Y. Bhambhani et al., EFFECTS OF 5 PPM HYDROGEN-SULFIDE INHALATION ON BIOCHEMICAL-PROPERTIES OF SKELETAL-MUSCLE IN EXERCISING MEN AND WOMEN, American Industrial Hygiene Association journal, 57(5), 1996, pp. 464-468
This study compared the acute effects of 5 ppm hydrogen sulfide (H2S)
inhalation (50% of its occupational exposure limit) on the biochemical
properties of skeletal muscle in exercising men and women. Twenty-fiv
e healthy volunteers, 13 men and 12 women, completed two 30-minute sub
maximal tests at 50% of their predetermined maximal aerobic power (VO2
max) while breathing 0 ppm (control) or 5 ppm H2S from a specially des
igned flow system in a single-blind manner. Immediately after exercise
, biopsies were obtained from the vastus lateralis muscle under local
anaesthesia. They were subsequently analyzed for concentrations of the
following markers of anaerobic and aerobic metabolism:lactate (La), l
actate dehydrogenase (LDH), citrate synthase (CS), and cytochrome oxid
ase (CytOx). Repeated measures analysis of variance indicated that in
men, the CS concentration decreased significantly (p=0.006) as a resul
t of H2S exposure. There was also a tendency for their La and LDH conc
entrations to increase and CytOx concentration to decrease in the pres
ence of H2S, but these changes were not significant (p>0.05). In women
no significant changes were observed in any of these biochemical prop
erties. These results suggest that (1) exposure to H2S at 50% of its O
EL might inhibit aerobic metabolism during exercise in healthy men, th
ereby increasing their dependency on anaerobic metabolism; acid (2) th
ere could be a significant gender difference in the acute response to
sub-GEL exposures of H2S.