Measurement of the Rate of Protein Synthesis in Muscle of Postabsorptive Young Men by Injection of a ‘Flooding Dose’ of [1-13C]leucine

1989 ◽  
Vol 77 (3) ◽  
pp. 329-336 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter J. Garlick ◽  
Jan Wernerman ◽  
Margaret A. McNurlan ◽  
Pia Essen ◽  
Gerald E. Lobley ◽  
...  

1. The ‘flooding dose’ technique for measuring the rate of protein synthesis in tissues in vivo involves the injection of a large amount of unlabelled amino acid together with the tracer to minimize differences in isotopic enrichment of the free amino acid in plasma and tissue compartments. This approach has been investigated in human muscle by taking biopsies from postabsorptive male volunteers given [1-13C]leucine. 2. Intravenous injection of 4 g of unlabelled leucine resulted in a rapid rise in free leucine concentration of seven- to eleven-fold in plasma and five-fold in muscle. Values were still elevated by two-fold after 2 h. 3. Five minutes after injection of [1-13C]leucine (0.05 g/kg) the isotopic enrichment of plasma leucine was 82% that of the injected material, falling to 44% at 120 min. The enrichment of free leucine in sequential muscle biopsies was close to that in plasma and almost identical to that for plasma α-ketoisocaproate. 4. The rate of protein synthesis was determined from the increase in leucine enrichment in protein of muscle biopsies taken before and 90 min after injection of [1-13C]leucine (0.05 g/kg; 19 or 39 atom% excess) and the average plasma α-ketoisocaproate enrichment over this period (taken to represent muscle free leucine). The mean rate of muscle protein synthesis in 10 subjects was 1.95 (sem 0.12)%/day. Rates of protein synthesis calculated from plasma leucine as precursor enrichment were only 5% lower than those calculated from plasma α-ketoisocaproate. 5. It is concluded that a ‘flooding dose’ of 13C-labelled amino acid is a useful and convenient technique for determining the rate of protein synthesis in tissues of human volunteers and patients.

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.


2005 ◽  
Vol 288 (5) ◽  
pp. E914-E921 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffery Escobar ◽  
Jason W. Frank ◽  
Agus Suryawan ◽  
Hanh V. Nguyen ◽  
Scot R. Kimball ◽  
...  

Protein synthesis in skeletal muscle of adult rats increases in response to oral gavage of supraphysiological doses of leucine. However, the effect on protein synthesis of a physiological rise in plasma leucine has not been investigated in neonates, an anabolic population highly sensitive to amino acids and insulin. Therefore, in the current study, fasted pigs were infused intra-arterially with leucine (0, 200, or 400 μmol·kg−1·h−1), and protein synthesis was measured after 60 or 120 min. Protein synthesis was increased in muscle, but not in liver, at 60 min. At 120 min, however, protein synthesis returned to baseline levels in muscle but was reduced below baseline values in liver. The increase in protein synthesis in muscle was associated with increased plasma leucine of 1.5- to 3-fold and no change in plasma insulin. Leucine infusion for 120 min reduced plasma essential amino acid levels. Phosphorylation of eukaryotic initiation factor (eIF)-4E-binding protein-1 (4E-BP1), ribosomal protein (rp) S6 kinase, and rpS6 was increased, and the amount of eIF4E associated with its repressor 4E-BP1 was reduced after 60 and 120 min of leucine infusion. No change in these biomarkers of mRNA translation was observed in liver. Thus a physiological increase in plasma leucine stimulates protein synthesis in skeletal muscle of neonatal pigs in association with increased eIF4E availability for eIF4F assembly. This response appears to be insulin independent, substrate dependent, and tissue specific. The results suggest that the branched-chain amino acid leucine can act as a nutrient signal to stimulate protein synthesis in skeletal muscle of neonates.


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)


