The effect of exercise (training) on the basal concentration of ATP in muscle tissue

The problem involved the determination of the base concentration of ATP in the muscle tissue of white rats. These animals had been forced to exercise (training) by swimming. The overload principle was enforced because the swimming was increased daily. The method used to analyze for ATP involved bioluminesccnce and spectrophotometry. The luciferin-luciferase system served as the bioluminescence source. The Fisher's "t" test for significance was computed from the data collected. The peak height, obtained from the reaction of ATP and the luciferase system which was recorded, indicated the amount of ATP present in the tissue. The "t" obtained was not significant at the 5 per cent level of confidence. Based on the findings of this study it was concluded that: (1) there was not a significant change in the base concentration of ATP in the experimental rats as compared to the control rats; (2) there was a definite trend of an increased basal concentration of ATP in the exercised animals