Relative recovery over time – an in vivo microdialysis study of human skeletal muscle

Abstract

Background. The microdialysis technique is a method for sampling endogenous molecules from the interstitial compartments of varying tissues and relies on diffusion of molecules between the tissue and a perfusate via a membrane. Such samples do not allow determination of the true interstitial concentration but only a certain percentage. This gives rise to one of the most crucial parameter that needs to be considered for a dependable microdialysis; the relative recovery. Relative recovery states the efficiency of which an analyte is extracted from its external medium. Aim. To investigate the relative recovery of small molecules (< 20 kDa) such as lactate, fluid recovery and the reproducibility of the relative recovery at group and individual level of the microdialysis technique applied in muscle. Materials and methods. Using in vivo microdialysis of the trapezius muscle of 65 women from two separate occasions 4–6 months apart. Relative recovery of small molecules was measured from samples collected every 20 min during a period of 220 min. Results. Good reproducibility at group level of catheters with cut-offs 100 and 20kDa were found. Furthermore, there was a high and steady relative recovery with an overall good fluid recovery. Poor reproducibility was found at the individual level for both catheters. Conclusions. This study demonstrates that when using microdialysis in skeletal muscle relative recovery is stable over time and is not affected by low-force exercise. Although there is a good reproducibility at group level this is not the case at the individual level. Thus in vivo, the relative recovery should be determined for each test subject and at each test occasion.

Key Words::

• Blood flow
• internal reference
• relative loss
• repeatability
• reproducibility
• trapezius muscle

Acknowledgements

We acknowledge Eva-Britt Lind for her valuable help during the microdialysis.

Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflict of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the article.

This study was funded by the Swedish Research Council (K2011-69X-21874-01-6) and the Swedish Council for Working life and Social research (2010-0913).