Microdialysis and electromyography of experimental muscle fatigue in healthy volunteers and patients with mitochondrial myopathy

Consecutive 60-min microdialysis samples were taken from the tibialis anterior muscle in 11 healthy subjects and 4 patients with mitochondrial myopathy before (2-3 samples) and after (3-4 samples, 2 controls and 1 patient excluded) sustained isometric foot dorsiflexions. Before exercise, mean concentrations of lactate, pyruvate, hypoxanthine, urate, aspartate, and glutamate did not significantly differ between controls and patients. After exercise, the controls showed significantly increased concentrations of lactate, pyruvate, and urate, decreased hypoxanthine, and no change in aspartate and glutamate. Similar findings were observed in the patients. Plasma lactate was unchanged. Exercise-induced increase in integrated electromyogram amplitude and rated subjective fatigue were correlated to increased post-exercise lactate concentrations, with no obvious difference between the groups. Microdialysis of skeletal muscle allows the detection and monotoring of biochemical changes in the interstitial space. With the exercise protocol used, however, it was not possible to demonstrate any biochemical difference between healthy controls and patients with mitochondrial myopathy. (C) 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.