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Effects of oxidation and reduction on contractile function in skeletal muscle fibres of the rat

This study investigated the effects of the oxidants hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and 2,2′‐dithiodipyridine (DTDP), and reductants, glutathione (GSH) and dithiothreitol (DTT), on the properties of the contractile apparatus of rat fast‐ and slow‐twitch skeletal muscle fibres, in order to assess how oxidation affects muscle function. Skinned muscle fibres were activated in heavily‐buffered Ca2+ solutions. The force‐[Ca2+] relationship before and after various treatments was fitted by a Hill curve described by the maximum Ca2+‐activated force, pCa50 (‐log10[Ca2+] giving half‐maximum force) and nH (the Hill coefficient). Exposing freshly skinned fibres to strong reducing conditions (i.e. 10 mm DTT or 5 mm GSH) had little if any effect on Ca2+ sensitivity (pCa50 or nH). The effect of oxidants H2O2 and DTDP depended on whether the fibre was relaxed (in pCa > 9) or activated during the exposure. In both fast‐ and slow‐twitch fibres a 5 min exposure to 10 mm H2O2 at pCa > 9 had no effect on pCa50, causing only a reduction in nH. In contrast, when fast‐twitch fibres were activated in the presence of 10 mm H2O2 (or 100 μm DTDP) there was a substantial increase in pCa50 (by ≈0.06 and 0.1, respectively), as well as larger decreases in nH than occurred in relaxed fibres, with all effects being reversed by DTT (10 mm, 10 min). In slow‐twitch soleus fibres, the activation‐dependent effect of DTDP was even greater (pCa50 increased by ≈0.35), and it was found that the rate of reversal in DTT was also increased by activation. A separate important phenomenon was that fast‐twitch fibres that had been oxidised with H2O2 or DTDP (while either relaxed or activated) showed a paradoxical increase in Ca2+ sensitivity (≈0.04 and 0.25 increase in pCa50, respectively) when briefly exposed to the endogenous reductant GSH (5 mm, 2 min). This effect was reversed by DTT or longer (> 20 min) exposure to GSH, did not occur in slow‐twitch soleus fibres, and may contribute to post‐tetanic potentiation in fast‐twitch muscle. Maximum force was not affected by any of the above treatments, whereas exposure to a high concentration of DTDP (1 mm) did greatly reduce force production. These findings reveal a number of novel and probably important effects of oxidation on the contractile apparatus in skeletal muscle fibres.