Myoglobin content in leg skeletal muscle in patients with chronic obstructive lung disease

Myoglobin was determined in biopsy specimens from the quadriceps muscle of 3 female and 15 male 48-to 78-year-old patients with chronic obstructive lung disease. The patients were examined after an overnight rest. All but 2 were slightly to moderately hypoxemic. The myoglobin level was in all but 1 instance below the mean previously observed for apparently healthy subjects of similar age. The results are in line with earlier findings of an abnormal pattern of energy-rich phosphagens in the skeletal muscle of patients with chronic obstructive lung disease.