[Study on the content of myoglobin and the activity of lactate dehydrogenase and malate dehydrogenase in skeletal muscle of tibetan antelope].
OBJECTIVE
To explore the adaptive mechanism to hypoxia in skeletal muscle of tibetan antelope.


METHODS
Tibetan sheep which living at the same altitude (4 300 m) with tibetan antelope and low altitude (1 800 m) sheep as control, the content of myoglobin (Mb) and lactic acid (LA), the activity of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and malate dehydrogenase (MDH) in skeletal muscles among three animals were analyzed by spectrophotometer.


RESULTS
The content of myoglobin in skeletal muscle of tibetan antelope significantly higher than that of tibetan sheep and low altitude sheep (P < 0.05). And the content of LA in skeletal muscle of tibetan antelope significantly lower than that of tibetan sheep and low altitude sheep (P < 0.05), activity of LDH and MDH in skeletal muscle was significantly lower and higher respectively than that of tibetan sheep and low altitude sheep (P < 0.05). There was no significant difference between tibetan sheep and low altitude sheep.


CONCLUSIONS
Tibetan antelope may improve their ability to get oxygen under hypoxia by increasing the content of myoglobin in skeletal muscle, and the proportion of aerobic metabolism is high in skeletal muscle, it may be relate that with high myoglobin content in skeletal muscle, we suppose that high myoglobin content in skeletal muscle of tibetan antelope might be one of the molecular basis to adapt hypoxia.
Research Center for High Altitude Medicine in Medical College, Qinghai University, Xining 810001, China.
Lan
L
Ma
Ying-Zhong
YZ
Yang
Ri-Li
RL
Ge
D000531:Altitude; D000818:Animals; D000866:Antelopes / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D000860:Hypoxia / Q000378:metabolism; D007770:L-Lactate Dehydrogenase / Q000378:metabolism*; D008291:Malate Dehydrogenase / Q000378:metabolism*; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000378:metabolism*; D009211:Myoglobin / Q000378:metabolism*
D009211:Myoglobin; D007770:L-Lactate Dehydrogenase; D008291:Malate Dehydrogenase