Fatigue in type I fiber predominance: A muscle force and surface EMG study on the relative role of type I and type II muscle fibers

The relative proportions of fiber types within muscle and the characteristics of these fiber types are important determinants of the surface electromyogram (SEMG) during fatigue. In this study, patients suffering from congenital myopathy characterized by a strong type I fiber predominance were studied. Six patients with 95‐100% type I fibers, 2 patients with 80% type I fibers, and 12 healthy volunteers participated in an ischemic, isometric, intermittent exercise test of m. quadriceps femoris at 80% MVC. Considering the results of the morphometric analysis of muscle biopsy specimen and of the anthropometric estimated muscle‐bone volume, it was found that type I muscle fibers had a lower force generating capacity than type II fibers. The initial conduction velocity along the muscle fiber membrane (MFCV) was low in patients with 95‐100% type I fibers. During the ischemic exercise test, the 95‐100% type I fibers showed less fatigability than type II fibers, which was reflected by a nearby absent decrease of the muscle membrane excitability as measured by the MFCV, and only a slight increase of the SEMG amplitude compared with patients having 80% type I fibers and controls. The absence of a definite MFCV decrease was related to the nearby lacking lactate formation in 95‐100% type I fibers.