title: Muscle glycogen supercompensation: absence of a gender-related difference.
abstract: Recently it has been reported that women do not have the capacity to accumulate supranormal levels of muscle glycogen when subjected to a carbohydrate (CHO) loading regimen [Tarnopolsky et al. (1995) J Appl Physiol 78:1360-1368]. Since, in this study, CHO intake relative to body mass in the female subjects was much lower than that in males, our primary aim was to re-examine this issue using subjects fed comparable amounts of CHO. Endurance-trained female and male subjects ingested 12 g CHO x kg(-1) lean body mass day(-1) in conjunction with the cessation of their daily physical training. A 3-day exposure to this diet resulted in a marked rise in muscle glycogen levels from [mean (SD)] 108 (15) mmol x kg(-1) wet weight to 193 (14) mmol x kg(-1) wet weight and 111 (16) m mol x kg(-1) wet weight to 202 (20) mmol x kg(-1) wet weight in the female participants during the post-menstrual and pre-menstrual phases of their menstrual cycle, respectively, and from 109 (27) mmol x kg(-1) wet weight to 183 (25) mmol x kg(-1) wet weight in males. We conclude that (1) female athletes have the capacity to accumulate supranormal levels of muscle glycogen, and (2) when exercise-trained males and females are fed comparable amounts of CHO relative to lean body mass, there is no gender-related difference in their ability to accumulate supranormal levels of muscle glycogen.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, University of Western Australia, Nedlands, Australia.
authors.forename: A P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: James
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lorraine
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Cullen
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Goodman
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Dawson
authors.forename: T N
authors.initials: TN
authors.lastname: Palmer
authors.forename: P A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Fournier
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004040:Dietary Carbohydrates / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D005260:Female; D006003:Glycogen / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000378:metabolism*; D010807:Physical Endurance / Q000502:physiology; D012727:Sex Characteristics
chemical_list: D004040:Dietary Carbohydrates; D006003:Glycogen