Slow VO2 off-kinetics in skeletal muscle is associated with fast PCr off-kinetics--and inversely.

The computer model of the bioenergetic system in skeletal muscle, developed previously, was used to study the effect of the characteristic decay time of the parallel activation of oxidative phosphorylation [τ(OFF)] during muscle recovery on the muscle oxygen consumption rate (Vo2) and phosphocreatine (PCr) work-to-rest transition (off)-kinetics and on the relationship between the Vo2 and PCr rest-to-work transition (on)- and off-kinetics in moderate and heavy exercise. An increase in τ(OFF) slows down the initial phase of the muscle Vo2 off-kinetics and accelerates the PCr off-kinetics. As a result, the relationship between the initial phase of the Vo2 off-kinetics (lasting approximately 3-60 s in computer simulations) and the PCr off-kinetics is inverse: the slower the former, the faster the latter. A faster initial phase of the Vo2 off-kinetics is associated with a slower late phase of the Vo2 off-kinetics, and as a result, the integral of Vo2 above baseline during recovery, representing the oxygen debt, is identical in all cases [values of τ(OFF)] for a given PCr decrease. Depending on τ(OFF), the muscle Vo2 on-kinetics was either equally fast or slower than the Vo2 off-kinetics in moderate exercise and always slower in heavy exercise. PCr on-kinetics was always faster than PCr off-kinetics. This study clearly demonstrates that τ(OFF) has a pronounced impact on the mutual relations between the muscle Vo2 and PCr on- and off-kinetics.