Specific effects of low-frequency stimulation upon energy metabolism in tibialis anterior muscles of mouse, rat, guinea pig and rabbit.

Tibialis anterior (TA) muscles of four small mammals were subjected to chronic nerve stimulation for 28 days (10 Hz, 10 hours per day). Total cellular activities of phosphofructokinase (PFK), hexokinase (HK), citrate synthase (CS), 3-hydroxy-acyl-CoA dehydrogenase (HADH) and 3-hydroxybutyrate dehydrogenase (HBDH) were measured in the stimulated and unstimulated contralateral muscles. Normal TA muscles displayed ranges of oxidative and glycolytic capacities with rabbit TA showing the lowest and mouse TA the highest oxidative capacity. Chronic stimulation was almost without effect in mouse TA. In all other species, glycolytic capacity was decreased and reference enzymes of aerobic-oxidative pathways were increased. Rabbit TA displayed the highest increment in oxidative capacity with approximately three-fold increases in CS and HADH and eleven-fold increases in HBDH. Different responses were also observed for HK. In some cases, the extent of adaptation appeared to be independent of the initial enzyme activity levels, while in other cases it appeared to follow an order which corresponded to the size of the animals. Thus, there exist species-specific ranges of adaptation and adaptive alterations in one species may not necessarily reflect the adaptive response of another species.