Muscle Glycogen Storage and Its Relationship with Water
Abstract
This study examined the relationship between muscle glycogen and muscle water content. Exercise dietary manipulations were used to vary skeletal muscle glycogen levels in four groups of rodents: (1) eight animals were sedentary controls (SC); (2) ten animals were treadmill familiarized and allowed to recover 24 h before sacrifice (F); (3) ten animals were treadmill familiarized and exercised to exhaustion (E); (4) ten animals were treadmill familiarized, exercised to exhaustion, and allowed to recover with food and water ad libitum for 72 h (ER). All animals were sacrificed in a resting state to normalize intracellular, extracellular, and interstitial water compartments; thus, the E group was sacrificed 45 m in following their run. The treatments altered skeletal muscle glycogen to values ranging from 10.0 to 30.2 mumol glucosyl units/g wet tissue weight. Neither muscle triglyceride nor protein levels were affected by the treatments. Muscle water content expressed as mumol H2O lost/g wet tissue weight or made relative to protein content showed no consistent relationship to the glycogen content. These data, therefore, do not support the commonly accepted muscle glycogen-to-water ratio of 1.0:2.7 (g:g). Further work is necessary to quantify the exact amount of water that is actually associated with the glycogen complex.
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Because 1 g of glycogen is stored in muscle with 3-5 g of water, an athlete's BM typically increases 1-2% after several days of CHO-loading.
“Because 1 g of glycogen is stored in muscle with 3-5 g of water (76, 98), an athlete's BM typically increases 1-2% after several days of 'CHO-loading' (12).”
From Postexercise muscle glycogen resynthesis in humans. (2017) · cites this paper as [98]
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- Authors
- Sherman*, W., Plyley, M., Sharp, R., Van Handel, P., McAllister, R., Fink, W., & Costill, D.
- Affiliations
- Ball State University (US)
- ORCID
- Sharp, R.
- Venue
- International Journal of Sports Medicine
- Publisher
- Georg Thieme Verlag KG
- Published
- 1982-02
- Volume
- 03
- Issue
- 01
- Pages
- 22-24
- ISSN
- 0172-4622 (ISSN-L)
- 1439-3964
- OpenAlex
- W2069310546
- Cited by
- 46
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2025: 1 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 1 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 2 · 2015: 3 · 2014: 5 · 2013: 3 · 2012: 1
- FWCI
- 0.00
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- International Journal of Sports Medicine (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Cell Biology › Muscle metabolism and nutrition
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Complementary and alternative medicine › Cardiovascular and exercise physiology
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Orthopedics and Sports Medicine › Sports Performance and Training
- Keywords
- muscle glycogen, muscle water content, skeletal muscle, physical activity, glycogen depletion, glycogen repletion, treadmill exercise, muscle triglycerides, muscle proteins
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Body Water, Diet, Extracellular Space, Glycogen, Male, Muscle Proteins, Muscles, Physical Conditioning, Animal, Rats, Inbred Strains, Triglycerides, Rats
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