MUSCLE INJURY, CROSS-SECTIONAL AREA AND FIBER TYPE DISTRIBUTION IN MOUSE SOLEUS AFTER INTERMITTENT WHEEL-RUNNING

1. It was previously noticed that mouse soleus, but not extensor digitorum longus (EDL) muscles, suffer fibre damage at the onset of voluntary wheel‐running without further injuries thereafter. 2. In CBA/J mice trained continuously for 5 months and rested for periods of 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 weeks acute muscle damage was found in soleus 7 days after the resumption of wheel‐running. On single cross‐sections damage was present on average in 8.7 +/‐ 3.5% (mean +/‐ S.D., n = 15) of the fibres, but only in 0.47 +/‐ 0.21% (n = 9) and 1.3 +/‐ 1.1% (n = 4) in control animals rested for 0‐6 weeks after continuous running or in untrained controls. 3. Repeated muscle damage occurred when mice exercised for 4 days at intervals of 21‐25 days, and after thirteen running episodes within 12 months marked changes in soleus, but not EDL muscles, were present. In cross‐sections the total number of muscle fibre profiles was significantly larger in soleus of intermittent runners (768 +/‐ 68, n = 6; P less than 0.05), compared to continuous runners (676 +/‐ 54, n = 3) and sedentary animals (683 +/‐ 33, n = 4). This is probably due to incomplete repair which results in 'split fibres'. 4. At the same time total muscle fibre cross‐sectional area was significantly elevated in intermittent runners (P less than 0.05), mainly due to increase in fibre diameters. Net cross‐sectional areas were 0.59 +/‐ 0.069 mm2 (n = 6) in intermittent, 0.53 +/‐ 0.076 mm2 (n = 3) in continuous runners and 0.46 +/‐ 0.031 mm2 (n = 3) in sedentary controls. 5. Tetanic and twitch force were also significantly elevated in soleus of intermittent runners while the ratio force/area remained the same. 6. There was an increase in the proportion of type I fibres in soleus from 75 +/‐ 0.9% (n = 4) in untrained controls to 90 +/‐ 4.4% (n = 6; P less than 0.05) in intermittent runners and 81 +/‐ 5.6% (n = 3; n.s.) in continuous runners. 7. Resistance to block of synaptic transmission in soleus was significantly higher in intermittent runners for two levels of curare, indicating enhanced safety margins. 8. EDL muscles in intermittent runners were not different from sedentary controls in any of the parameters studied. In particular, muscle fibres with signs of previous damage (split fibres, central nuclei) were rare (on average 0.5‐0.6%) and equally frequent in all experimental groups.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS) © 1990 The Physiological Society