Ingestion of starch-rich meals after exercise increases glucose kinetics but fails to enhance muscle glycogen replenishment in horses

Fatiguing exercise substantially decreases muscle glycogen concentration in horses, impairing athletic performance in subsequent exercise bouts. Our objective was to determine the effect of ingestion of starch-rich meals after exercise on whole body glucose kinetics and muscle glycogen replenishment. In a randomized, cross-over study seven horses with exercise-induced muscle glycogen depletion were either not fed for 8 h, fed half of the daily energy requirements (∼15 Mcal DE) as hay, or fed an isocaloric amount of corn 15 min and 4 h after exercise. Starch-rich meals fed after exercise, when compared to feed withholding, resulted in mild to moderate hyperglycemia (5.7 ± 0.3 vs. 4.7 ± 0.3 mM, P < 0.01) and hyperinsulinemia (79.9 ± 9.3 vs. 39.0 ± 1.9 pM, P < 0.001), 3-fold greater whole body glucose kinetics (15.5 ± 1.4 vs. 5.3 ± 0.4 μmol kg−1 min−1, P < 0.05), but these only minimally enhanced muscle glycogen replenishment (171 ± 19 vs. 170 ± 56 and 260 ± 45 vs. 294 ± 29 mmol/kg dry weight immediately and 24 h after exercise, P > 0.05). It is concluded that after substantial exercise-induced muscle glycogen depletion, feeding status only minimally affects net muscle glycogen concentrations after exercise, despite marked differences in soluble carbohydrate ingestion and availability of glucose to skeletal muscle.