Force-frequency relationship and potentiation in mammalian skeletal muscle

Repetitive activation of a skeletal muscle results in potentiation of the twitch contractile response. Incompletely fused tetanic contractions similar to those evoked by voluntary activation may also be potentiated by prior activity. We aimed to investigate the role of stimulation frequency on the enhancement of unfused isometric contractions in rat medial gastrocnemius muscles in situ. Muscles set at optimal length were stimulated via the sciatic nerve with 50-mu s duration supramaximal pulses. Trials consisted of 8 s of repetitive trains [5 pulses (quintuplets) 2 times per second or 2 pulses (doublets) 5 times per second] at 20, 40, 50, 60, 70, and 80 Hz. These stimulation frequencies represent a range over which voluntary activation would be expected to occur. When the frequency of stimulation was 20, 50, or 70 Hz, the peak active force (highest tension during a contraction - rest tension) of doublet contractions increased from 2.2 +/- 0.2, 4.1 +/- 0.4, and 4.3 +/- 0.5 to 3.1 +/- 0.3, 5.6 +/- 0.4, and 6.1 +/- 0.7 N, respectively. Corresponding measurements for quintuplet contractions increased from 2.2 +/- 0.2, 6.1 +/- 0.5, and 8.7 +/- 0.7 to 3.2 +/- 0.3, 7.3 +/- 0.6, and 9.0 +/- 0.7 N, respectively. Initial peak active force values were 27 +/- 1 and 61.5 +/- 5% of the maximal (tetanic) force for doublet and quintuplet contractions, respectively, at 80 Hz. With doublets, peak active force increased at all stimulation frequencies. With quintuplets, peak active force increased significantly for frequencies up to 60 Hz. Twitch enhancement at the end of the 8 s of repetitive stimulation was the same regardless of the pattern of stimulation during the 8 s, and twitch peak active force returned to prestimulation values by 5 min. These experiments confirm that activity-dependent potentiation is evident during repeated, incompletely fused tetanic contractions over a broad range of frequencies. This observation suggests that, during voluntary motor unit recruitment, derecruitment or decreased firing frequency would be necessary to achieve a fixed (submaximal) target force during repeated isometric contractions over this time period.