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Biomedical subjects

W T Willis

Publications and source records attributed to W T Willis.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1995

Effect of choline supplementation on fatigue in trained cyclists.

The availability of choline, the precurser of the neurotransmitter, acetylcholine, in the diet is sufficient to provide the body's requirements under normal conditions. However, preliminary evidence indicates that depletion of choline may limit performance, while oral supplementation may delay fatigue during prolonged efforts. A double-blind cross-over design was used to determine the relationship between plasma choline and fatigue during supramaximal brief and submaximal prolonged activities. Twenty male cyclists (ages 23-29) with maximal aerobic power (VO2max) between 58 and 81 ml.min-1.kg-1 were randomly divided into BRIEF (N = 10) and PROLONGED (N = 10) groups. One hour after drinking a beverage with or without choline bitartrate (2.43 g), cyclists began riding at a power output equivalent to approximately 150% (BRIEF) and 70% (PROLONGED) of VO2max at a cadence of 80-90 rpm. Time to exhaustion, indirect calorimetry and serum choline, lactate, and glucose were measured. Increases in choline levels of 37 and 52% were seen within one hour of ingestion for BRIEF and PROLONGED groups, respectively. Neither group depleted choline during exercise under the choline or placebo conditions. Fatigue times and work performed under either test condition for the BRIEF or PROLONGED groups were similar. Consequently, trained cyclists do not deplete choline during supramaximal brief or prolonged submaximal exercise, nor do they benefit from choline supplementation to delay fatigue under these conditions.

Administration, Oral↗
PubMed1994

Mitochondrial function during heavy exercise.

Maximal rates, coupling, and control of oxidative phosphorylation were studied in isolated skeletal muscle mitochondria from rat and rabbit. Mitochondria were incubated under various conditions of temperature, pH, and substrate availability. A 20% decrease in coupling (ADP/O) was observed at 43 degrees C as compared to 37 degrees C in rat mixed skeletal muscle mitochondria. Changes in pH from 7.00 to 6.20 affected neither coupling nor maximal (state 3) respiration rates. Changing the substrate supply from pyruvate to palmitoyl-carnitine (+ malate) did not alter ADP/O, but markedly degraded the energy state sustained at submaximal ATP turnover. Thus, carbohydrate depletion may be associated with inhibition of contractile function and the recruitment of less economical higher threshold motor units. State 3 respiration of mitochondria from rabbit Type IIb fibers oxidizing pyruvate+malate+alpha-glycerophosphate was 27% higher than that of mitochondria from Type I rabbit skeletal muscle. However, the ADP/O ratio in the Type IIb preparation was 18% lower. The experimental findings suggest that temperature, substrate supply, and energetic differences between slow twitch and fast twitch motor units may impact the economy of mitochondrial oxygen utilization during heavy aerobic exercise, and thus contribute to the slow component of oxygen uptake.

Animals↗
PubMed1994

VO2 slow component: physiological and functional significance.

This paper offers a brief synopsis of the five preceding papers which constitute the proceedings of the symposium "Mechanistic basis of the slow component of VO2 kinetics during heavy exercise." The key features have been taken from each paper and a coherent position regarding the site and potential underlying mechanisms for the "excess" VO2 is presented. The hypothesis is developed that some aspect of fiber type recruitment patterns might be responsible for this phenomenon. Elucidation of the precise determinants of VO2 during heavy exercise is fundamental to our understanding of muscle energetics. Furthermore, certain patient populations, whose exercise tolerance is limited by impaired cardiovascular and/or respiratory capacity, may benefit from interventions designed to constrain the magnitude of the VO2 slow component.

Exercise↗
PubMed1992

Hepatic adaptations to iron deficiency and exercise training.

