Accelerated Muscle Deoxygenation in Aerobically Fit Subjects During Exhaustive Exercise Is Associated With the ACE Insertion Allele

Benedikt Gasser; Martino V Franchi; Severin Ruoss; Annika Frei; Werner L Popp; David Niederseer; Silvio Catuogno; Walter O Frey; Martin Flück

doi:10.3389/fspor.2022.814975

Accelerated Muscle Deoxygenation in Aerobically Fit Subjects During Exhaustive Exercise Is Associated With the ACE Insertion Allele

Front Sports Act Living. 2022 Feb 28:4:814975. doi: 10.3389/fspor.2022.814975. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Benedikt Gasser¹, Martino V Franchi¹, Severin Ruoss², Annika Frei¹, Werner L Popp², David Niederseer³, Silvio Catuogno⁴, Walter O Frey⁴, Martin Flück⁵

Affiliations

¹ Departement für Bewegung und Sport - Universität Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
² Spinal Cord Injury Center, Balgrist University Hospital, Zurich, Switzerland.
³ Department of Cardiology, University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
⁴ Swiss Olympic Medical Center, Balgrist University Hospital, Zurich, Switzerland.
⁵ Laboratory for Muscle Plasticity, University of Zurich, Balgrist Campus, Zurich, Switzerland.

Abstract

Introduction: The insertion/deletion (I/D) polymorphism in the gene for the major regulator of vascular tone, angiotensin-converting enzyme-insertion/deletion (ACE-I/D) affects muscle capillarization and mitochondrial biogenesis with endurance training. We tested whether changes of leg muscle oxygen saturation (SmO₂) during exhaustive exercise and recovery would depend on the aerobic fitness status and the ACE I/D polymorphism.

Methods: In total, 34 healthy subjects (age: 31.8 ± 10.2 years, 17 male, 17 female) performed an incremental exercise test to exhaustion. SmO₂ in musculus vastus lateralis (VAS) and musculus gastrocnemius (GAS) was recorded with near-IR spectroscopy. Effects of the aerobic fitness status (based on a VO_2peak cutoff value of 50 ml O₂ min^-1 kg^-1) and the ACE-I/D genotype (detected by PCR) on kinetic parameters of muscle deoxygenation and reoxygenation were assessed with univariate ANOVA.

Results: Deoxygenation with exercise was comparable in VAS and GAS (p = 0.321). In both leg muscles, deoxygenation and reoxygenation were 1.5-fold higher in the fit than the unfit volunteers. Differences in muscle deoxygenation, but not VO₂peak, were associated with gender-independent (p > 0.58) interaction effects between aerobic fitness × ACE-I/D genotype; being reflected in a 2-fold accelerated deoxygenation of VAS for aerobically fit than unfit ACE-II genotypes and a 2-fold higher deoxygenation of GAS for fit ACE-II genotypes than fit D-allele carriers.

Discussion: Aerobically fit subjects demonstrated increased rates of leg muscle deoxygenation and reoxygenation. Together with the higher muscle deoxygenation in aerobically fit ACE-II genotypes, this suggests that an ACE-I/D genotype-based personalization of training protocols might serve to best improve aerobic performance.

Keywords: aerobic metabolism; cycling; exhaustive pedaling; gene; oxygen saturation.