Elevated skeletal muscle sodium-potassium-ATPase in human obesity

To determine whether muscle sodium-potassium-ATPase activity, an expression of energy turnover, is increased in obesity, we studied a group of nine non-obese and seven obese subjects undergoing elective cholecystectomy. The muscle ATPase activity was 87 per cent higher (p less than 0.001) in obese subjects compared with non-obese subjects. The increase in the ATPase activity positively correlated with both the body mass index (r = 0.81) and excess body weight (r = 0.75). No relationship was found between erythrocyte and muscle sodium-potassium-ATPase activities (r = 0.25). These findings demonstrate an increased ATPase activity in skeletal muscle obtained from obese subjects and that the erythrocyte is an inaccurate marker of this enzyme with respect to other body tissue.