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Correspondence to: Robert S. Staron, Dept. of Biomedical Sciences, College of Osteopathic Medicine, Ohio University, Irvine Hall, Rm 430, Athens, OH 45701. E-mail: staron@ohiou.edu
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Summary |
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This study presents data collected over the past 10 years on the muscle fiber type composition of the vastus lateralis muscle of young men and women. Biopsies were taken from the vastus lateralis muscle of 55 women (21.2 ± 2.2 yr) and 95 men (21.5 ± 2.4 yr) who had volunteered to participate in various research projects. Six fiber types (I, IC, IIC, IIA, IIAB, and IIB) were classified using mATPase histochemistry, and cross-sectional area was measured for the major fiber types (I, IIA, and IIB). Myosin heavy chain (MHC) content was determined electrophoretically on all of the samples from the men and on 26 samples from the women. With the exception of fiber Type IC, no significant differences were found between men and women for muscle fiber type distribution. The vastus lateralis muscle of both the men and women contained approximately 41% I, 1% IC, 1% IIC, 31% IIA, 6% IIAB, and 20% IIB. However, the cross-sectional area of all three major fiber types was larger for the men compared to the women. In addition, the Type IIA fibers were the largest for the men, whereas the Type I fibers tended to be the largest for the women. Therefore, gender differences were found with regard to the area occupied by each specific fiber type: IIA>I>IIB for the men and I>IIA>IIB for the women. These data establish normative values for the mATPase-based fiber type distribution and sizes in untrained young men and women. (J Histochem Cytochem 48:623629, 2000)
Key Words: fiber types, human skeletal muscle, muscle biopsies, myosin heavy chains, mATPase histochemistry
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Introduction |
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It is often desirable to obtain muscle samples for direct analyses in order to study the effects of diet, exercise, disuse, or disease on human skeletal muscle. Although invasive, the percutaneous muscle biopsy technique (
However, direct comparisons of morphometric data may be hindered for a number of reasons, including the use of small biopsy samples and/or a small number of subjects (usually less than 12), disregard for possible gender and age differences, different methodologies for fiber type delineation, and different fitness levels (e.g.,
The purpose of this investigation was to present normative data on muscle fiber types and sizes within the superficial region of vastus lateralis muscle of healthy, untrained young men and women, and to establish specific gender differences using this entire range of histochemically defined fiber types. Biopsy data were gathered from individuals who had participated in various research projects at Ohio University over the past 10 years.
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Materials and Methods |
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Subjects
A total of 150 healthy college-aged men and women volunteered to participate in various research projects at Ohio University over the past 10 years (e.g.,
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Muscle Biopsies
Muscle biopsies (80160 mg) were extracted from the superficial portion of the vastus lateralis muscle by the percutaneous needle biopsy technique (
Fiber Type and Cross-sectional Area Determinations
The frozen biopsy specimens were thawed to -24C and serially sectioned (12 µm thick) for histochemical analysis. Myofibrillar adenosine triphosphatase (mATPase) histochemistry was performed using preincubation pH values of 4.3, 4.6, and 10.4 (
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Myosin Heavy Chain Analysis
MHC analysis was performed on all the biopsy samples from the men and on 26 of the 55 samples from the women using sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)-polyacrylamide electrophoretic techniques. The protocol for analyzing the specimens was based on the procedures of
Statistical Analysis
The statistical package SPSS was utilized for all statistical analyses. Descriptive statistics were used to derive mean ± SD for all variables. Anthropometric data were compared between groups using independent t-tests. Muscle fiber characteristics (fiber type distribution, cross-sectional area, percentage fiber type area, and MHC content) were analyzed using repeated-measures one-way and two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). Significant differences were then determined using Tukey's HSD post hoc test. Correlation analyses were performed to compare percentage fiber type area with MHC content. Differences were considered significant at p 0.05.
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Results |
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Anthropometric Data
The men were taller, heavier, and had a lower percentage of body fat compared to the women (Table 1).
