Effect of long-term caloric restriction and exercise on muscle bioenergetics and force development in rats

• Published in: American journal of physiology: endocrinology and metabolism 1999-04, Vol.276 (4), p.E766-E773
• Main Authors: Horska, Alena, Brant, Larry J, Ingram, Donald K, Hansford, Richard G, Roth, George S, Spencer, Richard G. S
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0193-1849; 1522-1555
• DOI: 10.1152/ajpendo.1999.276.4.e766

1  Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Unit, 2  Laboratory of Cellular and Molecular Biology, 3  Longitudinal Studies Branch, 4  Laboratory of Molecular Genetics, Gerontology Research Center, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, Maryland 21224 We evaluated the hypothesis that long-term caloric restriction and exercise would have beneficial effects on muscle bioenergetics and performance in the rat. By themselves, each of these interventions is known to increase longevity, and bioenergetic improvements are thought to be important in this phenomenon. Accordingly, we investigated rats that underwent long-term caloric restriction and were sedentary, ad libitum-fed rats permitted to exercise by daily spontaneous wheel running (AE), and the combination of the dietary and exercise interventions (RE). Ad libitum-fed, sedentary rats comprised the control group. 31 P NMR spectra of the gastrocnemius muscle (GM) were collected in vivo at rest and during two periods of electrical stimulation. Neither caloric restriction nor exercise affected the ratio of phosphocreatine to ATP or pH at rest. During the first stimulation and after recovery, the RE group had a significantly smaller decline in pH than did the other groups ( P