The relative degree of glycogen degradation, caused in different fibre types by supramaximal electrical activation of the muscle nerve, was investigated in m. gastrocnemius medialis of young adult rats under general pentobarbitone anaesthesia. Four different protocols of intermittent maximal tetanic activation were used, each lasting 6 s (33% duty cycle; fast and slow isovelocity concentric (shortening) contractions, brief- and long-burst isometric contractions; 6 rats per group). All contractions were evoked under ischaemic conditions. 2. Work output finally dropped to 29% of the initial value for the fast concentric and to 87% for the slow concentric contractions. In isometric protocols evoked by the same stimulation patterns, the force x time area rose to 110% for brief-burst contractions and dropped to 95% for the long-burst contractions. 3. Following the physiological procedures, the experimental muscle and its contralateral control were removed and prepared for histochemical analysis. Serial sections were stained for glycogen (periodic acid-Schiff (PAS) method) and myofibrillar ATPase (mATPase), the latter reactions being used for classifying the fibres as types I, IIA, IIBd and IIBm. 4. For deep 'red' regions of non-stimulated contralateral control muscles the optical density of PAS staining was ranked between fibre types such that I < IIA < IIBd < IIBm. In superficial 'white' regions of the same muscles, no significant difference in PAS staining density was found between IIBd and IIBm fibres (types I and IIA not present). 5. All contractile protocols produced a significant glycogen degradation in IIBm fibres, and the fast concentric activation procedure was associated with a significant decline of PAS staining in all fibre types. For all activation protocols, the relative degree of glycogen degradation within a given region was ranked such that IIBm > IIBd > IIA > I. For IIBm vs. IIBd fibres, the differences in relative degradation were greater and more consistently significant for superficial white regions than in the deeper red muscle portions. 6. The results are discussed in relation to glycogen degradation measurements in studies of motor unit recruitment. Furthermore, the results from red vs. white muscle regions underline that fibres of seemingly the same mATPase type may differ considerably in other properties.
