Prolonged activity evokes potentiation and the “sag” phenomenon in slow motor units of rat soleus

Abstract

Slow motor units (MUs) have no sag in their unfused tetani. This study in anesthetized rats shows that the sag can be observed in slow soleus MUs after prolonged activity. Twitches and unfused tetanic contractions were recorded from male (n=35) and female (n=39) MUs before and after the four minutes of the fatigue test (trains of 13 pulses at 40 Hz repeated every second). After this activity twitch contractions potentiated and a shift in the steep part of the force-frequency curve towards lower frequencies was observed in both sexes. Initially no sag was visible in unfused tetani, but after the fatigue test the phenomenon was observed in 77% of male, while in 13% of female MUs, the result consistent with the previously reported higher content of IIa myosin and faster contraction of MUs in male soleus. The decomposition of tetani with sag into trains of twitch-shape responses to consecutive stimuli revealed higher forces of initial decomposed twitches than later. The revealed alterations the force development due to long-lasting activation of slow MUs were sex-related and more pronounced in male soleus.