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Skeletal muscle metabolism in overweight and post-overweight women: an isometric exercise study using 31P magnetic resonance spectroscopy

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether skeletal muscle anaerobic metabolism, oxidative metabolism or metabolic economy during controlled sub-maximal and near-maximal exercises is altered in overweight women after diet-induced weight reduction, and whether these parameters are different between normal-weight, obesity-prone and normal-weight obesity-resistant women with similar physical fitness levels.

DESIGN: A prospective weight loss study of overweight women and their comparison with never overweight controls.

SUBJECTS: Thirty overweight, nondiabetic, premenopausal women and 28 never overweight controls were included in this analysis. All were participating in a longitudinal investigation of the role of energy metabolism in the etiology of obesity.

The overweight women were recruited specifically to have a positive family history of obesity and have a body mass index (BMI) between 27 and 30 kg/m2 and were studied in the overweight state and after reduction to a normal weight. The never-overweight controls were recruited specifically to have no personal and family history of obesity and were group matched with the weight-reduced post-overweight subjects in terms of premenopausal status, age, BMI, race and sedentary lifestyle.

MEASUREMENTS: All testing was performed following one month of weight maintenance and during the follicular phase of the menstrual cycle. Hydrostatic weighing was performed to measure body composition and a whole-body maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max) test was done to measure aerobic fitness. 31P MRS was used to determine ATP production from oxidative phosphorylation (OxPhos), ‘anaerobic’ glycolysis (AnGly), and creatine kinase (CK), as well as muscle metabolic economy. The time constant of ADP (TCADP), VPCr (ie the initial rate of PCr resynthesis following exercise), and Qmax (ie the apparent maximal oxidative ATP production rate) were also calculated as additional markers of mitochondrial function.

RESULTS: Diet-induced weight loss did not have any effects on the anaerobic metabolism markers (AnGly and CK). The aerobic metabolism markers calculated from the initial recovery data (OxPhos and VPCr) were unaffected by diet-induced weight loss. However, diet-induced weight loss resulted in improvements in the TCADP and Qmax in the post-overweight state as compared to their overweight state. There were no differences in any of the anaerobic (AnGly and CK) or oxidative metabolism markers (OxPhos, VPCr, Qmax and TCADP) between the post-overweight and control groups.

CONCLUSIONS: Once the overweight women were reduced to a normal-weight state, their skeletal muscle energy metabolism and economy was similar to the never overweight control women. In overweight women, oxidative metabolism or mitochondrial function may be limited by blood flow to the muscle following the cessation of exercise.

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank Kathy Lander and Nancy Davis for their invaluable assistance in the NMR data collection and analysis for this project. This research was supported in part by grants from the National Institutes of Health (RO1 DK-49779 and RO1 DK-51684), the National Center for Research Resources, National Institutes of Health (NCRR RR 11811), the University of Alabama at Birmingham General Clinical Research Center (MO1-RR-32), and the University of Alabama at Birmingham University-Wide Obesity Nutrition Research Center. Special thanks are extended to the Nestlé Food Company (Solon, OH) who provided Stouffer's Lean Cuisine entrées for this project.

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Newcomer, B., Larson-Meyer, D., Hunter, G. et al. Skeletal muscle metabolism in overweight and post-overweight women: an isometric exercise study using 31P magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Int J Obes 25, 1309–1315 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijo.0801673

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