Abstract
The aims were to investigate the plasticity of the myosin heavy chain (MHC) phenotype
following neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) and to assess the correlation
between MHC isoform distribution and muscle fibre conduction velocity (MFCV).
14 men were subjected to 24 sessions of quadriceps NMES. Needle biopsies were taken
from the dominant vastus lateralis and neuromuscular tests were performed on the dominant
thigh before and after training. NMES significantly increased the quadriceps maximal
force by 14.4±19.7% (P=0.02), vastus lateralis thickness by 10.7±8.6% (P=0.01), vastus
lateralis MFCV by 11.1±3.5% (P<0.001), vastus medialis MFCV by 8.4±1.8% (P<0.001).
The whole spectrum of possible MHC isoform adaptations to training was observed: fast-to-slow
transition (4 subjects), bi-directional transformation from MHC-1 and MHC-2X isoforms
toward MHC-2A isoform (7 subjects), shift toward MHC-2X (2 subjects), no MHC distribution
change (1 subject). No significant correlation was observed between MHC-2 relative
content and vastus lateralis MFCV (pre-training: R2=0.04, P=0.46; post-training: R2=0.02, P=0.67). NMES elicited distinct adaptations in the MHC composition and increased
force, muscle thickness, and MFCV. The MHC isoform distribution did not correlate
with MFCV, thus implying that the proportion of different fibre types cannot be estimated
from this electrophysiological variable.
Key words
electromyography - myosin heavy chain distribution - muscle fibre conduction velocity
- muscle thickness - neuromuscular electrical stimulation