Effect of Local Cold Application During Exercise on Gene Expression Related to Mitochondrial Homeostasis

Exercise training increases mitochondrial content in active skeletal muscle. Previous work suggests that mitochondrial-related genes respond favorably to exercise in cold environments. However, the impact of localized tissue cooling is unknown. The purpose is to determine the impact of local muscle cooling during endurance exercise on human skeletal muscle mitochondrial-related gene expression. Twelve subjects (age 286 y) cycled at 65% Wpeak. One leg was cooled (C) for 30 minutes before and during exercise with a thermal wrap while the other leg was wrapped but not cooled, room temperature (RT). Muscle biopsies were taken from each VL before and 4 hours post-exercise for the analysis of gene expression. Muscle temperature was lower in C (29.20.7C) than RT (34.10.3C) after pre-cooling for 30 minutes before exercise (pThe accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author