Elevated plasma free fatty acids decrease basal protein synthesis, but not the anabolic effect of leucine, in skeletal muscle

2006 ◽  
Vol 291 (3) ◽  
pp. E666-E674 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles H. Lang

Elevations in free fatty acids (FFAs) impair glucose uptake in skeletal muscle. However, there is no information pertaining to the effect of elevated circulating lipids on either basal protein synthesis or the anabolic effects of leucine and insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I). In chronically catheterized conscious rats, the short-term elevation of plasma FFAs by the 5-h infusion of heparin plus Intralipid decreased muscle protein synthesis by ∼25% under basal conditions. Lipid infusion was associated with a redistribution of eukaryotic initiation factor (eIF)4E from the active eIF4E·eIF4G complex to the inactive eIF4E·4E-BP1 complex. This shift was associated with a decreased phosphorylation of eIF4G but not 4E-BP1. Lipid infusion did not significantly alter either the total amount or phosphorylation state of mTOR, TSC2, S6K1, or the ribosomal protein S6 under basal conditions. In control rats, oral leucine increased muscle protein synthesis. This anabolic response was not impaired by lipid infusion, and no defects in signal transduction pathways regulating translation initiation were detected. In separate rats that received a bolus injection of IGF-I, lipid infusion attenuated the normal redistribution of eIF4E from the active to inactive complex and largely prevented the increased phosphorylation of 4E-BP1, eIF4G, S6K1, and S6. This IGF-I resistance was associated with enhanced Ser307 phosphorylation of insulin receptor substrate-1 (IRS-1). These data indicate that the short-term elevation of plasma FFAs impairs basal protein synthesis in muscle by altering eIF4E availability, and this defect may be related to impaired phosphorylation of eIF4G, not 4E-BP1. Moreover, hyperlipidemia impairs IGF-I action but does not produce leucine resistance in skeletal muscle.

1991 ◽  
Vol 260 (3) ◽  
pp. E499-E504 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. A. Fryburg ◽  
R. A. Gelfand ◽  
E. J. Barrett

The short-term effects of growth hormone (GH) on skeletal muscle protein synthesis and degradation in normal humans are unknown. We studied seven postabsorptive healthy men (age 18-23 yr) who received GH (0.014 micrograms.kg-1.min-1) via intrabrachial artery infusion for 6 h. The effects of GH on forearm amino acid and glucose balances and on forearm amino acid kinetics [( 3H]Phe and [14C]Leu) were determined after 3 and 6 h of the GH infusion. Forearm deep vein GH rose to 35 +/- 6 ng/ml in response to GH, whereas systemic levels of GH, insulin, and insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) were unchanged. Forearm glucose uptake did not change during the study. After 6 h, GH suppressed forearm net release (3 vs. 6 h) of Phe (P less than 0.05), Leu (P less than 0.01), total branched-chain amino acids (P less than 0.025), and essential neutral amino acids (0.05 less than P less than 0.1). The effect on the net balance of Phe and Leu was due to an increase in the tissue uptake for Phe (71%, P less than 0.05) and Leu (37%, P less than 0.005) in the absence of any significant change in release of Phe or Leu from tissue. In the absence of any change in systemic GH, IGF-I, or insulin, these findings suggest that locally infused GH stimulates skeletal muscle protein synthesis. These findings have important physiological implications for both the role of daily GH pulses and the mechanisms through which GH can promote protein anabolism.


1998 ◽  
Vol 275 (4) ◽  
pp. R1091-R1098 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cheng-Hui Fang ◽  
Bing-Guo Li ◽  
Jing Jing Wang ◽  
Josef E. Fischer ◽  
Per-Olof Hasselgren

Thermal injury is associated with a pronounced catabolic response in skeletal muscle, reflecting inhibited protein synthesis and increased protein breakdown, in particular myofibrillar protein breakdown. Administration of insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) has a nitrogen-sparing effect after burn injury, but the influence of this treatment on protein turnover rates in skeletal muscle is not known. In the present study, we examined the effect of IGF-I on muscle protein synthesis and breakdown rates following burn injury in rats. After a 30% total body surface area burn injury or sham procedure, rats were treated with a continuous infusion of IGF-I (3.5 or 7 mg ⋅ kg−1 ⋅ 24 h−1) for 24 h. Protein synthesis and breakdown rates were determined in incubated extensor digitorum longus muscles. Burn injury resulted in increased total and myofibrillar protein breakdown rates and reduced protein synthesis in muscle. The increase in protein breakdown rates was blocked by both doses of IGF-I and the burn-induced inhibition of muscle protein synthesis was partially reversed by the higher dose of the hormone. IGF-I did not influence muscle protein turnover rates in nonburned rats. The results suggest that the catabolic response to burn injury in skeletal muscle can be inhibited by IGF-I.


2005 ◽  
Vol 288 (5) ◽  
pp. E883-E891 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael J. Toth ◽  
Dwight E. Matthews ◽  
Russell P. Tracy ◽  
Michael J. Previs

