Energy metabolism of skeletal muscle biopsies stimulated anaerobically without load in vitro.

This study was made to test the validity of a simple biopsy technique for assessing the metabolic capacity of skeletal muscle. The biopsy is stimulated under mineral oil without attachment, i.e., without load or tension, then freeze-clamped and assayed for ATP, phosphocreatine, glucose 6-phosphate, and lactate. The mineral oil creates a closed anaerobic system. Background studies demonstrated in the absence of a load, metabolic changes with stimulation were little affected by cutting the fibers to obtain the biopsy; and high-energy phosphate (approximately P) consumption during a brief tetanus was not much lower than that for an isometric tetanus. Individual fast-twitch oxidative-glycolytic (IIA) and fast-twitch glycolytic (IIB) fibers obtained from the freeze-clamped biopsy showed distinct differences in approximately P consumption and metabolic changes. The results indicate that this technique could be useful for studies of normal and pathological human muscle.