Skeletal Muscle Mass and Aging: Regional and Whole-Body Measurement Methods

Skeletal muscle is a large compartment that can now be quantified using research and clinically applicable regional and whole-body methods. The most important advances are the two imaging methods, computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Both CT and MRI can serve as regional and whole-body reference methods when evaluating other approaches for estimating skeletal muscle mass. Imaging methods also afford the opportunity to quantify both anatomic skeletal muscle and the smaller adipose-tissue free skeletal muscle component. Other available methods for estimating skeletal muscle, either regional or at the whole body level, include dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry, in vivo neutron activation analysis-whole body counting, anthropometry, ultrasound, bioimpedance analysis, and urinary metabolite markers. Each method is reviewed in the context of the aging process, cost, availability, practicality, and desired accuracy. New insights should be possible when skeletal muscle mass, measured using these methods, is combined with other descriptors of muscle biochemical and mechanical function. Key words: skeletal muscle mass, aging, nutritional assessment, function

Muscle Regionalization

In this review, the term muscle fibre regionalization signifies the presence of regional intramuscular differences in fibre type composition. As is well known, highly regionalized muscles commonly have greater concentrations of slow fibres deep than superficially. However, the degree of regionalization varies markedly between muscles and is not confined to deep vs. superficial locations. Fibres of the same myosin type may show regionalized differences in their metabolic enzyme activity, even within single motor units (Larsson, 1992). Regionalization of fibre type composition occurs also within single neuromuscular partitions. The intraspinal position of motoneurones is often coarsely related to the intramuscular sites of their muscle units. Muscles with a marked fibre type regionalization tend to show a corresponding regionalization of activity; in several muscles, however, the activity regionalization may vary depending on the motor task. During early development, fibre type regionalization emerges even under aneural conditions. The mechanisms are still unknown; relevant aspects of early development are briefly reviewed. Key words: skeletal muscle, fiber type, topography, activity, development

Effects of Ageing on the Motor Unit: A Brief Review

This review briefly summarizes the current state of knowledge regarding age related changes in skeletal muscle, followed by a more in-depth review of ageing effects on animal and human motor units (MUs). Ageing in humans is generally associated with reductions in muscle mass (atrophy), leading to reduced voluntary and electrically evoked contractile strength by the 7th decade for most muscle groups studied. As well, contraction and one-half relaxation times are typically prolonged in muscles of the elderly. Evidence from animal and human studies points toward age associated MU loss as the primary mechanism for muscle atrophy, and such losses may be greatest among the largest and fastest MUs. However, based on studies in animals and humans, it appears that at least some of the surviving MUs are able to partially compensate for MU losses, as indicated by an increase in the average MU size with age. The fact that muscles in the elderly have fewer, but on average larger and slower, MUs has important implications for motor control and function in this population. Key words: skeletal muscle, motor neuron, motor axon, contractile properties, adaptation

The correlation between the increase in slow outward current and in contraction induced by caffeine, ryanodine, and rapid cooling in voltage-clamped frog muscle fibers

The effects of caffeine, ryanodine, and rapid cooling were tested on the depolarization-induced contraction and the apamin-insensitive slow outward current (Iso) of voltage-clamped (double mannitol gap) single frog muscle fibers. Subthreshold caffeine concentrations (0.5–2 mM) induced a monotonic increase in contractile and Iso amplitude. Whatever the concentration, the increase in contraction was roughly twice the one in current. Similar results were obtained upon rapid cooling (20–4 °C) in the presence of 0.5 mM caffeine. In the absence of external Na+ (choline-substituted) 10−5 M ryanodine induced a delayed increase (≈30 min) in contraction and in current, shortly before the development of a drastic and irreversible contracture. Here again, the increase in contraction was twice that in current. In the presence of 5 mM tetraethylammonium (TEA) and (or) 25 nM charybdotoxin, 2 mM caffeine still induced a strong facilitating effect on contraction but the parallel increase in current was strongly reduced. The linear relationship between the increase in current and contractile amplitude has a slope ≈0.5 (whatever the drug used to increase contractility); it is ≈0.1 in the presence of TEA and (or) charybdotoxin. In conclusion, provided the changes in contractile amplitude are caused by parallel changes in depolarization-induced sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ release, about 50% of the apamin-insensitive Iso is controlled by internal Ca2+ release. The main part of this current corresponds to the TEA- and charybdotoxin-sensitive component of Iso.Key words: skeletal muscle, voltage clamp, Ca2+-dependent K+ current, sarcoplasmic reticulum calcium release, caffeine, ryanodine, charybdotoxin.

ROLE OF NA+, K+-ATPase IN MUSCULAR ENERGY EXPENDITURE OF WARM- AND COLD-EXPOSED SHEEP

The role of Na+, K+-ATPase in the energy expenditure of sheep skeletal muscle and the influence of exposure to cold on this role were studied. An in vitro preparation of muscle was developed that achieved O2 availability and a functional membrane potential. A 10−6 M concentration of ouabain yielded a maximum inhibition of respiration of 38.9 ± 1.8% using muscle preparations from a random group of sheep. Whole body and muscle O2 consumptions and ouabain-sensitive muscle respiration were measured for warm- and cold-exposed sheep fed at maintenance or 1150 g of alfalfa pellets per day. Cold exposure increased whole body and muscle O2 consumption. Inhibition of respiration by ouabain was 37.6 ± 1.2% and 41.0 ± 3.6% for warm- and cold-exposed sheep fed at maintenance, and 28.5 ± 4.0% and 45.0 ± 4.0% for warm- and cold-exposed sheep fed 1150 g of alfalfa pellets per day. The increase in the ouabain-sensitive component of respiration accounted for 48–79% of the increased O2 consumption of muscle from cold-exposed sheep. It was concluded that the Na+, K+-ATPase of sheep muscle is a major means of energy expenditure and has an important role in the increased thermogenesis resulting from cold exposure. Key words: Skeletal muscle, Energy expenditure, muscle respiration, cold thermogenesis, sodium-potassium transport