Metabolic capacity of muscle fibers from high-altitude natives

We evaluate the effects of chronic hypoxia on the metabolic phenotype of the muscle fiber types of humans. The subjects were three Quechua natives residing in the Peruvian Andes at an altitude greater than 3300 m, and three lowlanders from below 700 m. Biopsy specimens were obtained from the vastus lateralis muscles of volunteers. Muscle fibers were identified histochemically as type 1 (oxidative), 2a (oxidative-glycolytic) or 2b (glycolytic). The relative contribution of each fiber type to the total cross-sectional area of each biopsy sample was determined. In individual fibers, the activities of malate dehydrogenase (MDH, citric acid cycle), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH, glycolysis) and adenylokinase (high-energy phosphate) were quantified. The cross-sectional area of the muscle occupied by each fiber type is comparable between Quechuas and lowlanders. Type 1 fibers are the only fiber type to demonstrate statistically significant (P < or = 0.05) differences in enzyme activities between Quechaus and lowlanders. MDH activity is, on average, 19.6% less (P < or = 0.0001) and LDH activity 28.1% more (P < or = 0.0001) in the type 1 fibers of the Quechuas. Chronic hypoxia appears to produce a shift from oxidative to glycolytic metabolism in those fibers which are typically the most aerobic in human muscle.