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Potassium kinetics in human muscle interstitium during repeated intense exercise in relation to fatigue

  • Skeletal Muscle
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Abstract

Accumulation of K+ in skeletal muscle interstitium during intense exercise has been suggested to cause fatigue in humans. The present study examined interstitial K+ kinetics and fatigue during repeated, intense, exhaustive exercise in human skeletal muscle. Ten subjects performed three repeated, intense (61.6±4.1 W; mean±SEM), one-legged knee extension exercise bouts (EX1, EX2 and EX3) to exhaustion separated by 10-min recovery periods. Interstitial [K+] ([K+]interst) in the vastus lateralis muscle were determined using microdialysis. Time-to-fatigue decreased progressively (P<0.05) during the protocol (5.1±0.4, 4.2±0.3 and 3.2±0.2 min for EX1, EX2 and EX3 respectively). Prior to these bouts, [K+]interst was 4.1±0.2, 4.8±0.2 and 5.2±0.2 mM, respectively. During the initial 1.5 min of exercise the accumulation rate of interstitial K+ was 85% greater (P<0.05) in EX1 than in EX3. At exhaustion [K+]interst was 11.4±0.8 mM in EX1, which was not different from that in EX2 (10.4±0.8 mM), but higher (P<0.05) than in EX3 (9.1±0.3 mM). The study demonstrated that the rate of accumulation of K+ in the muscle interstitium declines during intense repetitive exercise. Furthermore, whilst [K+]interst at exhaustion reached levels high enough to impair performance, the concentration decreased with repeated exercise, suggesting that accumulation of interstitial K+ per se does not cause fatigue when intense exercise is repeated.

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Acknowledgements

The excellent technical assistant of Ingelise Kring, Merete Vannby and Winnie Taagerup is greatly appreciated. The study was supported by a grant from The Danish National Research Foundation (504-14). In addition support was obtained from The Sports Reasearch Council (Idraettens Forskningsråd) and Team Denmark.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Exercise and Sport Sciences, Department of Human Physiology, August Krogh Institute, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 13, 2100, Copenhagen Ø, Denmark

    Magni Mohr, Nikolai Nordsborg, Jens Jung Nielsen, Lasse Danneman Pedersen, Peter Krustrup & Jens Bangsbo

  2. Copenhagen Muscle Research Centre, Department of Infectious Diseases, Rigshospitalet, 2100, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Christian Fischer

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  1. Magni Mohr
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  2. Nikolai Nordsborg
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  3. Jens Jung Nielsen
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  4. Lasse Danneman Pedersen
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  5. Christian Fischer
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  6. Peter Krustrup
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  7. Jens Bangsbo
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Correspondence to Jens Bangsbo.

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Mohr, M., Nordsborg, N., Nielsen, J.J. et al. Potassium kinetics in human muscle interstitium during repeated intense exercise in relation to fatigue. Pflugers Arch - Eur J Physiol 448, 452–456 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00424-004-1257-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00424-004-1257-6

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