Brooks et al. [Am. J. Physiol. 253 (Endocrinol. Metab. 16): E461-E466, 1987] demonstrated an elevated gluconeogenic rate in resting iron-deficient rats. Because physical exercise also imposes demand on this hepatic function, we hypothesized that exercise training superimposed on iron deficiency would augment the hepatic capacity for amino acid transamination/deamination and pyruvate carboxylation. Sprague-Dawley rats (n = 32) were obtained at weaning (21 days of age) and randomly assigned to iron-sufficient (dietary iron = 60 mg iron/kg diet) or iron-deficient (3 mg iron/kg) dietary groups. Dietary groups were subdivided into sedentary and trained subgroups. Treadmill training was 4 wk in duration, 6 days/wk, 1 h/day, 0% grade. Treadmill speed was initially 26.8 m/min and was decreased to 14.3 m/min over the 4-wk training period. The mild exercise-training regimen did not affect any measured variable in iron-sufficient rats. In contrast, in iron-deficient animals, training increased endurance capacity threefold and reduced blood lactate and the lactate-to-alanine ratio during submaximal exercise by 34 and 27%, respectively. The mitochondrial oxidative capacity of gastrocnemius muscle was increased 46% by training. However, the oxidative capacity of liver was not affected by either iron deficiency or training. Maximal rates of pyruvate carboxylation and glutamine metabolism by isolated liver mitochondria were also evaluated. Iron deficiency and training interacted to increase pyruvate carboxylation by intact mitochondria. Glutamine metabolism was increased roughly threefold by iron deficiency alone, and training amplified this effect to a ninefold increase over iron-sufficient animals.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adaptation, Physiological↗
PubMed1990

Iron deficiency: improved exercise performance within 15 hours of iron treatment in rats.

We tested the hypothesis that a very rapid improvement in exercise performance of iron-deficient rats after treatment with iron might reveal a rate-limiting role of ionic iron as an enzyme cofactor in energy metabolism. Rats were given iron-deficient or control diets after weaning at 21 d of age and intraperitoneal iron dextran (50 mg/kg) at 45 d of age. Time to fatigue during an easy walking exercise (endurance) was measured 15 and 18 h after iron dextran or saline injection. Endurance increased more than threefold compared to the saline-treated, iron-deficient animals without a significant change in hemoglobin concentration. This prompt improvement suggests that lack of cofactor iron might play a metabolically important role in impairing exercise performance in the severely iron-deficient rat.

Alcohol Oxidoreductases↗
PubMed1990

Muscle mitochondrial ultrastructure in exercise-trained iron-deficient rats.

To investigate effects of endurance training and iron deficiency, as well as the combination of these two conditions, on mitochondrial ultrastructure, weanling rats at 3 wk of age were assigned to iron-deficient (Fe-) and iron-sufficient (Fe+) groups. Subsequently, groups were subdivided into exercise-trained (T) and sedentary (S) groups. Electron microscopy showed subsarcolemmal and intrafibrillar mitochondria in the Fe-T animals to be enlarged with sparse cristae and vacuole-like areas compared with the other groups. An increase in the number of lipid droplets in both Fe- groups was observed. Stereological measurements revealed a 99% increase in the volume occupied by muscle mitochondria in the Fe-T animals (11.9 +/- 0.8%) over the Fe+T (5.9 +/- 0.4%) and Fe+S (6.0 +/- 0.3%) groups and a 55% increase over the Fe-S groups (7.7 +/- 0.3%). The ratio of mitochondrial surface area to tissue volume was significantly decreased only in the Fe-T group. These results indicate that the combined stresses of iron deficiency and training produce mitochondrial ultrastructural changes far greater than those of iron deficiency or training alone. Because this is also the case with the disproportion among mitochondrial enzymes, it is possible that the ultrastructural changes are indicative of morphological responses that maintain ATP turnover during exercise in iron deficiency when oxygen transport and electron transport chain activities are reduced.

Animals↗
PubMed1989

Impaired control of respiration in iron-deficient muscle mitochondria.

Dietary iron deficiency (ID) decreases iron-containing proteins and hence respiratory capacity of skeletal muscle mitochondria (SMM), but noniron components are much less affected. Using a hexokinase plus glucose ATP-utilizing system, we studied control of respiration in isolated SMM from rats of variable iron status: ID, ID 3 days after intraperitoneal treatment with iron dextran, and control. We found that sensitivity of respiratory control (e.g., ATP/ADP at a given oxygen consumption) was positively related to state 3 respiratory capacity. Titration studies with carboxyatractyloside, a noncompetitive inhibitor of adenine nucleotide translocase (AdNT), revealed that AdNT concentration was unaffected by iron status. However, the turnover number of AdNT was markedly reduced by ID and improved with iron treatment. We conclude that in ID SMM, decreased maximal respiratory capacity is paralleled by impaired sensitivity to putative controllers of oxidative phosphorylation at any respiratory rate, despite normal levels of AdNT. A second study was designed to determine possible consequences of impaired sensitivity of respiratory control on motor unit recruitment during exercise. ID and normal rats were subjected to a program of walking treadmill exercise. Although exercise failed to induce any changes in oxidative enzyme levels in control rat, ID animals and exhibited substantial mitochondrial enzyme adaptation in hindlimb skeletal muscle. Furthermore, the most consistent enzymatic changes were observed to occur in fast glycolytic muscle fibers. These results suggest marked alterations in the pattern of muscle fiber recruitment during mild exercise in ID rodents and support the hypothesis that sensitivity of respiratory control in SMM is an important determinant of motor unit recruitment during aerobic exercise.

