oxidative (soleus, SOL) and fast-glycolytic (extensor digitorum longus, EDL) muscles. We studied mitochondrial respiration in situ in permeabilized myofibers, using pyruvate, octanoate, palmitoyl-carnitine (PC), or palmitoyl-coenzyme A (PCoA). The hypophagia induced by hypoxia may also alter metabolism. Therefore, we used a group of pair-fed rats (reproducing the same caloric restriction, as observed in hypoxic animals), in addition to the normoxic control fed ad libitum. The resting respiratory exchange ratio decreased after 21 days of exposure to hypobaric hypoxia (simulated elevation of 5,500 m). The respiration supported by pyruvate and octanoate were unaffected. In contrast, the maximal oxidative respiratory rate for PCoA, the transport of which depends on carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1 (CPT-1), decreased in the rapid-glycolytic EDL and increased in the slow-oxidative SOL, although hypoxia improved affinity for this substrate in both muscle types. PC and PCoA were oxidized similarly in normoxic EDL, whereas chronic hypoxia limited transport at the CPT-1 step in this muscle. The effects of hypoxia were mediated by caloric restriction in the SOL and by hypoxia itself in the EDL. We conclude that improvements in mitochondrial affinity for PCoA, a physiological long-chain fatty acid, would facilitate fatty-acid use at rest after chronic hypoxia independently of quantitative alterations of mitochondria. Conversely, decreasing the maximal oxidation of PCoA in fast-glycolytic muscles would limit fatty-acid use during exercise.

NEW & NOTEWORTHY Affinity for low concentrations of long-chain fatty acids (LCFA) in mitochondria skeletal muscles increases after chronic hypoxia. Combined with a lower respiratory exchange ratio, this suggests facility for fatty acid utilization at rest. This fuel preference is related to caloric restriction in oxidative muscle and to hypoxia in glycolytic one. In contrast, maximal oxidation for LCFA is decreased by chronic hypoxia in glycolytic muscle and can explain glucose dependence at exercise.

Combined effects of hypoxia and endurance training on lipid metabolism in rat skeletal muscle

AIM

To determine whether endurance training can counterbalance the negative effects of hypoxia on mitochondrial phosphorylation and expression of the long chain mitochondrial fatty acid transporter muscle carnitine palmitoyl transferase 1 (mCPT-1).

METHODS

Male Wistar rats were exposed either to hypobaric hypoxia (at a simulated altitude of approximately 4000 m, PIO(2) approximately 90 mmHg) or to normoxia (sea level) for 5 weeks. In each environment, rats were randomly assigned to two groups. The trained group went through a 5-week endurance training programme. The control group remained sedentary for the same time period. Muscle fatty acid oxidation capacity was evaluated after the 5-week period on isolated mitochondria prepared from quadriceps muscles with the use of palmitoylcarnitine or pamitoylCoA + carnitine.

RESULTS

Chronic hypoxia decreased basal (V(0), -31% with pamitoylCoA + carnitine and -21% with palmitoylcarnitine, P < 0.05) and maximal (V(max), -31% with pamitoylCoA + carnitine, P < 0.05) respiration rates, hydroxyacylCoA dehydrogenase activity (-48%, P < 0.05), mCPT-1 activity index (-34%, P < 0.05) and mCPT-1 protein content (-34%, P < 0.05). Five weeks of endurance training in hypoxia brought V(0), mCPT-1 activity index and mCPT-1 protein content values back to sedentary normoxic levels. Moreover, in the group trained in hypoxia, V(max) reached a higher level than in the group that maintained a sedentary lifestyle in normoxia (24.2 nmol O(2). min(-1) . mg(-1) for hypoxic training vs. 19.9 nmol O(2) . min(-1) . mg(-1) for normoxic sedentarity, P < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

Endurance training can attenuate chronic hypoxia-induced impairments in mitochondrial fatty acid oxidation. This training effect seems mostly mediated by mCPT-1 activity rather than by mCPT-1 content.

Effects of Hypoxic Interval Training on Cycling Performance

PURPOSE

The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that intermittent hypoxic interval training improves sea level cycling performance more than equivalent training in hypoxia or normoxia.

METHODS

Thirty-three well-trained cyclists and triathletes (25.9 +/- 2.7 yr, VO(2max) 66.1 +/- 6.1 mL.min(-1).kg(-1)) were divided into three groups: intermittent hypoxic (IHT, N = 11, P(I)O(2) of 100 mm Hg), intermittent hypoxic interval training (IHIT, N = 11) and normoxia (Nor, N = 11, P(I)O(2) of 160 mm Hg) and completed a 7-wk training program, consisting of two high-intensity (100 or 90% relative peak power output) interval training sessions each week. Each interval training session was performed in a laboratory on the subject's own bicycle, in normoxic or hypoxic conditions for the Nor and the IHT group, respectively. The IHIT group performed warm-up and cool-down plus recovery from each interval in hypoxic conditions. In contrast to IHT, interval exercise bouts were performed in normoxic conditions.

RESULTS

Mean power output during a 10-min cycle time trial improved after the first 4 wk of training by 5.2 +/- 3.9, 3.7 +/- 5.9, and 5.0 +/- 3.4% for IHIT, IHT, and Nor, respectively, without significant differences between groups. Moreover, mean power output did not show any significant improvement in the following 3 wk in any group. VO(2max) (L.min(-1)) increased only in IHIT during the training period (8.7 +/- 9.1%; P < 0.05). No changes in cycling efficiency or in hematological variables (P > 0.05) were observed.

