Resistance training affects GLUT-4 content in skeletal muscle of humans after 19 days of head-down bed rest

Abstract

This study assessed the effects of inactivity on GLUT-4 content of human skeletal muscle and evaluated resistance training as a countermeasure to inactivity-related changes in GLUT-4 content in skeletal muscle. Nine young men participated in the study. For 19 days, four control subjects remained in a −6° head-down tilt at all times throughout bed rest, except for showering every other day. Five training group subjects also remained at bed rest, except during resistance training once in the morning. The resistance training consisted of 30 isometric maximal voluntary contractions for 3 s each; leg-press exercise was used to recruit the extensor muscles of the ankle, knee, and hip. Pauses (3 s) were allowed between bouts of maximal contraction. Muscle biopsy samples were obtained from the lateral aspect of vastus lateralis (VL) muscle before and after the bed rest. GLUT-4 content in VL muscle of the control group was significantly decreased after bed rest (473 ± 48 vs. 398 ± 66 counts ⋅ min−1 ⋅ μg membrane protein−1, before and after bed rest, respectively), whereas GLUT-4 significantly increased in the training group with bed rest (510 ± 158 vs. 663 ± 189 counts ⋅ min−1 ⋅ μg membrane protein−1, before and after bed rest, respectively). The present study demonstrated that GLUT-4 in VL muscle decreased by ∼16% after 19 days of bed rest, and isometric resistance training during bed rest induced a 30% increase above the value of GLUT-4 before bed rest.