Adenosine Diphosphate↗
PubMed1989

Reciprocal changes of muscle oxidases and liver enzymes with recovery from iron deficiency.

We determined the recovery time courses of muscle oxidases and liver enzymes after iron administration to iron-deficient rats. Female 21-day-old Sprague-Dawley rats were fed an iron-deficient (3 mg Fe/kg) or a control (50 mg Fe/kg) diet for 3 wk. The deficient rats were then injected with 50 mg Fe as iron dextran/kg body wt (Fe-T) or saline (Fe-) intraperitoneally. At 16, 40, 64, 112, and 180 h after injection, blood and tissue samples were taken to determine hemoglobin concentration (Hb), gastrocnemius glycolytic enzyme and oxidase activities, and liver amino acid catabolic enzyme activities. No changes were observed in any parameter across time in either the Fe- or control (Fe+) rats. In the Fe- rats, Hb, pyruvate + malate (P + M), 2-oxoglutarate (2-OG), and succinate oxidases (SO) were depressed to 33, 36, 44, and 7% of Fe+, respectively (P less than 0.05). At 16 h, Fe-T values were significantly elevated compared with Fe- rats but still only 40, 48, 55 and 10% of controls, respectively. Glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH) and alanine aminotransferase (AAT) of Fe- rats were 174 and 134% of control values (P less than 0.05). By the 180-h time point, Hb, P + M, 2-OG, and SO of Fe-T rats increased to 99, 84, 89, and 43% of Fe+ values, whereas GDH and AAT activities declined to 111 and 106% of controls. Glycolytic enzymes showed no systematic changes with iron deficiency or after iron administration.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals↗
PubMed1989

Interactive effects of anemia and muscle oxidative capacity on exercise endurance.

We used endurance training and acute anemia to assess the interactions among maximal oxygen consumption (VO2max), muscle oxidative capacity, and exercise endurance in rats. Animals were evaluated under four conditions: untrained and endurance-trained with each group subdivided into anemic (animals with reduced hemoglobin concentrations) and control (animals with unchanged hemoglobin concentrations). Anemia was induced by isovolemic plasma exchange transfusion. Hemoglobin concentration and hematocrit were decreased by 38 and 41%, respectively. Whole body VO2max was decreased by 18% by anemia regardless of training condition. Anemia significantly reduced endurance by 78% in untrained rats but only 39% in trained animals. Endurance training resulted in a 10% increase in VO2max, a 75% increase in the distance run to exhaustion, and 35, 45, and 58% increases in skeletal muscle pyruvate-malate, alpha-ketoglutarate, and palmitylcarnitine oxidase activities, respectively. We conclude that endurance is related to the interactive effects of whole body VO2max and muscle oxidative capacities for the following reasons: 1) anemic untrained and trained animals had similar VO2max but trained rats had higher muscle oxidative capacities and greater endurance; 2) regardless of training status, the effect of acute anemia was to decrease VO2max and endurance; and 3) trained anemic rats had lower VO2max but had greater muscle oxidative capacity and greater endurance than untrained controls.

Anemia↗
PubMed1989

Iron deficiency decreases gluconeogenesis in isolated rat hepatocytes.

