Effect of acetazolamide and methazolamide on diaphragm and dorsiflexor fatigue: a randomized controlled trial.

Acetazolamide, a carbonic anhydrase (CA) inhibitor used clinically and to prevent acute mountain sickness, worsens skeletal muscle fatigue in animals and humans. In animals, methazolamide, a methylated analog of acetazolamide and an equally potent CA inhibitor, reportedly exacerbates fatigue less than acetazolamide. Accordingly, we sought to determine, in humans, if methazolamide would attenuate diaphragm and dorsiflexor fatigue compared with acetazolamide.