Fatigue-induced changes in muscle fiber action potentials estimated by wavelet analysis

We aimed to investigate fatigue-induced changes in the spectral parameters of slow (SMF) and fast fatigable muscle fiber (FMF) action potentials using discrete wavelet (DWT) and fast Fourier (FFT) transforms. Intracellular potentials were recorded during repetitive stimulation of isolated muscle fibers immersed in Ca(2+)-enriched medium, while extracellular potentials were obtained from muscle fibers pre-exposed to electromagnetic microwaves (MMW, 2.45 GHz, 20 mW/cm(2)). The changes in the frequency distribution of the action potentials during the period of uninterrupted fiber activity were used as criteria for fatigue assessment. The wavelet coefficients' changes in the calculated frequency scales demonstrated a contribution of the increased [Ca(2+)](0) to an earlier compression of the frequency spectrum towards lower ranges. Root mean square (RMS) analysis of the wavelet coefficients calculated from SMF potentials showed a reduction of the higher frequencies (scale 1) by 90% in elevated [Ca(2+)](0) vs. 55% in controls and an increase of low frequencies (scale 5) by 323% vs. 187%, respectively. For FMF potentials a decrease of 71% vs. 59% for high frequencies (scale 1, elevated [Ca(2+)](0) vs. control) and an increase of 386% vs. 295% in scale 5, respectively, were observed. MMW pre-exposure resulted in increased muscle fiber resistance to fatigue. The fatigue-induced decrease of potential high frequencies (SMF: 59% vs. 96%, MMW vs. control; FMF: 30% vs. 92%, respectively), and the increase of low frequencies (SMF: 200% vs. 207%, MMW vs. control; FMF: 93% vs. 314%, respectively) were significantly smaller and delayed in exposed muscle fibers. Data from RMS analysis indicate that DWT provides a reliable method for estimation of muscle fatigue onset and progression.