Dietary iron deficiency in rats results in increased blood glucose turnover and recycling. We measured the rates of glucose production in isolated hepatocytes from iron-sufficient (Fe+) and iron-deficient (Fe-) rats to assess the intrinsic capacity of the Fe- liver to carry out gluconeogenesis. Low-iron and control diets were given to 21-day-old female rats. After 4-5 wk, hemoglobin concentrations averaged 4.1 g/dl in the Fe- and 14.3 g/dl in the Fe+ animals. In the hepatocytes from Fe- rats, there was a 35% decrease in the rate of glucose production from 1 mM pyruvate + 10 mM lactate, a 48% decrease from 0.1 mM pyruvate + 1 mM lactate, a 39% decrease from 1 mM alanine, and a 48% decrease from 1 mM glycerol. The addition of 5 microM norepinephrine or 0.5 microM glucagon to the incubation media produced stimulatory effects on hepatocytes from both Fe- and Fe+ rats, resulting in the maintenance of an average difference of 38% in the rates of gluconeogenesis between the two groups. Studies on isolated liver mitochondria and cytosol revealed alpha-glycerophosphate-cytochrome c reductase and phospho(enol)pyruvate carboxykinase activities to be decreased by 27% in Fe- rats. We conclude that because severe dietary iron deficiency decreases gluconeogenesis in isolated rat hepatocytes, the increased gluconeogenesis demonstrated by Fe- rats in vivo is attributable to increased availability of gluconeogenic substrates and upregulation of the pathway.

Animals↗
PubMed1988

Physiological and biochemical correlates of increased work in trained iron-deficient rats.

We investigated physiological and biochemical factors associated with the improved work capacity of trained iron-deficient rats. Female 21-day-old rats were assigned to one of four groups, two dietary groups (50 and 6 ppm dietary iron) subdivided into two levels of activity (sedentary and treadmill trained). Iron deficiency decreased hemoglobin (61%), maximal O2 uptake. (VO2max) (40%), skeletal muscle mitochondrial oxidase activities (59-90%), and running endurance (94%). In contrast, activities of tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle enzymes in skeletal muscle were largely unaffected. Four weeks of mild training in iron-deficient rats resulted in improved blood lactate homeostasis during exercise and increased VO2max (15%), TCA cycle enzymes of skeletal muscle (27-58%) and heart (29%), and liver NADH oxidase (34%) but did not affect any of these parameters in the iron-sufficient animals. In iron-deficient rats training affected neither the blood hemoglobin level nor any measured iron-dependent enzyme pathway of skeletal muscle but substantially increased endurance (230%). We conclude that the training-induced increase in endurance in iron-deficient rats may be related to cardiovascular improvements, elevations in liver oxidative capacity, and increases in the activities of oxidative enzymes that do not contain iron in skeletal and cardiac muscle.

Animals↗
PubMed1987

Effects of iron deficiency and training on mitochondrial enzymes in skeletal muscle.

We measured mitochondrial enzyme activities in skeletal muscle under conditions of iron deficiency and endurance training to assess the effects of these interventions on the contents and proportions of non-iron-containing and iron-dependent enzymes and proteins. Male Sprague-Dawley rats, 21 days of age, received a diet containing either 6 (iron deficient) or 50 mg iron/kg diet (iron sufficient). At 35 days of age animals were subdivided into sedentary and endurance training groups (running at 0.7 mph, 0% grade, 45 min/day, 6 days/wk). By 70 days of age, iron deficiency had decreased gastrocnemius muscle cytochrome c by 62% in sedentary animals. In contrast, the activities of tricarboxylic acid cycle enzymes were increased, remained unchanged or were slightly decreased, indicating that iron deficiency markedly altered mitochondrial composition. Endurance training increased cytochrome c (35%), tricarboxylic acid cycle enzymes (approximately 15%), and manganese superoxide dismutase (33%) in iron-deficient rats, whereas the same exercise regimen had no effect on the skeletal muscle of iron-sufficient animals. The interactive effect of dietary iron deficiency and mild exercise on mitochondrial enzymes suggests that adaptation to a training stimulus is, to some extent, geared to the relationship between the energy demand of exercise and the capacity for O2 transport and utilization.

Animals↗
PubMed1987

Iron deficiency and neutrophil function: different rates of correction of the depressions in oxidative burst and myeloperoxidase activity after iron treatment.

