High-intensity exercise training induces morphological and biochemical changes in skeletal muscles

In the present study we investigated the effect of two different exercise protocols on fibre composition and metabolism of two specific muscles of mice: the quadriceps and the gastrocnemius. Mice were run daily on a motorized treadmill, at a velocity corresponding to 60% or 90% of the maximal running velocity. Blood lactate and body weight were measured during exercise training. We found that at the end of training the body weight significantly increased in high-intensity exercise mice compared to the control group (P=0.0268), whereas it decreased in low-intensity exercise mice compared to controls (P=0.30). In contrast, the food intake was greater in both trained mice compared to controls (P<0.0001 and P<0.0001 for low-intensity and high-intensity exercise mice, respectively). These effects were accompanied by a progressive reduction in blood lactate levels at the end of training in both the exercised mice compared with controls (P=0.03 and P<0.0001 for low-intensity and high-intensity exercise mice, respectively); in particular, blood lactate levels after high-intensity exercise were significantly lower than those measured in low-intensity exercise mice (P=0.0044). Immunoblotting analysis demonstrated that high-intensity exercise training produced a significant increase in the expression of mitochondrial enzymes contained within gastrocnemius and quadriceps muscles. These changes were associated with an increase in the amount of slow fibres in both these muscles of high-intensity exercise mice, as revealed by the counts of slow fibres stained with specific antibodies (P<0.0001 for the gastrocnemius; P=0.0002 for the quadriceps). Our results demonstrate that high-intensity exercise, in addition to metabolic changes consisting of a decrease in blood lactate and body weight, induces an increase in the mitochondrial enzymes and slow fibres in different skeletal muscles of mice, which indicates an exercise-induced increase in the aerobic metabolism.