Increase in anterior tibialis muscle protein synthesis in healthy man during mixed amino acid infusion: studies of incorporation of [1−13C]leucine

1989 ◽  
Vol 76 (4) ◽  
pp. 447-454 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. M. Bennet ◽  
A. A. Connacher ◽  
C. M. Scrimgeour ◽  
K. Smith ◽  
M. J. Rennie

1. Anterior tibial muscle protein synthesis in seven healthy postabsorptive men was determined from increases in muscle protein bound leucine enrichment during a primed continuous infusion of l-[1−13C]leucine. Biopsies were taken 30 min after the beginning of leucine infusion (when plasma 13C enrichment was steady), 240 min later during continued fasting and again after 240 min of infusion of a mixed amino acid solution which increased plasma total amino acid concentrations by 37%. The mean enrichment of 13C in plasma α-ketoisocaproate was used as an index of the enrichment of the precursor pool for leucine metabolism. 2. Anterior tibial muscle mixed protein synthetic rate during fasting was 0.055 (sd 0.008) %/h and this increased by an average of 35% during infusion of mixed amino acid to 0.074 (sd 0.021) %/h (P < 0.05). 3. Whole-body protein breakdown (expressed as the rate of endogenous leucine appearance in plasma) was 121 (sd 8) μmol h−1 kg−1 during fasting and decreased (P < 0.01) by an average of 12% during amino acid infusion. Leucine oxidation was 18 (sd 3) μmol h−1 kg−1 during fasting and increased (P < 0.001) by 89% during amino acid infusion. Whole-body protein synthesis (non-oxidative leucine disappearance) was 104 (sd 6) μmol h−1 kg−1 during fasting and rose by 13% (P < 0.001) during mixed amino acid infusion. 4. 13C enrichment of muscle free leucine was only 61 (sd 19) % of that in plasma α-ketoisocaproate and this increased to 74 (sd 16) % (P < 0.02) during mixed amino acid infusion. 5. The results suggest that increased availability of amino acids reverses whole-body protein balance from negative to positive and a major component of this is the increase in muscle protein synthesis.

1988 ◽  
Vol 254 (2) ◽  
pp. 579-584 ◽  
Author(s):  
P J Garlick ◽  
I Grant

Rates of muscle protein synthesis were measured in vivo in tissues of post-absorptive young rats that were given intravenous infusions of various combinations of insulin and amino acids. In the absence of amino acid infusion, there was a steady rise in muscle protein synthesis with plasma insulin concentration up to 158 mu units/ml, but when a complete amino acids mixtures was included maximal rates were obtained at 20 mu units/ml. The effect of the complete mixture could be reproduced by a mixture of essential amino acids or of branched-chain amino acids, but not by a non-essential mixture, alanine, methionine or glutamine. It is concluded that amino acids, particularly the branched-chain ones, increase the sensitivity of muscle protein synthesis to insulin.


1990 ◽  
Vol 79 (5) ◽  
pp. 457-466 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rita J. Louard ◽  
Eugene J. Barrett ◽  
Robert A. Gelfand

1. Using the forearm balance method, together with systemic infusions of l-[ring-2,6-3H]phenylalanine and l-[1-14C]leucine, we examined the effects of infused branched-chain amino acids on whole-body and skeletal muscle amino acid kinetics in 10 postabsorptive normal subjects; 10 control subjects received only saline. 2. Infusion of branched-chain amino acids caused a four-fold rise in arterial branched-chain amino acid levels and a two-fold rise in branched-chain keto acids; significant declines were observed in circulating levels of most other amino acids, including phenylalanine, which fell by 34%. Plasma insulin levels were unchanged from basal levels (8 ± 1 μ-units/ml). 3. Whole-body phenylalanine flux, an index of proteolysis, was significantly suppressed by branched-chain amino acid infusion (P < 0.002), and forearm phenylalanine production was also inhibited (P < 0.03). With branched-chain amino acid infusion total leucine flux rose, with marked increments in both oxidative and non-oxidative leucine disposal (P < 0.001). Proteolysis, as measured by endogenous leucine production, showed a modest 12% decrease, although this was not significant when compared with saline controls. The net forearm balance of leucine and other branched-chain amino acids changed from a basal net output to a marked net uptake (P < 0.001) during branched-chain amino acid infusion, with significant stimulation of local leucine disposal. Despite the rise in whole-body non-oxidative leucine disposal, and in forearm leucine uptake and disposal, forearm phenylalanine disposal, an index of muscle protein synthesis, was not stimulated by infusion of branched-chain amino acids. 4. The results suggest that in normal man branched-chain amino acid infusion suppresses skeletal muscle proteolysis independently of any rise of plasma insulin. Muscle branched-chain amino acid uptake rose dramatically in the absence of any apparent increase in muscle protein synthesis, as measured by phenylalanine disposal, or in branched-chain keto acid release. Thus, an increase in muscle branched-chain amino acid concentrations and/ or local branched-chain amino acid oxidation must account for the increased disposal of branched-chain amino acids.


Author(s):  
Jorn Trommelen ◽  
Luc J. C. van Loon

All tissues are in a constant state of turnover, with a tightly controlled regulation of protein synthesis and breakdown rates. Due to the relative ease of sampling skeletal muscle tissue, basal muscle protein synthesis rates and the protein synthetic responses to various anabolic stimuli have been well defined in human subjects. In contrast, only limited data are available on tissue protein synthesis rates in other organs. Several organs such as the brain, liver and pancreas, show substantially higher (basal) protein synthesis rates when compared to skeletal muscle tissue. Such data suggest that these tissues may also possess a high level of plasticity. It remains to be determined whether protein synthesis rates in these tissues can be modulated by external stimuli. Whole-body protein synthesis rates are highly responsive to protein intake. As the contribution of muscle protein synthesis rates to whole-body protein synthesis rates is relatively small considering the large amount of muscle mass, this suggests that other organ tissues may also be responsive to (protein) feeding. Whole-body protein synthesis rates in the fasted or fed state can be quantified by measuring plasma amino acid kinetics, although this requires the production of intrinsically labelled protein. Protein intake requirements to maximise whole-body protein synthesis may also be determined by the indicator amino acid oxidation technique, but the technique does not allow the assessment of actual protein synthesis and breakdown rates. Both approaches have several other methodological and inferential limitations that will be discussed in detail in this paper.


