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The Effect of Aging on Anaerobic and Aerobic Enzyme Activities in Human Skeletal Muscle

¹ Department of Biochemistry, J. Sniadecki Academy of Physical Education and Sport, Gdansk, Poland.
Departments of ² Pediatrics and ³ Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
⁴ Department of General Endocrine and Transplant Surgery, Medical University of Gdansk, Poland.

Address correspondence to Jan J. Kaczor, PhD, Department of Pediatrics, Room 4U4, McMaster University Medical Center, 1200 Main St. W., Hamilton, Ontario, Canada L8N 3Z5. E-mail: kaczorj{at}mcmaster.ca

The effect of aging on metabolic enzyme activity remains controversial, possibly due to physical activity differences. We examined the effect of aging on the enzyme activity for anaerobic and aerobic pathways in nonweight-bearing human skeletal muscle from relatively sedentary males. The muscle obliquus internus abdominis was analyzed for anaerobic (creatine kinase, adenylate kinase, and lactate dehydrogenase) and aerobic (2-oxoglutarate dehydrogenase and carnitine palmitoyltransferase) enzyme activities in two groups: middle-aged (29–54 years) and older (61–74 years) adults. All enzyme activities were lower in older versus middle-aged adults when results were expressed as muscle wet weight (p <.05). When activity was expressed relative to the protein content, only lactate dehydrogenase remained significantly lower in older versus middle-aged adults (p <.001). In conclusion, some of the reduction in muscle performance in older adults may be due to lower activity of the anaerobic and aerobic enzymes as well as protein content, not solely due to a decrease in physical activity.