2019 ◽  
Vol 110 (4) ◽  
pp. 862-872 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cas J Fuchs ◽  
Wesley J H Hermans ◽  
Andrew M Holwerda ◽  
Joey S J Smeets ◽  
Joan M Senden ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTBackgroundProtein ingestion increases muscle protein synthesis rates. However, limited data are currently available on the effects of branched-chain amino acid (BCAA) and branched-chain ketoacid (BCKA) ingestion on postprandial muscle protein synthesis rates.ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to compare the impact of ingesting 6 g BCAA, 6 g BCKA, and 30 g milk protein (MILK) on the postprandial rise in circulating amino acid concentrations and subsequent myofibrillar protein synthesis rates in older males.MethodsIn a parallel design, 45 older males (age: 71 ± 1 y; BMI: 25.4 ± 0.8 kg/m2) were randomly assigned to ingest a drink containing 6 g BCAA, 6 g BCKA, or 30 g MILK. Basal and postprandial myofibrillar protein synthesis rates were assessed by primed continuous l-[ring-13C6]phenylalanine infusions with the collection of blood samples and muscle biopsies.ResultsPlasma BCAA concentrations increased following test drink ingestion in all groups, with greater increases in the BCAA and MILK groups compared with the BCKA group (P < 0.05). Plasma BCKA concentrations increased following test drink ingestion in all groups, with greater increases in the BCKA group compared with the BCAA and MILK groups (P < 0.05). Ingestion of MILK, BCAA, and BCKA significantly increased early myofibrillar protein synthesis rates (0–2 h) above basal rates (from 0.020 ± 0.002%/h to 0.042 ± 0.004%/h, 0.022 ± 0.002%/h to 0.044 ± 0.004%/h, and 0.023 ± 0.003%/h to 0.044 ± 0.004%/h, respectively; P < 0.001), with no differences between groups (P > 0.05). Myofibrillar protein synthesis rates during the late postprandial phase (2–5 h) remained elevated in the MILK group (0.039 ± 0.004%/h; P < 0.001), but returned to baseline values following BCAA and BCKA ingestion (0.024 ± 0.005%/h and 0.024 ± 0.005%/h, respectively; P > 0.05).ConclusionsIngestion of 6 g BCAA, 6 g BCKA, and 30 g MILK increases myofibrillar protein synthesis rates during the early postprandial phase (0–2 h) in vivo in healthy older males. The postprandial increase following the ingestion of 6 g BCAA and BCKA is short-lived, with higher myofibrillar protein synthesis rates only being maintained following the ingestion of an equivalent amount of intact milk protein. This trial was registered at Nederlands Trial Register (www.trialregister.nl) as NTR6047.


1996 ◽  
Vol 270 (1) ◽  
pp. E60-E66 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Jacob ◽  
X. Hu ◽  
D. Niederstock ◽  
S. Hasan ◽  
P. H. McNulty ◽  
...  

Infusion of insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) lowers plasma amino acid and insulin concentrations, which may limit the capacity of IGF-I to promote muscle protein synthesis in vivo. We measured heart and skeletal muscle incorporation of continuously infused L-[ring-2,6-3H]phenylalanine in awake postabsorptive rats receiving 4-h intravenous infusions of saline (n = 11), IGF-I (1 microgram.kg-1.min-1) with (n = 10) or without (n = 11) amino acid replacement, or IGF-I with insulin replacement (n = 8). There were no significant increases in muscle protein synthesis during the infusion of IGF-I alone, which was associated with decreases in both plasma insulin (52 +/- 5%, P < 0.001) and amino acids (25 +/- 5%, P < 0.05). When IGF-I was given together with amino acids, protein synthesis was significantly increased in gastrocnemius (4.7 +/- 0.4 vs. 2.5 +/- 0.3%/day, P < 0.001), oblique (4.5 +/- 0.4 vs. 2.8 +/- 0.4%/day, P < 0.05), and soleus (8.8 +/- 0.7 vs. 6.4 +/- 0.3%/day, P < 0.01) and tended to be higher than saline control values in heart (10.9 +/- 0.9 vs. 8.8 +/- 0.7%/day, P = 0.08). Amino acid replacement prevented plasma concentrations from falling and also blunted the decline in plasma insulin (22 +/- 5%, P < 0.01 vs. IGF-I alone). When IGF-I and insulin replacement were given, protein synthesis was increased in heart (13.0 +/- 0.6%/day), gastrocnemius (4.7 +/- 0.4%/day), and oblique (4.5 +/- 0.4%/day) (P < 0.001 for each, compared with saline). We conclude that the action of IGF-I to acutely stimulate muscle protein synthesis in the awake rat is limited by the fall in circulating insulin and/or amino acid concentrations that accompanies IGF-I infusion in vivo and is prevented by co-infusion of insulin or amino acids.


