The effects of hypoxia on muscle deoxygenation and recruitment in the flexor digitorum superficialis during submaximal intermittent handgrip exercise

Background Decreased oxygenation of muscle may be accentuated during exercise at high altitude. Monitoring the oxygen saturation of muscle (SmO 2 ) during hand grip exercise using near infrared spectroscopy during acute exposure to hypoxia could provide a model for a test of muscle performance without the competing cardiovascular stresses that occur during a cycle ergometer or treadmill test. The purpose of this study was to examine and compare acute exposure to normobaric hypoxia versus normoxia on deoxygenation and recruitment of the flexor digitorum superficialis (FDS) during submaximal intermittent handgrip exercise (HGE) in healthy adults. Methods Twenty subjects (11 M/9 F) performed HGE at 50% of maximum voluntary contraction, with a duty cycle of 2 s:1 s until task failure on two occasions one week apart, randomly assigned to normobaric hypoxia (FiO 2 = 12%) or normoxia (FiO 2 = 21%). Near-infrared spectroscopy monitored SmO 2 , oxygenated (O 2 Hb), deoxygenated (HHb), and total hemoglobin (tHb) over the FDS. Surface electromyography derived root mean square and mean power frequency of the FDS. Results Hypoxic compared to normoxic HGE induced a lower FDS SmO 2 (63.8 ± 2.2 vs. 69.0 ± 1.5, p = 0.001) and both protocols decreased FDS SmO 2 from baseline to task failure. FDS mean power frequency was lower during hypoxic compared to normoxic HGE (64.0 ± 1.4 vs. 68.2 ± 2.0 Hz, p = 0.04) and both decreased mean power frequency from the first contractions to task failure ( p = 0.000). Under both hypoxia and normoxia, HHb, tHb and root mean square increased from baseline to task failure whereas O 2 Hb decreased and then increased during HGE. Arterial oxygen saturation via pulse oximetry (SpO 2 ) was lower during hypoxia compared to normoxia conditions ( p = 0.000) and heart rate and diastolic blood pressure only demonstrated small increases. Task durations and the tension-time index of HGE did not differ between normoxic and hypoxic trials. Conclusion Hypoxic compared to normoxic HGE decreased SmO 2 and induced lower mean power frequency in the FDS, during repetitive hand grip exercise however did not result in differences in task durations or tension-time indices. The fiber type composition of FDS, and high duty cycle and intensity may have contributed greater dependence on anaerobiosis.