Performance and thermoregulation of Dutch Olympic and Paralympic athletes exercising in the heat: Rationale and design of the Thermo Tokyo study: The journal Temperature toolbox.

The environmental conditions during the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games are expected to be challenging, which increases the risk for participating athletes to develop heat-related illnesses and experience performance loss. To allow safe and optimal exercise performance of Dutch elite athletes, the Thermo Tokyo study aimed to determine thermoregulatory responses and performance loss among elite athletes during exercise in the heat, and to identify personal, sports-related, and environmental factors that contribute to the magnitude of these outcomes. For this purpose, Dutch Olympic and Paralympic athletes performed two personalized incremental exercise tests in simulated control (15°C, relative humidity (RH) 50%) and Tokyo (32°C, RH 75%) conditions, during which exercise performance and (thermo)physiological parameters were obtained. Thereafter, athletes were invited for an additional visit to conduct anthropometric, dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA), and 3D scan measurements. Collected data also served as input for a thermophysiological computer simulation model to estimate the impact of a wider range of environmental conditions on thermoregulatory responses. Findings of this study can be used to inform elite athletes and their coaches on how heat impacts their individual (thermo)physiological responses and, based on these data, advise which personalized countermeasures (i.e. heat acclimation, cooling interventions, rehydration plan) can be taken to allow safe and maximal performance in the challenging environmental conditions of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Blunted angiogenesis and hypertrophy are associated with increased fatigue resistance and unchanged aerobic capacity in old overloaded mouse muscle.

We hypothesize that the attenuated hypertrophic response in old mouse muscle is (1) partly due to a reduced capillarization and angiogenesis, which is (2) accompanied by a reduced oxidative capacity and fatigue resistance in old control and overloaded muscles, that (3) can be rescued by the antioxidant resveratrol. To investigate this, the hypertrophic response, capillarization, oxidative capacity, and fatigue resistance of m. plantaris were compared in 9- and 25-month-old non-treated and 25-month-old resveratrol-treated mice. Overload increased the local capillary-to-fiber ratio less in old (15 %) than in adult (59 %) muscle (P < 0.05). Although muscles of old mice had a higher succinate dehydrogenase (SDH) activity (P < 0.05) and a slower fiber type profile (P < 0.05), the isometric fatigue resistance was similar in 9- and 25-month-old mice. In both age groups, the fatigue resistance was increased to the same extent after overload (P < 0.01), without a significant change in SDH activity, but an increased capillary density (P < 0.05). Attenuated angiogenesis during overload may contribute to the attenuated hypertrophic response in old age. Neither was rescued by resveratrol supplementation. Changes in fatigue resistance with overload and aging were dissociated from changes in SDH activity, but paralleled those in capillarization. This suggests that capillarization plays a more important role in fatigue resistance than oxidative capacity.

Validation of a New Semi-Automated Technique to Evaluate Muscle Capillarization.

The method of capillary domains has often been used to study capillarization of skeletal and heart muscle. However, the conventional data processing method using a digitizing tablet is an arduous and time-consuming task. Here we compare a new semi-automated capillary domain data collection and analysis in muscle tissue with the standard capillary domain method. The capillary density (1481±59 vs. 1447±54 caps mm(-2); R2:0.99; P<0.01) and heterogeneity of capillary spacing (0.085±0.002 vs. 0.085±0.002; R2:0.95; P<0.01) were similar in both methods. The fiber cross-sectional area correlated well between the methods (R2:0.84; P<0.01) and did not differ significantly (~8% larger in the old than new method at P=0.08). The latter was likely due to differences in outlining the contours between the two methods. In conclusion, the semi-automated method gives quantitatively and qualitatively similar data as the conventional method and saves a considerable amount of time.

Blunted hypertrophic response in old mouse muscle is associated with a lower satellite cell density and is not alleviated by resveratrol.

BACKGROUND: Sarcopenia contributes to the decreased quality of life in the older person. While resistance exercise is an effective measure to increase muscle mass and strength, the hypertrophic response may be blunted in old age. OBJECTIVES: To determine 1) whether hypertrophy in the m. plantaris of old mice was blunted compared to adult and 2) whether this was related to a reduced satellite cell (SC) density and 3) how resveratrol affects hypertrophy in old mice. METHODS: In adult (7.5 months, n=11), old (23.5 months, n=10) and old-resveratrol-treated (n=10) male C57BL/6J mice, hypertrophy of the left m. plantaris was induced by denervation of its synergists. The contralateral leg served as control. RESULTS: After six weeks, overload-induced myofiber hypertrophy and IIB-IIA shift in myofiber type composition were less pronounced in old than adult mice (P=0.03), irrespective of resveratrol treatment. Muscles from old mice had a lower SC density than adult muscles (P=0.002). Overload-induced SC proliferation (P<0.05) resulted in an increased SC density in old, but not adult muscles (P=0.02), while a decrease occurred after resveratrol supplementation (P=0.044). Id2 and myogenin protein expression levels were higher in old than adult muscles (P<0.05). Caspase-3 was expressed more in hypertrophied than control muscles and was reduced with resveratrol (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: The blunted hypertrophic response in old mice was associated with a lower SC density, but there was no evidence for a lower capacity for proliferation. Resveratrol did not rescue the hypertrophic response and even reduced, rather than increased, the number of SCs in hypertrophied muscles.