CONCLUSION

Four weeks of interval training induced an improvement in endurance performance. However, short-term exposure to hypoxia (approximately 114 min.wk(-1)) did not elicit a greater increase in performance or any hematological modifications.

Capillarity, fibre types and fibre morphometry in different sampling sites across and along the tibialis anterior muscle of the rat

Capillarity, fibre types, fibre cross-sectional areas and perimeters were studied along and across the rat tibialis anterior muscle. The muscle was sectioned at three different levels (proximal, equatorial and distal) choosing five sampling fields for measurements at each level (from anterior to posterior and lateral to medial zones). Significant differences were found in the percentage of fibre types and capillarity between different fields of the same muscle section. Slow oxidative fibres were confined to the posterior muscle zone with a maximum of 3.7%. The posterior fields also had a greater percentage of fast oxidative glycolytic fibres at proximal (72.3%) and equatorial (61.3%) levels, but a lower value at the distal level (44.8%) and lower capillary density counts in total cross-section means (758 vs. 1,069 capillaries/mm(2) in equatorial and 1,035 capillaries/mm(2) at proximal levels). The uneven distribution of both fast fibre types and the different degrees of capillarisation along the muscle are statistically significant and may be due to different biomechanical performances along the rat tibialis anterior. Fibre size was significantly larger at the distal level, but no morphometric differences were found across the section of the same level. At the distal level, the mean total fibre area of fast glycolytic fibres (5,130 microm(2)) and fast oxidative glycolytic fibres (2,493 microm(2)) contrasted with values at the proximal (fast glycolytic: 4,070 microm(2), fast oxidative glycolytic: 1,970 microm(2)) and equatorial (fast glycolytic: 3,535 microm(2), fast oxidative glycolytic: 1,714 microm(2)) levels. The differences along and across the muscle show the need to design a standardised procedure for sample location when performing comparative studies of morphofunctional adaptive changes in skeletal muscle. A significant difference between individuals (animals) in all parameters was evident and should be taken into consideration when analysing the variability: the factor 'animal' should be considered in multiway ANOVAs, especially when low sample sizes are used.

Myosin heavy chain composition of skeletal muscles in young rats growing under hypobaric hypoxia conditions

This study investigated the effects of voluntary wheel running on the myosin heavy chain (MHC) composition of the soleus (Sol) and plantaris muscles (Pla) in rats developing under hypobaric choronic hypoxia (CH) conditions during 4 wk in comparison with those of control rats maintained under local barometric pressure conditions (C) or rats pair-fed an equivalent quantity of food to that consumed by CH animals (PF). Compared with C animals, sedentary rats subjected to CH conditions showed a significant decrease in type I MHC in Sol (-12%, P < 0.01). Although strongly decreased under hypoxia, spontaneous running activity increased the expression of type I MHC (P < 0.01) so that no difference in the MHC profile of Sol was shown between CH active and C active rats. The MHC distribution in Sol of PF rats was not significantly different from that found in C animals. CH resulted in a significant decrease in type I (P < 0.01) and type IIA (P < 0.005) MHC, concomitant with an increase in type IIB MHC in Pla (P < 0.001), compared with C and PF animals. In contrast to results in Sol muscle, this slow-to-fast shift in the MHC profile was unaffected by spontaneous running activity. These results suggest that running exercise suppresses the hypoxia-induced slow-to-fast transition in the MHC expression in Sol muscles only. The hypoxia-induced decrease in food intake has no major influence on MHC expression in developing rats.

Right ventricular collagen type III and IV gene expression increases during early phases of endurance training in hypobaric hypoxic condition

The objective of this study was to examine the effects of prolonged exposure to hypobaric hypoxic condition, physical training and their combination on collagen type I, III and IV gene expression in the ventricles and atria of rat heart. Male rats were assigned to four groups: normobaric sedentary (NS) and trained (NT), and hypobaric sedentary (HS) and trained (HT). Exposure to and treadmill running training in hypobaric condition were carried out in a hypobaric chamber (770-740 mbar, 2250-2550 m). Experimental periods were 10, 21 and 56 days; the groups of 91 days served as recovery groups from experimental settings of 56 days. Exposure to hypobaric condition as such and in combination with endurance training for 10 days increased right ventricular weight-to-body weight ratio (RV/BW) by 26% (p < 0.001) and 23% (p < 0.01), respectively, when compared to 10NS. RV/BW was significantly increased also in 21HT and 56HT. Left ventricular weight-to-body weight ratio was 13% (p < 0.01) and 14% (p < 0.01) higher in 21HT and 56HT, respectively, than in the respective NS. Right ventricular collagen type III mRNA level was 33% (p = 0.065) and 38% (p < 0.01) higher in 10HT than in 10NS and 10NT, respectively. Right ventricular collagen type IV mRNA level was 29% (p < 0.001) higher in 10HT than in 10NS. Relatively slight left ventricular hypertrophy was not associated with significant changes in collagen mRNA levels. Decreased left ventricular subepicardial prolyl 4-hydroxylase activity in 10HS and 10HT suggests transient corresponding decrease in the rate of collagen synthesis. This study shows that combination of endurance training and moderate hypobaric hypoxic condition leads to increased right ventricular collagen type III and IV gene expression associated with right ventricular hypertrophy.