Acid Hydrolase Activity in Red and White Skeletal Muscle of Mice During a Two-week Period Following Exhausting Exercise

The activities of beta-glucuronidase, beta-N-acetylglucosaminidase, arylsulphatase, ribonuclease, p-nitrophenylphosphatase, and malate dehydrogenase together with protein content were assayed from representative mixed (m. rectus femoris), predominantly red (proximal heads of m. vastus lateralis, m.v. medius and m. v. intermedius), and predominantly white (distal head of m. vastus lateralis) muscle homogenates of mice during a two-week period following one single exposure to exhausting intermittent running on a treadmill. The activities of cathepsin D and beta-glycerophosphatase were assayed from mixed muscle only. In all three muscle types, particularly in red muscle, the activities of beta-glucuronidase, beta-N-acetylglucosaminidase, arylsulphatase, and ribonuclease progressively increased between one to five days after the exercise; thereafter the activities began to decrease, being near the conrol values 15 days after the exercise. In mixed muscle, cathepsin D activity increased. No corresponding changes were observed in the activities of acid phosphatases. The time course of the activity changes closely resembled that earlier found to be caused by ischaemia in rabbit muscles. It is tentatively concluded that the two treatments, exhaustive exercise and temporary ischaemia, cause similar cell injuries, and that the lysosomal system involved seems to function similarly in the post-stress recovery of the fibres from these injuries.