Plantaris muscle weakness in old mice: relative contributions of changes in specific force, muscle mass, myofiber cross-sectional area, and number.

The age-related decline in muscle function contributes to the movement limitations in daily life in old age. The age-related loss in muscle force is attributable to loss of myofibers, myofiber atrophy, and a reduction in specific force. The contribution of each of these determinants to muscle weakness in old age is, however, largely unknown. The objective of this study is to determine whether a loss in myofiber number, myofiber atrophy, and a reduction in specific muscle force contribute to the age-related loss of muscle force in 25-month-old mouse. Maximal isometric force of in situ m. plantaris of C57BL/6J male adult (9 months) and old (25 months) mice was determined and related to myofiber number, myofiber size, intramuscular connective tissue content, and proportion of denervated myofibers. Isometric maximal plantaris muscle force was 13 % lower in old than adult mice (0.97 ± 0.05 N vs. 0.84 ± 0.03 N; P < 0.05). M. plantaris mass of old mice was not significantly smaller than that of adult mice. There was also no significant myofiber atrophy or myofiber loss. Specific muscle force of old mice was 25 % lower than that of adult mice (0.55 ± 0.05 vs. 0.41 ± 0.03 N·mm(-2), P < 0.01). In addition, with age, the proportion of type IIB myofibers decreased (43.6 vs. 38.4 %, respectively), while the connective tissue content increased (11.6 vs. 16.4 %, respectively). The age-related reduction in maximal isometric plantaris muscle force in 25-month-old male C57BL/6J mice is mainly attributable to a reduction in specific force, which is for 5 % explicable by an age-related increase in connective tissue, rather than myofiber atrophy and myofiber loss.

Aging related changes in determinants of muscle force generating capacity: a comparison of muscle aging in men and male rodents.

Human aging is associated with a progressive decline in skeletal muscle mass and force generating capacity, however the exact mechanisms underlying these changes are not fully understood. Rodents models have often been used to enhance our understanding of mechanisms of age-related changes in human skeletal muscle. However, to what extent age-related alterations in determinants of muscle force generating capacity observed in rodents resemble those in humans has not been considered thoroughly. This review compares the effect of aging on muscle force generating determinants (muscle mass, fiber size, fiber number, fiber type distribution and muscle specific tension), in men and male rodents at similar relative age. It appears that muscle aging in male F344*BN rat resembles that in men most; 32-35-month-old rats exhibit similar signs of muscle weakness to those of 70-80-yr-old men, and the decline in 36-38-month-old rats is similar to that in men aged over 80 yrs. For male C57BL/6 mice, age-related decline in muscle force generating capacity seems to occur only at higher relative age than in men. We conclude that the effects on determinants of muscle force differ between species as well as within species, but qualitatively show the same pattern as that observed in men.

Carbohydrate mouth rinsing in the fed state: lack of enhancement of time-trial performance.

It has been reported previously that mouth rinsing with a carbohydrate-containing solution can improve cycling performance. The purpose of the current study was to investigate the impact of such a carbohydrate mouth rinse on exercise performance during a simulated time trial in a more practical, postprandial setting. Fourteen male endurance-trained athletes were selected to perform 2 exercise tests in the morning after consuming a standardized breakfast. They performed an approximately 1-hr time trial on a cycle ergometer while rinsing their mouths with either a 6.4% maltodextrin solution (CHO) or water (PLA) after every 12.5% of the set amount of work. Borg's rating of perceived exertion (RPE) was assessed after every 25% of the set amount of work, and power output and heart rate were recorded continuously throughout the test. Performance time did not differ between treatments and averaged 68.14 +/- 1.14 and 67.52 +/- 1.00 min in CHO and PLA, respectively (p = .57). In accordance, average power output (265 +/- 5 vs. 266 +/- 5 W,p = .58), heart rate (169 +/- 2 vs. 168 +/- 2 beats/min, p = .43), and RPE (16.4 +/- 0.3 vs. 16.7 +/- 0.3 W, p = .26) did not differ between treatments. Furthermore, after dividing the trial into 8 s, no differences in power output, heart rate, or perceived exertion were observed over time between treatments. Carbohydrate mouth rinsing does not improve time-trial performance when exercise is performed in a practical, postprandial setting.