2006 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiao‐jun Zhang ◽  
Juquan Song ◽  
Robert R Wolfe

1993 ◽  
Vol 264 (6) ◽  
pp. E958-E965 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. H. McNulty ◽  
L. H. Young ◽  
E. J. Barrett

Whether insulin, at physiological concentrations, stimulates net muscle protein synthesis in vivo remains unresolved. To examine this, we infused either saline, insulin (2.8 mU.kg-1.min-1, euglycemic clamp), an amino acid solution, or insulin plus amino acids for 4 h into awake overnight-fasted rats. Heart and skeletal muscle protein synthesis was measured by either a continuous tracer infusion method, using L-[1-14C]leucine, L-[2,5-3H]leucine, or L-[ring-2,6-3H]phenylalanine or by injection of L-[ring-2,6-3H]phenylalanine with a pool-flooding bolus of unlabeled phenylalanine. In heart, synthesis rates obtained using the arterial plasma specific activity of [3H]phenylalanine administered as either a tracer infusion or flooding bolus were comparable in saline-treated rats (range 10.9 +/- 1.2 to 12.2 +/- 0.9%/day) and were not affected by infusion of insulin or amino acids. Estimates using continuous infusion of L-[1-14C]leucine were significantly lower (P < 0.001), except when unlabeled amino acids were given also. In skeletal muscle, rates estimated using the flooding bolus (6.7 +/- 0.8%/day) were also not affected by insulin or amino acids. Estimates using continuous infusion of [3H]leucine (2.6 +/- 0.3%/day) or [3H]phenylalanine (2.8 +/- 1.0%/day) were lower and were still lower using [14C]leucine (1.6 +/- 0.6%/day), but increased toward those estimated with the flooding bolus during amino acid infusion. We conclude that, in heart muscle of the mature rat in vivo, neither insulin nor amino acids affect protein synthesis.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


2007 ◽  
Vol 292 (6) ◽  
pp. E1534-E1542 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dominic S. C. Raj ◽  
Oladipo Adeniyi ◽  
Elizabeth A. Dominic ◽  
Michel A. Boivin ◽  
Sandra McClelland ◽  
...  

Intradialytic protein catabolism is attributed to loss of amino acids in the dialysate. We investigated the effect of amino acid infusion during hemodialysis (HD) on muscle protein turnover and amino acid transport kinetics by using stable isotopes of phenylalanine, leucine, and lysine in eight patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD). Subjects were studied at baseline (pre-HD), 2 h of HD without amino acid infusion (HD-O), and 2 h of HD with amino acid infusion (HD+AA). Amino acid depletion during HD-O augmented the outward transport of amino acids from muscle into the vein. Increased delivery of amino acids to the leg during HD+AA facilitated the transport of amino acids from the artery into the intracellular compartment. Increase in muscle protein breakdown was more than the increase in synthesis during HD-O (46.7 vs. 22.3%, P < 0.001). Net balance (nmol·min−1·100 ml −1) was more negative during HD-O compared with pre-HD (−33.7 ± 1.5 vs. −6.0 ± 2.3, P < 0.001). Despite an abundant supply of amino acids, the net balance (−16.9 ± 1.8) did not switch from net release to net uptake. HD+AA induced a proportional increase in muscle protein synthesis and catabolism. Branched chain amino acid catabolism increased significantly from baseline during HD-O and did not decrease during HD+AA. Protein synthesis efficiency, the fraction of amino acid in the intracellular pool that is utilized for muscle protein synthesis decreased from 42.1% pre-HD to 33.7 and 32.6% during HD-O and HD+AA, respectively ( P < 0.01). Thus amino acid repletion during HD increased muscle protein synthesis but did not decrease muscle protein breakdown.


Author(s):  
Jorn Trommelen ◽  
Andrew M. Holwerda ◽  
Philippe J. M. Pinckaers ◽  
Luc J. C. van Loon

All human tissues are in a constant state of remodelling, regulated by the balance between tissue protein synthesis and breakdown rates. It has been well-established that protein ingestion stimulates skeletal muscle and whole-body protein synthesis. Stable isotope-labelled amino acid methodologies are commonly applied to assess the various aspects of protein metabolism in vivo in human subjects. However, to achieve a more comprehensive assessment of post-prandial protein handling in vivo in human subjects, intravenous stable isotope-labelled amino acid infusions can be combined with the ingestion of intrinsically labelled protein and the collection of blood and muscle tissue samples. The combined application of ingesting intrinsically labelled protein with continuous intravenous stable isotope-labelled amino acid infusion allows the simultaneous assessment of protein digestion and amino acid absorption kinetics (e.g. release of dietary protein-derived amino acids into the circulation), whole-body protein metabolism (whole-body protein synthesis, breakdown and oxidation rates and net protein balance) and skeletal muscle metabolism (muscle protein fractional synthesis rates and dietary protein-derived amino acid incorporation into muscle protein). The purpose of this review is to provide an overview of the various aspects of post-prandial protein handling and metabolism with a focus on insights obtained from studies that have applied intrinsically labelled protein under a variety of conditions in different populations.


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