Aging is associated with decreased skeletal muscle mass and function. These changes are thought to derive, in part, from a reduction in skeletal muscle protein synthesis. Although some studies have shown reduced postabsorptive muscle protein synthesis with age in humans, recent studies have failed to find an age effect. In addition to this disparity, few studies have attempted to characterize the hormonal factors that may contribute to changes in protein synthesis. Thus we examined the effect of age on skeletal muscle protein metabolism, with a specific emphasis on myosin heavy chain (MHC) protein, and the relationship of protein synthesis rates to plasma hormone levels. We measured body composition, muscle function, muscle protein synthesis, MHC and actin protein content, MHC isoform distribution, and plasma concentrations of cytokines and insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) in 7 young [29 ± 2 (SE) yr] and 15 old (72 ± 1 yr; P < 0.01) volunteers. Mixed-muscle (−19%; P = 0.11), MHC (−22%; P = 0.08), and nonmyofibrillar (−17%; P = 0.10) protein synthesis all tended to be lower in old volunteers. Old volunteers were characterized by increased circulating tumor necrosis factor-α receptor II ( P < 0.05) and reduced IGF-I ( P < 0.01). In addition, plasma C-reactive protein, interleukin-6, and tumor necrosis factor-α receptor II concentrations were negatively related to mixed-muscle and MHC protein synthesis rates (range of r values: −0.422 to −0.606; P < 0.05 to <0.01). No differences in MHC or actin protein content were found. Old volunteers showed reduced ( P < 0.05) MHC IIx content compared with young volunteers but no differences in MHC I or IIa. Our data show strong trends toward reduced postabsorptive muscle protein synthesis with age. Moreover, reduced muscle protein synthesis rates were related to increased circulating concentrations of several markers of immune activation.


1999 ◽  
Vol 84 (8) ◽  
pp. 2705-2711 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melinda Sheffield-Moore ◽  
Randall J. Urban ◽  
Steven E. Wolf ◽  
J. Jiang ◽  
Don H. Catlin ◽  
...  

Short term administration of testosterone stimulates net protein synthesis in healthy men. We investigated whether oxandrolone[ Oxandrin (OX)], a synthetic analog of testosterone, would improve net muscle protein synthesis and transport of amino acids across the leg. Six healthy men [22 ± 1 (±se) yr] were studied in the postabsorptive state before and after 5 days of oral OX (15 mg/day). Muscle protein synthesis and breakdown were determined by a three-compartment model using stable isotopic data obtained from femoral arterio-venous sampling and muscle biopsy. The precursor-product method was used to determine muscle protein fractional synthetic rates. Fractional breakdown rates were also directly calculated. Total messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) concentrations of skeletal muscle insulin-like growth factor I and androgen receptor (AR) were determined using RT-PCR. Model-derived muscle protein synthesis increased from 53.5 ± 3 to 68.3 ± 5 (mean ± se) nmol/min·100 mL/leg (P &lt; 0.05), whereas protein breakdown was unchanged. Inward transport of amino acids remained unchanged with OX, whereas outward transport decreased (P &lt; 0.05). The fractional synthetic rate increased 44% (P &lt; 0.05) after OX administration, with no change in fractional breakdown rate. Therefore, the net balance between synthesis and breakdown became more positive with both methodologies (P &lt; 0.05) and was not different from zero. Further, RT-PCR showed that OX administration significantly increased mRNA concentrations of skeletal muscle AR without changing insulin-like growth factor I mRNA concentrations. We conclude that short term OX administration stimulated an increase in skeletal muscle protein synthesis and improved intracellular reutilization of amino acids. The mechanism for this stimulation may be related to an OX-induced increase in AR expression in skeletal muscle.


1995 ◽  
Vol 269 (5) ◽  
pp. E820-E826 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. J. Urban ◽  
Y. H. Bodenburg ◽  
C. Gilkison ◽  
J. Foxworth ◽  
A. R. Coggan ◽  
...  

Aging men develop a significant loss of muscle strength that occurs in conjunction with a decline in serum testosterone concentrations. We investigated the effects of testosterone administration to six healthy men [67 +/- 2 (SE) yr] on skeletal muscle protein synthesis, strength, and the intramuscular insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) system. Elderly men with serum testosterone concentrations of 480 ng/dl or less were given testosterone injections for 4 wk to produce serum concentrations equal to those of younger men. During testosterone administration muscle strength (isokinetic dynamometer) increased in both right and left hamstring and quadricep muscles as did the fractional synthetic rate of muscle protein (stable-isotope infusion). Ribonuclease protection assays done on total RNA from muscle showed that testosterone administration increased mRNA concentrations of IGF-I and decreased mRNA concentrations of insulin-like growth factor binding protein-4. We conclude that increasing testosterone concentrations in elderly men increases skeletal muscle protein synthesis and strength. This increase may be mediated by stimulation of the intramuscular IGF-I system.


2001 ◽  
Vol 281 (6) ◽  
pp. E1159-E1164 ◽  
Author(s):  
Taylor J. Marcell ◽  
S. Mitchell Harman ◽  
Randall J. Urban ◽  
Daniel D. Metz ◽  
Buel D. Rodgers ◽  
...  

Growth hormone (GH), insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I), and testosterone (T) are important mediators of muscle protein synthesis, and thus muscle mass, all of which decline with age. We hypothesized that circulating hormones would be related to the transcriptional levels of their respective receptors and that this expression would be negatively related to expression of the myostatin gene. We therefore determined content of mRNA transcripts (by RT-PCR) for GH receptor (GHR), IGF-I, androgen receptor (AR), and myostatin in skeletal muscle biopsy samples from 27 healthy men >65 yr of age. There were no significant relationships between age, lean body mass, or percent body fat and transcript levels of GHR, IGF-I, AR, or myostatin. Moreover, there were no significant correlations of serum GH, IGF-I, or T with their corresponding target mRNA levels (GHR, intramuscular IGF-I, or AR) in skeletal muscle. However, GHR was negatively correlated ( r = −0.60, P = 0.001) with myostatin mRNA levels. The lack of apparent relationships of muscle transcripts with their respective ligands in healthy older adults suggests that age-related deficits in both GH and T may lead to an increase in myostatin expression and a disassociation in autocrine IGF-I effects on muscle protein synthesis, both of which could contribute to age-related sarcopenia.


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