The polymorphonuclear granulocyte (PMN) kills ingested bacteria by mechanisms that include myeloperoxidase (MPO) and a sudden increase in oxygen consumption (the oxidative burst), both of which are iron dependent. The magnitude of the oxidative burst and activity of MPO were determined in PMNs during the progression of iron deficiency (ID) and following its treatment in rats. As ID developed, the oxidative burst after zymosan activation was less depressed than the activity of MPO. There was no change in the oxidative burst after activation with phorbol myristate acetate (PMA) or in the generation of superoxide (O2-) by NADPH oxidase-containing particles from PMNs. Following iron treatment, impairment of the oxidative burst after zymosan activation was corrected after 1 day. In contrast, the deficit in MPO activity was not corrected until 7 days after initiation of iron treatment. The pattern of recovery in MPO activity after iron treatment corresponded to the prolonged period of maturation of the PMN primary granule since the formation of primary granules, which contain MPO, takes place only in the early, mitotic stages of maturation. The tendency of the PMN to maintain the oxidative burst allows the cell to preserve its capacity for bacterial killing during the progression of iron deficiency.

Animals↗
PubMed1985

Red cell superoxide dismutase is increased in iron deficiency anemia.

Red blood cells (RBC) from iron-deficient rats were found to generate more malonyldialdehyde after in vitro incubation with H2O2 than RBC from control rats (p less than 0.001). The iron-deficient RBC, however, had a higher content of superoxide dismutase (SOD) than control RBC (p less than 0.02). This finding suggests an increased formation of SOD compensatory to an increased oxidant stress.

Anemia, Hypochromic↗
PubMed1977

Dynamics of glomerular ultrafiltration. IX. Effects of plasma protein concentration.

Experiments were carried out on 42 Munich-Wistar rats with surface glomeruli accessible to micropuncture to investigate the effects of reduction in systemic plasma protein concentration. CA, and thus afferent oncotic pressure, IIA, on the determinants of glomerular ultrafiltration. In animals in which CA was reduced by a variety of maneuvers, observed values for single-nephron GFR were lower than values predicted by the Starling relation, when the latter were calculated assuming that the observed increase in the net driving pressure for ultrafiltration (due to the reduction in IIA) was the only factor perturbed. In all experimental conditions where CA was reduced, rats were invariably observed to be at filtration pressure disequilibrium, permitting calculation of unique values of the ultrafiltration coefficient, Kt. In all low-CA groups, mean values of Kf were uniformly lower than values obtainedin normoproteinemic control animals. The failure of SNGFR to rise to predicted values when CA is reduced is therefore due to the concomitant reduction in Kf. No morphological basis for this reduction in Kf was discerned.

Animals↗
PubMed1977

Mechanisms of the puromycin-induced defects in the transglomerular passage of water and macromolecules.

To investigate the mechanism(s) of increased filtration of serum proteins after glomerular injury, polydisperse samples of uncharged [(3)H]dextran (D) or anionic [(3)H]dextran sulfate (DS) were infused into 14 control and 16 puromycin aminonucleoside- (PAN) treated Munich-Wistar rats. Fractional clearances of D or DS ranging in radius from 18 to 42A were determined in these rats, together with direct measurements of the forces governing the glomerular filtration rate of water. Whole kidney and single nephron glomerular filtration rates were approximately 40% lower in PAN-treated rats, relative to controls, due mainly to a marked reduction in the glomerular capillary ultrafiltration coefficient and, to a lesser extent, to a small reduction in glomerular plasma flow rate as well. In PAN-treated rats, as in normal controls, inulin was found to permeate the glomerular capillary wall without measurable restriction, and both D and DS were shown to be neither secreted nor reabsorbed. Fractional clearances of uncharged D were reduced after PAN administration, falling significantly for effective D radii from 22 to 38A. Utilizing a theory based on macromolecular transport through pores, these results indicate that in PAN-treated rats, effective pore radius is the same as in controls, approximately 44A. In PAN nephrosis, however, the ratio of total pore surface area/pore length, a measure of pore density, is reduced to approximately one-third that of control, due very likely to a reduction in filtration surface area. In contrast to the results with uncharged D, fractional clearances of DS were found to increase after PAN administration for all DS radii studied. These results with D and DS suggest that proteinuria in PAN nephrosis is due, not to an increase in effective pore radius or number of pores, but rather to a diminution of the electrostatic barrier function of the glomerular capillary wall, thereby allowing increased passage of polyanions such as DS and albumin.

Animals↗