Hormonal and metabolic responses to exercise in humans: effect of sensory nervous blockade

Previous studies have indicated that motor center ("feedforward") activity is important for hormonal and metabolic responses to exercise. Now, epidural blockade at vertebrae L3-L4 was used to evaluate the importance of afferent neural feedback from working muscles. Six healthy, young males cycled for 20 min at 55 +/- 4% (mean +/- SE) of maximal oxygen uptake with, as well as without, epidural anesthesia. During anesthesia cutaneous sensory blockade was present below segment T11-12, the postexercise ischemic pressor response was attenuated from 34 +/- 9 to 14 +/- 4 mmHg, muscle strength reduced to 80 +/- 5% of control, and perceived exertion (Borg scale) was increased. At rest hormonal and metabolic parameters did not change in response to epidural anesthesia. During exercise, responses of catecholamines, insulin, glucagon, and growth hormone (GH) in plasma as well as glucose production and utilization, plasma free fatty acids, and plasma glycerol were similar in epidural and control experiments (P greater than 0.05). In contrast during submaximal exercise, plasma concentrations of adrenocorticotropin (ACTH) and beta-endorphin increased only in experiments without epidural anesthesia. The data indicate that impulses in afferent nerves from the working muscles are essential for the ACTH and beta-endorphin responses to submaximal dynamic exercise in humans. Afferent nervous activity is probably less important than efferent activity from motor centers for responses of GH, catecholamines and insulin, and, in turn, extramuscular fuel mobilization in exercise.