Fiber Type Distribution
Large sample sizes were obtained for the determination of fiber type composition. Only four of the 150 biopsy specimens contained less than 400 fibers. The distribution of the six fiber types was almost identical for the young men and women (Table 2). The lone exception was a significantly lower percentage of Type IC fibers for the men. The superficial region of the vastus lateralis muscle for both men and women contained a fiber type distribution of approximately 41% I, 1% IC, 1% IIC, 31% IIA, 6% IIAB, and 20% IIB (Table 2). However, there was a wide range for the percentage of Type I fibers for both the men (17.665.6%) and the women (16.597.4%). Most of the vastus lateralis muscle samples (132 of the 150) had between 2560% Type I fibers. A total of 6% of the vastus lateralis samples (four women and five men) contained >60% Type I fibers and 6% (three women and six men) contained <25% Type I fibers. Similar to the data of
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Cross-sectional Area Measurements
As previously shown for the vastus lateralis muscle (
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Percentage Fiber Type Area
Percentage fiber type areas were determined following the collapse of the original six fiber types into the three major groups (see Materials and Methods). Although no differences were found between the men and women for fiber type proportions (with the exception of the IC population), the area made up of each of the major fiber types was very different between the men and the women. The percentage area of Type I was significantly smaller and the percentage area of Type IIA significantly larger for the men compared to the women (Table 4). The hierarchy of the percentage fiber type area from largest to smallest was IIA>I>IIB for the men and I>IIA>IIB for the women (Table 4).
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Myosin Heavy Chain Content
The relative content of the three MHC isoforms (MHCI, MHCIIa, and MHCIIb) paralleled the fiber type area data. Thus, the relative percentage of MHCI was significantly smaller and the relative percentage of MHCIIa significantly larger for the men compared to the women (Table 5). Likewise, in order from largest to smallest, the relative MHC content for the men was MHCIIa>MHCI>MHCIIb and for the women was MHCI=MHCIIa>MHCIIb ( Table 5). As expected, correlations between fiber type area and relative MHC percentages were all significant, including correlations for the men and women separately as well as together (Table 6).
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Discussion |
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Not surprisingly, anthropometric data from the present study revealed gender differences. The young men were significantly taller, heavier, and had a lower percentage of body fat compared to the young women. Similar findings have been previously reported by many others (e.g.,
Gender differences have also been previously reported for fiber size within the vastus lateralis muscle. Shortly after birth, muscle fibers are small (1218 µm diameter), with the Type I fibers slightly larger than the Type II and no difference between male and female (
Although many studies have found gender differences related to fiber size, conflicting reports have been published regarding the overall proportion of fast and slow fibers in the vastus lateralis muscle of men vs women (see Table 7). Investigations have reported a higher percentage of Type I fibers in women compared to men (
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Many studies on human muscle have used small sample sizes and/or have histochemically delineated only two fiber types, I and II (e.g.,
Although
Perhaps the most interesting gender difference relates to the percentage area occupied by the major fiber types. Although it appears that men and women have similar overall distributions of fast and slow fiber types in the vastus lateralis muscle, significant gender differences exist with regard to the total area occupied by each fiber type within the muscle. In the present investigation, the slow fibers were found to occupy a greater area in the women, whereas the fast IIA fibers occupied a greater area in the men. Of importance is the fact that these data were verified by the MHC profile. Similar findings with regard to percentage fiber type area have been previously reported for the vastus lateralis (
In conclusion, important aspects of the current investigation are the compilation of data from a large number of healthy untrained individuals, relatively large biopsy specimens, the delineation of the entire range of mATPase-based fiber types, and verification of the histochemical data by comparing percent fiber type area and relative MHC content. These data support previous findings demonstrating that the mean fiber cross-sectional area in the vastus lateralis muscle is smaller in women compared to men and that the Type II fibers of males tend to be larger than the Type I, whereas the reverse is true for the female. The current data suggest that the overall proportion of fast and slow fibers in the vastus lateralis muscle of young men and women is similar. There are, however, gender differences in percent fiber type areas that relate to differences in the hierarchy of cross-sectional areas of the major fiber types. Although the percentages of fast and slow fiber types are similar between young men and women, the slow fibers occupy a greater area in the women compared to the men and the fast fibers occupy a greater area in the men.
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Acknowledgments |
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We thank the Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine photographic and graphic departments for help with the figures and tables. Special thanks to all those young men and women who participated in various research projects in our laboratory over the past 10 years.
Received for publication November 23, 1999; accepted January 19, 2000.
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