Nutrients ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 1236
Author(s):  
Lacee J. Laufenberg ◽  
Kristen T. Crowell ◽  
Charles H. Lang

The Ragulator protein complex is critical for directing the Rag GTPase proteins and mTORC1 to the lysosome membrane mediating amino acid-stimulated protein synthesis. As there is a lack of evidence on alcohol’s effect on the Rag-Ragulator complex as a possible mechanism for the development of alcoholic skeletal muscle wasting, the aim of our study was to examine alterations in various protein–protein complexes in the Rag-Ragulator pathway produced acutely by feeding and how these are altered by alcohol under in vivo conditions. Mice (C57Bl/6; adult males) were fasted, and then provided rodent chow for 30 min (“refed”) or remained food-deprived (“fasted”). Mice subsequently received ethanol (3 g/kg ethanol) or saline intraperitoneally, and hindlimb muscles were collected 1 h thereafter for analysis. Refeeding-induced increases in myofibrillar and sarcoplasmic protein synthesis, and mTOR and S6K1 phosphorylation, were prevented by alcohol. This inhibition was not associated with a differential rise in the intracellular leucine concentration or plasma leucine or insulin levels. Alcohol increased the amount of the Sestrin1•GATOR2 complex in the fasted state and prevented the refeeding-induced decrease in Sestrin1•GATOR2 seen in control mice. Alcohol antagonized the increase in the RagA/C•Raptor complex formation seen in the refed state. Alcohol antagonized the increase in Raptor with immunoprecipitated LAMPTOR1 (part of the Ragulator complex) after refeeding and decreased the association of RagC with LAMPTOR1. Finally, alcohol increased the association of the V1 domain of v-ATPase with LAMPTOR1 and prevented the refeeding-induced decrease in v-ATPase V1 with LAMPTOR1. Overall, these data demonstrate that acute alcohol intake disrupts multiple protein–protein complexes within the Rag-Ragulator complex, which are associated with and consistent with the concomitant decline in nutrient-stimulated muscle protein synthesis under in vivo conditions.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philippe J. M. Pinckaers ◽  
Jorn Trommelen ◽  
Tim Snijders ◽  
Luc J. C. van Loon

AbstractThere is a global trend of an increased interest in plant-based diets. This includes an increase in the consumption of plant-based proteins at the expense of animal-based proteins. Plant-derived proteins are now also frequently applied in sports nutrition. So far, we have learned that the ingestion of plant-derived proteins, such as soy and wheat protein, result in lower post-prandial muscle protein synthesis responses when compared with the ingestion of an equivalent amount of animal-based protein. The lesser anabolic properties of plant-based versus animal-derived proteins may be attributed to differences in their protein digestion and amino acid absorption kinetics, as well as to differences in amino acid composition between these protein sources. Most plant-based proteins have a low essential amino acid content and are often deficient in one or more specific amino acids, such as lysine and methionine. However, there are large differences in amino acid composition between various plant-derived proteins or plant-based protein sources. So far, only a few studies have directly compared the muscle protein synthetic response following the ingestion of a plant-derived protein versus a high(er) quality animal-derived protein. The proposed lower anabolic properties of plant- versus animal-derived proteins may be compensated for by (i) consuming a greater amount of the plant-derived protein or plant-based protein source to compensate for the lesser quality; (ii) using specific blends of plant-based proteins to create a more balanced amino acid profile; (iii) fortifying the plant-based protein (source) with the specific free amino acid(s) that is (are) deficient. Clinical studies are warranted to assess the anabolic properties of the various plant-derived proteins and their protein sources in vivo in humans and to identify the factors that may or may not compromise the capacity to stimulate post-prandial muscle protein synthesis rates. Such work is needed to determine whether the transition towards a more plant-based diet is accompanied by a transition towards greater dietary protein intake requirements.


2008 ◽  
Vol 295 (4) ◽  
pp. E959-E963 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elena Volpi ◽  
David L. Chinkes ◽  
Blake B. Rasmussen

Stable isotope tracer experiments of human muscle amino acid and protein kinetics often involve a sequential design, with the same subject studied at baseline and during an intervention. However, prolonged fasting and sequential muscle biopsies from the same area could theoretically affect muscle protein metabolism. The purpose of this study was to determine if sequential muscle biopsies and extended fasting significantly affect parameters of muscle protein and amino acid kinetics in six human subjects. After a 12-h overnight fast, a primed continuous infusion of l-[ ring-2H5]phenylalanine was started. After 120 min, we took the first of a series of five hourly muscle biopsies from the same vastus lateralis to measure mixed muscle protein fractional synthetic rate. Furthermore, between 150–180, 210–240, and 330–360 min, we measured leg phenylalanine kinetics using the two-pool and the three-pool arteriovenous balance models. Tracer enrichments were at steady state, and muscle protein FSR and phenylalanine kinetics did not change throughout the experiment ( P = not significant). We conclude that a 6-h tracer infusion during extended fasting (up to 18 h) with five sequential muscle biopsies from the same muscle do not affect basal mixed muscle protein synthesis and muscle phenylalanine kinetics in human subjects. Thus, when using a sequential study design over this period of time, it is unnecessary to include a saline only control group to account for these variables.


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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