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Acute low-load resistance exercise with and without blood flow restriction increased protein signalling and number of satellite cells in human skeletal muscle

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Abstract

Purpose

To investigate hypertrophic signalling after a single bout of low-load resistance exercise with and without blood flow restriction (BFR).

Methods

Seven subjects performed unilateral knee extensions at 30 % of their one repetition maximum. The subjects performed five sets to failure with BFR on one leg, and then repeated the same amount of work with the other leg without BFR. Biopsies were obtained from m. vastus lateralis before and 1, 24 and 48 h after exercise.

Results

At 1-h post-exercise, phosphorylation of p70S6KThr389 and p38MAPKThr180/Tyr182 was elevated in the BFR leg, but not in the free-flow leg. Phospho-p70S6KThr389 was elevated three- to fourfold in both legs at 24-h post-exercise, but back to baseline at 48 h. The number of visible satellite cells (SCs) per muscle fibre was increased for all post-exercise time points and in both legs (33–53 %). The proportion of SCs with cytoplasmic extensions was elevated at 1-h post in the BFR leg and the number of SCs positive for myogenin and/or MyoD was increased at 1- and 24-h post-exercise for both legs combined.

Conclusion

Acute low-load resistance exercise with BFR resulted in early (1 h) and late (24 h) enhancement of phospho-p70S6KThr389, an early response of p38MAPK, and an increased number of SCs per muscle fibre. Enhanced phospho-p70S6KThr389 at 24-h post-exercise and increases in SC numbers were seen also in the free-flow leg. Implications of these findings for the hypertrophic effects of fatiguing low-load resistance exercise with and without BFR are discussed.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank the subjects for their time and effort. This project was in part supported by a grant from the Swedish National Centre for Research in Sports (Grant: CIF 125/05).

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physical Performance, Norwegian School of Sport Sciences, Oslo, Norway

    Mathias Wernbom, Gøran Paulsen, Tormod S. Nilsen & Truls Raastad

  2. Lundberg Laboratory for Human Muscle Function and Movement Analysis, Department of Orthopaedics, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, The Sahlgrenska Academy at University of Gothenburg, Gröna Stråket 12, 413 45, Göteborg, Sweden

    Mathias Wernbom

  3. Åstrand Laboratory, Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences, Stockholm, Sweden

    William Apro & Eva Blomstrand

  4. Department of Clinical Sciences, Intervention and Technology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden

    William Apro

  5. Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden

    Eva Blomstrand

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  1. Mathias Wernbom
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  2. William Apro
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  3. Gøran Paulsen
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  4. Tormod S. Nilsen
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Correspondence to Mathias Wernbom.

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Communicated by Martin Flueck.

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Wernbom, M., Apro, W., Paulsen, G. et al. Acute low-load resistance exercise with and without blood flow restriction increased protein signalling and number of satellite cells in human skeletal muscle. Eur J Appl Physiol 113, 2953–2965 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-013-2733-5

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