Fast-to-slow muscle conversion by chronic electrostimulation: Effects on mitochondrial respiratory chain function with possible implications for the gracilis neosphincter procedure

The effects of chronic, around the clock, low-frequency electrostimulation on the respiratory chain activity and cytochrome content of freshly isolated mitochondria were evaluated in rabbit skeletal muscle before and after 30 days of continuous or cyclical electrostimulation using a totally implantable system and a training programme now used in humans. The respiratory activity measured in state III increased strongly after electrostimulation. The efficiency of the respiratory chain increased significantly after electrostimulation but the activity of complex I (reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide dehydrogenase) did not increase. The amount of cytochromes a and a(3), b(562), and c and c(1) increased clearly after electrostimulation. The respiratory activity rate of mitochondria obtained after continuous electrostimulation was apparently higher than after cyclical electrostimulation. Chronic uninterrupted low-frequency electrostimulation, using a clinical training programme, induces an increase in mitochondrial respiratory chain activity in purified mitochondria of skeletal muscle. These changes are the basis of induced resistance to fatigue in fast-to-slow muscle conversion by chronic electrostimulation.