Effect of low glycogen on carbohydrate and energy metabolism in human muscle during exercise

The effect of preexercise muscle glycogen content on the metabolic responses to exercise has been investigated. Seven men cycled at a work load calculated to elicit 75% of maximal oxygen uptake 211 +/- 17 (SE) W on two occasions: 1) to fatigue (37.2 +/- 5.3 min) and 2) at the same work load and for the same duration as the first. Biopsies were obtained from the quadriceps femoris muscle before and after exercise. Before the first experiment, muscle glycogen was lowered by exercise and diet, and before the second experiment, muscle glycogen was elevated. In the low-glycogen condition (LG), muscle glycogen decreased from 182 +/- 15 at rest to 7 +/- 4 mmol glucosyl units/kg dry wt at fatigue, while in the high-glycogen condition (HG), glycogen decreased from 725 +/- 31 at rest to 353 +/- 53 mmol glucosyl units/kg dry wt at the end of exercise. Hexose monophosphates were not increased after LG exercise but increased approximately fivefold after HG exercise. Lactate increased more during HG exercise (LG = 16 +/- 5, HG = 61 +/- 7 mmol/kg dry wt; P less than or equal to 0.001), whereas IMP increased more during LG (LG = 2.8 +/- 0.6, HG = 0.9 +/- 0.2 mmol/kg dry wt; P less than or equal to 0.05). The increases in the sum of tricarboxylic acid cycle intermediates (TCAI; citrate+malate+fumarate) and acetylcarnitine (which is in equilibrium with acetyl CoA) were significantly greater during HG exercise (P less than or equal to 0.05).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)