Effect of work-induced hypertrophy on muscle glucose metabolism in lean and obese mice

The effect of work-induced hypertrophy (without any concomitant change in circulating parameters) on skeletal muscle metabolism was studied in lean mice and in gold-thioglucose-obese mice. Soleus muscle was functionally overloaded in one leg by tenotomy of gastrocnemius muscle 4 days before muscle isolation, muscle in the other leg being used as control. Basal deoxyglucose uptake and glycolysis were markedly increased in overloaded muscles compared with control muscles, together with a ten-fold increase in fructose 2-6 bisphosphate content. In the presence of maximally effective insulin concentrations, deoxyglucose uptake and glycolysis were identical in overloaded and control muscles of lean mice, while the effects of overload and insulin were partly additive in muscles of gold-thioglucose-obese mice. The sensitivity to insulin and insulin binding to muscles were not modified in overloaded muscles. Insulin-stimulated glycogenogenesis was decreased by about 50% probably due to a lower amount of glycogen synthase in overloaded than in control muscles. Thus, in muscles of gold-thioglucose-obese mice work-induced hypertrophy increased the response to maximal insulin concentrations without modifying the altered insulin sensitivity and decreased insulin binding.