Dietary fish oil delays hypoxic skeletal muscle fatigue and enhances caffeine-stimulated contractile recovery in the rat in vivo hindlimb.
Oxygen efficiency influences skeletal muscle contractile function during physiological hypoxia. Dietary fish oil, providing docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), reduces the oxygen cost of muscle contraction. This study used an autologous perfused rat hindlimb model to examine the effects of a fish oil diet on skeletal muscle fatigue during an acute hypoxic challenge. Male Wistar rats were fed a diet rich in saturated fat (SF), long-chain (LC) n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-6 PUFA), or LC n-3 PUFA DHA from fish oil (FO) (8 weeks). During anaesthetised and ventilated conditions (normoxia 21% O2(SaO2-98%) and hypoxia 14% O2(SaO2-89%)) the hindlimb was perfused at a constant flow and the gastrocnemius-plantaris-soleus muscle bundle was stimulated via sciatic nerve (2 Hz, 6-12V, 0.05 ms) to established fatigue. Caffeine (2.5, 5, 10 mM) was supplied to the contracting muscle bundle via the arterial cannula to assess force recovery. Hypoxia, independent of diet, attenuated maximal twitch tension (normoxia: 82 ± 8; hypoxia: 41 ± 2 g·g-1tissue w.w.). However, rats fed FO sustained higher peak twitch tension compared with the SF and n-6 PUFA groups (P < 0.05), and the time to decline to 50% of maximum twitch tension was extended (SF: 546 ± 58; n-6 PUFA: 522 ± 58; FO: 792 ± 96 s; P < 0.05). In addition, caffeine-stimulated skeletal muscle contractile recovery was enhanced in the FO-fed animals (SF: 41 ± 3; n-6 PUFA: 40 ± 4; FO: 52 ± 7% recovery; P < 0.05). These results support a physiological role of DHA in skeletal muscle membranes when exposed to low-oxygen stress that is consistent with the attenuation of muscle fatigue under physiologically normoxic conditions.
School of Medicine, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, 2522, NSW, Australia.|School of Medicine, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, 2522, NSW, Australia.
Gregory E
GE
Peoples
School of Medicine, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, 2522, NSW, Australia.|School of Medicine, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, 2522, NSW, Australia.
Peter L
PL
McLennan
D000818:Animals; D002110:Caffeine / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D004032:Diet; D004041:Dietary Fats / Q000008:administration & dosage; D004281:Docosahexaenoic Acids / Q000008:administration & dosage; D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000008:administration & dosage; D015525:Fatty Acids, Omega-3 / Q000008:administration & dosage; D043371:Fatty Acids, Omega-6 / Q000008:administration & dosage; D005395:Fish Oils / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D006614:Hindlimb / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D000860:Hypoxia / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D008297:Male; D009119:Muscle Contraction / Q000187:drug effects*; D018763:Muscle Fatigue / Q000187:drug effects*; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000187:drug effects; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar
D004041:Dietary Fats; D005227:Fatty Acids; D015525:Fatty Acids, Omega-3; D043371:Fatty Acids, Omega-6; D005395:Fish Oils; D004281:Docosahexaenoic Acids; D002110:Caffeine
LC n-3 PUFA; acide docosahexaénoïque; docosahexaenoic acid; fatigue musculaire; fish oil; huile de poisson; hypoxia; hypoxie; muscle fatigue