EXHAUSTIVE EXERCISE, ENDURANCE TRAINING, AND ACID HYDROLASE ACTIVITY IN SKELETAL-MUSCLE

The activity of eight acid hydrolases and two energy metabolism enzymes were assayed from homogenates of predominantly red (proximal heads of m. vastus lateralis, m. vastus medialis, and m vastus intermedius) and predominantly white (distal head of m. vastus lateralis) skeletal muscle of mice belonging to one of the following groups: 1) sedentary controls, never trained or exhausted; 2) exhausted controls, exhausted once by running on a treadmill 5, 10, or 20 days before killing; 3) trained mice, exercising until killed; 4) exhausted trained mice, exercised until exhausted 5, 10, or 20 days before killing, not exercising during that period; and 5) detrained mice, terminating training 5, 10, or 20 days before killing. In untrained but not in trained animals, exhaustive exercise caused, 5 days afterward, fiber necrosis and a marked increase in the activities of β-glucuronidase, β-N-acetylglucosaminidase, arylsulphatase, ribonuclease, deoxyribonuclease, cathepsin D, and cathepsin C, especially in red muscle fibers. Training increased the activities of citrate synthase, β-glucuronidase, and cathepsin D in both muscle types and those of β-N-acetylglucosaminidase, arylsulphatase, and cathepsin C in red muscle. Effects of detraining were minor. Exhaustive exercise causes lethal and evidently also sublethal fiber injuries manifesting themselves as an activation of the lysosomal system of muscle fibers 5 days later. Training affects cellular homeostasis by causing an apparent resistance to the damaging effects of exhaustive exercise. Moderately increased hydrolase activities may reflect increased turnover in endurance-trained muscles.