Restrictions in Locomotor Skeletal Muscle Perfusion, Oxygen Supply and VO2 During Supramaximal Exercise in Humans

There is evidence that increasing carbohydrate (CHO) availability during exercise by raising preexercise muscle glycogen levels attenuates the activation of AMPKα2 during exercise in humans. Similarly, increasing glucose levels decreases AMPKα2 activity in rat skeletal muscle in vitro. We examined the effect of CHO ingestion on skeletal muscle AMPK signaling during exercise in nine active male subjects who completed two 120-min bouts of cycling exercise at 65 ± 1% V̇o2 peak. In a randomized, counterbalanced order, subjects ingested either an 8% CHO solution or a placebo solution during exercise. Compared with the placebo trial, CHO ingestion significantly ( P < 0.05) increased plasma glucose levels and tracer-determined glucose disappearance. Exercise-induced increases in muscle-calculated free AMP (17.7- vs. 11.8-fold), muscle lactate (3.3- vs. 1.8-fold), and plasma epinephrine were reduced by CHO ingestion. However, the exercise-induced increases in skeletal muscle AMPKα2 activity, AMPKα2 Thr172 phosphorylation and acetyl-CoA Ser222 phosphorylation, were essentially identical in the two trials. These findings indicate that AMPK activation in skeletal muscle during exercise in humans is not sensitive to changes in plasma glucose levels in the normal range. Furthermore, the rise in plasma epinephrine levels in response to exercise was greatly suppressed by CHO ingestion without altering AMPK signaling, raising the possibility that epinephrine does not directly control AMPK activity during muscle contraction under these conditions in vivo.

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Skeletal muscle pyruvate dehydrogenase activity during maximal exercise in humans

AJP Endocrinology and Metabolism ◽

10.1152/ajpendo.1995.269.3.e458 ◽

1995 ◽

Vol 269 (3) ◽

pp. E458-E468 ◽

Cited By ~ 29

Author(s):

C. T. Putman ◽

N. L. Jones ◽

L. C. Lands ◽

T. M. Bragg ◽

M. G. Hollidge-Horvat ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Skeletal Muscle ◽

Pyruvate Dehydrogenase ◽

Maximal Exercise ◽

Vastus Lateralis ◽

Active Form ◽

Lactate Production ◽

Glycolytic Flux ◽

Muscle Lactate ◽

Mitochondrial Oxidation ◽

Exercise In Humans

The regulation of the active form of pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDHa) and related metabolic events were examined in human skeletal muscle during repeated bouts of maximum exercise. Seven subjects completed three consecutive 30-s bouts of maximum isokinetic cycling, separated by 4 min of recovery. Biopsies of the vastus lateralis were taken before and immediately after each bout. PDHa increased from 0.45 +/- 0.15 to 2.96 +/- 0.38, 1.10 +/- 0.11 to 2.91 +/- 0.11, and 1.28 +/- 0.18 to 2.82 +/- 0.32 mmol.min-1.kg wet wt-1 during bouts 1, 2, and 3, respectively. Glycolytic flux was 13-fold greater than PDHa in bouts 1 and 2 and 4-fold greater during bout 3. This discrepancy between the rate of pyruvate production and oxidation resulted in substantial lactate accumulation to 89.5 +/- 11.6 in bout 1, 130.8 +/- 13.8 in bout 2, and 106.6 +/- 10.1 mmol/kg dry wt in bout 3. These events coincided with an increase in the mitochondrial oxidation state, as reflected by a fall in mitochondrial NADH/NAD, indicating that muscle lactate production during exercise was not an O2-dependent process in our subjects. During exercise the primary factor regulating PDHa transformation was probably intracellular Ca2+. In contrast, the primary regulatory factors causing greater PDHa during recovery were lower ATP/ADP and NADH/NAD and increased concentrations of pyruvate and H+. Greater PDHa during recovery facilitated continued oxidation of the lactate load between exercise bouts.

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