A novel staining method for quantification and 3D visualisation of capillaries and muscle fibres

The aim of this study was to introduce a combined fluorescent staining that clearly demonstrates capillaries and distinguishes them from the basal lamina of muscle fibres in skeletal muscle tissue. The triple staining with CD31, Griffonia (Bandeira) simplicifolia lectin (GSL I) and laminin efficiently distinguishes vascular endothelium from the basal lamina of skeletal muscle fibres in physiological and pathological conditions. The presented triple staining method has several advantages, which facilitate quantitative analysis of the capillary network, and its relation to individual muscle fibres

Fibre-Specific Responses to Endurance and Low Volume High Intensity Interval Training: Striking Similarities in Acute and Chronic Adaptation

The current study involved the completion of two distinct experiments. Experiment 1 compared fibre specific and whole muscle responses to acute bouts of either low-volume high-intensity interval training (LV-HIT) or moderate-intensity continuous endurance exercise (END) in a randomized crossover design. Experiment 2 examined the impact of a six-week training intervention (END or LV-HIT; 4 days/week), on whole body and skeletal muscle fibre specific markers of aerobic and anaerobic capacity. Six recreationally active men (Age: 20.7±3.8 yrs; VO2peak: 51.9±5.1 mL/kg/min) reported to the lab on two separate occasions for experiment 1. Following a muscle biopsy taken in a fasted state, participants completed an acute bout of each exercise protocol (LV-HIT: 8, 20-second intervals at ∼170% of VO2peak separated by 10 seconds of rest; END: 30 minutes at ∼65% of VO2peak), immediately followed by a muscle biopsy. Glycogen content of type I and IIA fibres was significantly (p<0.05) reduced, while p-ACC was significantly increased (p<0.05) following both protocols. Nineteen recreationally active males (n = 16) and females (n = 3) were VO2peak-matched and assigned to either the LV-HIT (n = 10; 21±2 yrs) or END (n = 9; 20.7±3.8 yrs) group for experiment 2. After 6 weeks, both training protocols induced comparable increases in aerobic capacity (END: Pre: 48.3±6.0, Mid: 51.8±6.0, Post: 55.0±6.3 mL/kg/min LV-HIT: Pre: 47.9±8.1, Mid: 50.4±7.4, Post: 54.7±7.6 mL/kg/min), fibre-type specific oxidative and glycolytic capacity, glycogen and IMTG stores, and whole-muscle capillary density. Interestingly, only LV-HIT induced greater improvements in anaerobic performance and estimated whole-muscle glycolytic capacity. These results suggest that 30 minutes of END exercise at ∼65% VO2peak or 4 minutes of LV-HIT at ∼170% VO2peak induce comparable changes in the intra-myocellular environment (glycogen content and signaling activation); correspondingly, training-induced adaptations resulting for these protocols, and other HIT and END protocols are strikingly similar