ATP and IMP in single human muscle fibres after high intensity exercise

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Abstract
Within a muscle there is large variation in the activity of various enzymes among single fibres. It is reasonable, therefore, to expect a corresponding variation in their metabolic response to exercise. This was examined by obtaining muscle biopsies from five men at rest and after intense short-term exercise consisting of three bouts of 30 knee extensions each and intervened by 60 s rest. Freeze-dried dissected single fibres identified as type 1 or type 2 were analysed for ATP and IMP contents by liquid chromatography. Rest. Average ATP tended to be higher in type 2 than in type 1 fibres. The ATP range was 14-30 and 14-32 mmol .times. kg-1 dry muscle (dm) in type 1 and 2 fibres, respectively. IMP was less than 1 mmol .times. kg-1 dm in most fibres and similar in types 1 and 2. Exercise. Muscle force decreased 70% during exercise. The average decrease in ATP content was significant for both fibre types with somewhat larger response for type 2 (20%) than type 1 (10%) fibres. The ATP range was 10-28 and 10-30 mmol .times. kg-1 dm in type 1 and 2 fibres, respectively. Average IMP content increased substantially in both fibre types, more so for type 2, and the range for individual fibres was 0-13 (type 1) and 0-21 (type 2) mmol .times. kg-1 dm. Conclusion. After exhaustive short-term exercise, a large variation in ATP and IMP contents was evident among single type 1 and type 2 fibres. None of the fibres, however, showed an ATP content lower than 10 mmol .times. kg-1 dm. It is suggested that the muscle force loss, demonstrated in the present study, is not attributed to a lowered ATP content per se.

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