To study the hypothesis that more severe damage, caused by controlled lengthening (L) contractions, results in greater myofiber hypertrophy compared to increase in fiber size followed shortening (S) contractions, tibialis anterior muscles of anesthesized male Wistar rats were subjected to 240 either L or S contractions. The highest increase in muscle β-glucuronidase activity, an indicator of muscle damage, was observed in L (7.1-fold) 4 days and in S (2.6-fold) 8 days postexercise. Dystrophin- and desmin-negative as well as fibronectin-positive fibers (signs of the early phase of damage) were observed immediately after exercise in the L group. At 4 days, massive myofiber injury was visible, and internally localized nuclei were present at 15 - 80 days after exercise in the L group. The shift towards more glycolytic fiber types (p < 0.05 in L and S) and an increased mean cross-sectional area of type IIX/B fibers (p < 0.001 in L and S) at 80 days were observed in both groups. The observed minor damage with unchanged myofiber structures following S induced, however, an increase in myofiber cross-sectional area of nearly the same magnitude as that following L, which was more damaging. The results do not support the hypothesis that fiber hypertrophy depends on the extent of the myofiber damage upon the exercised muscles.
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