The effects of thyroid status on some properties of rat fast-twitch muscle

The effects of different thyroid states on some histochemical and biochemical properties of fast-twitch muscle were studied using rat extensor digitorum longus (EDL) muscle. This muscle was found to be much less responsive to thyroidal influence than the slow-twitch soleus muscle. In EDL muscles of hypothyroid rats, fast leads to slow conversions were observed in fibre type composition, myosin ATPase activity and light chain pattern, and in the subunit composition of lactate dehydrogenase, while the only significant slow leads to fast conversion observed in thyrotoxicosis was a decrease in the proportion of slow-oxidative fibres. Denervation of the hypothyroid muscle produced the highest degree of fast leads to slow transformation. These findings support the view that denervation and dysthyreosis alter gene expression in muscle by independent mechanisms.