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Morphological and Functional Characteristics of Skeletal Muscle Fibers From Hormone-replaced and Nonreplaced Postmenopausal Women

¹ Department of Exercise and Sport Science, Oregon State University.
² Department of Biomedical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Oregon State University, Corvallis.

We tested the hypothesis that cross-bridge mechanisms of contraction differed in early postmenopausal women who did or did not receive hormone replacement therapy (HRT). Vastus lateralis biopsies were obtained from 17 postmenopausal women (49–57 years old), 8 of whom were on HRT for the previous 24 ± 5 months and 9 of whom were never on HRT. Electrophoresis and enzyme histochemistry revealed that fiber myosin heavy chain (MHC) isoform distribution, the cross-sectional area (CSA) of slow and fast fibers, and the relative CSA occupied by each, were similar for HRT and non-HRT groups. Single permeabilized fibers containing type IIa MHC had greater Ca²⁺-activated peak specific force, unloaded shortening velocity, and peak power than fibers containing type I MHC, but in all cases the values for HRT and non-HRT groups were similar. In this cross-sectional study, we found no evidence that Ca²⁺-activated fiber function, MHC isoform distribution, or relative CSA occupied by slow and fast fibers differed between HRT and non-HRT groups.