title: Contractile properties of the quadriceps muscle in growth hormone-deficient hypopituitary adults.
abstract: 1. Growth hormone-deficient hypopituitary adults often complain of weakness and fatigue. The cause of the fatigue is unknown but could be an increased proportion of fast, fatiguable, type 2 fibres in the muscle. The aim of this study was to examine the contractile properties of the quadriceps muscle in a group of these patients compared with healthy controls. Changes in these properties were also examined in a small subset of the patients following growth hormone replacement. 2. Isometric strength, half-relaxation time from a twitch (t1/2) and the force-frequency relationship were measured using electrically evoked contractions in 14 growth hormone-deficient patients and 14 age- and sex-matched controls. Six patients were restudied following 6-24 month's replacement therapy with growth hormone (daily dose 0.04 +/- 0.01 i.u./kg). 3. The growth hormone-deficient patients had a significantly lower t1/2 than the controls (46.1 +/- 6.1 ms versus 56.1 +/- 10.5 ms respectively; P = 0.0072; mean +/- SD). The 10/100% ratio was also significantly lower in growth-hormone-deficient patients (38.6 +/- 9.9% versus 52.3 +/- 8.0%; P = 0.0005), as was muscle strength (349 +/- 99 N versus 493 +/- 215 N; P = 0.036). Following growth hormone replacement, muscle strength increased significantly (P < 0.05). The 10/100% ratio also increased towards control values, but this change was not significant. 4. These results demonstrate that the relaxation times of the quadriceps are significantly shorter and that the force-frequency relationship shifted to the right in growth hormone-deficient patients, which is consistent with a greater proportion of type 2 fibres within the muscles.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, St. Mary's Hospital Medical School, London, U.K.
authors.forename: O M
authors.initials: OM
authors.lastname: Rutherford
authors.forename: S A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Beshyah
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Schott
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Watkins
authors.forename: D G
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Johnston
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D004558:Electric Stimulation; D005260:Female; D013006:Growth Hormone / Q000172:deficiency* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D007018:Hypopituitarism / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000503:physiopathology*; D007537:Isometric Contraction / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009119:Muscle Contraction / Q000502:physiology*; D009126:Muscle Relaxation / Q000502:physiology; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D013006:Growth Hormone