Meal stimulation of albumin synthesis: a significant contributor to whole body protein synthesis in humans

1992 ◽  
Vol 263 (4) ◽  
pp. E794-E799 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. De Feo ◽  
F. F. Horber ◽  
M. W. Haymond

The present studies were performed to test the hypothesis that the liver, by increasing the synthesis of specific plasma proteins during the absorption of an amino acid meal, may play an important role in the temporary "storage" of ingested essential amino acids and to explore the effects of glucocorticosteroids and recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH) on these processes. The fractional synthetic rates of albumin and fibrinogen were determined using simultaneous infusions of intravenous [1-14C]leucine and intraduodenal [4,5-3H]leucine after 22 h fasting and during absorption of glucose and amino acids in four groups of normal subjects treated for 1 wk with placebo, prednisone (0.8 mg.kg-1.day-1), rhGH (0.1 mg.kg-1.day-1), or combined treatment. When compared with the fasted state and independent of the route of tracer delivery and hormonal treatment, albumin, but not fibrinogen, synthesis increased (P < 0.0001) during absorption of a mixed glucose amino acid meal in all groups. This increase in albumin synthesis accounted for 28% of the increase in whole body protein synthesis associated with feeding and for 24, 22, and 14% in the prednisone, rhGH, and combined treatment groups, respectively. These data suggest that the stimulation of albumin synthesis observed during feeding prevents irreversible oxidative losses of a significant fraction of ingested essential amino acids and may serve as a vehicle to capture excess dietary amino acids and transport them to peripheral tissues to sustain local protein synthesis.

2019 ◽  
Vol 110 (2) ◽  
pp. 255-264 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paolo Tessari

ABSTRACT Background Essential amino acids (EAAs) are key factors in determining dietary protein quality. Their RDAs have been estimated. However, although nonessential amino acids (NEAAs) are utilized for protein synthesis too, no estimates of their usage for body protein replenishment have been proposed so far. Objective The aim of this study was to provide minimum, approximate estimates of NEAA usage for body protein replenishment/conservation in humans. Methods A correlation between the pattern of both EAAs and NEAAs in body proteins, and their usage, was assumed. In order to reconstruct an “average” amino acid pattern/composition of total body proteins (as grams of amino acid per gram of protein), published data of relevant human organs/tissues (skeletal muscle, liver, kidney, gut, and collagen, making up ∼74% of total proteins) were retrieved. The (unknown) amino acid composition of residual proteins (∼26% of total proteins) was assumed to be the same as for the sum of the aforementioned organs excluding collagen. Using international EAA RDA values, an average ratio of EAA RDA to the calculated whole-body EAA composition was derived. This ratio was then used to back-calculate NEAA usage for protein replenishment. The data were calculated also using estimated organ/tissue amino acid turnover. Results The individual ratios of World Health Organization/Food and Agriculture Organization/United Nations University RDA to EAA content ranged between 1.35 (phenylalanine + tyrosine) and 3.68 (leucine), with a mean ± SD value of 2.72 ± 0.81. In a reference 70-kg subject, calculated NEAA usage for body protein replenishment ranged from 0.73 g/d for asparagine to 3.61 g/d for proline. Use of amino acid turnover data yielded similar results. Total NEAA usage for body protein replenishment was ∼19 g/d (45% of total NEAA intake), whereas ∼24 g/d was used for other routes. Conclusion This method may provide indirect minimum estimates of the usage of NEAAs for body protein replacement in humans.


Nutrients ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 1360 ◽  
Author(s):  
Il-Young Kim ◽  
Sanghee Park ◽  
Ellen T. H. C. Smeets ◽  
Scott Schutzler ◽  
Gohar Azhar ◽  
...  

Heart failure in older individuals is normally associated with a high body mass index and relatively low lean body mass due to, in part, a resistance to the normal anabolic effect of dietary protein. In this study we have investigated the hypothesis that consumption of a specially-formulated composition of essential amino acids (HiEAAs) can overcome anabolic resistance in individuals with heart failure and stimulate the net gain of body protein to a greater extent than a commercially popular protein-based meal replacement beverage with greater caloric but lower essential amino acid (EAA) content (LoEAA). A randomized cross-over design was used. Protein kinetics were determined using primed continuous infusions of L-(2H5)phenylalanine and L-(2H2)tyrosine in the basal state and for four hours following consumption of either beverage. Both beverages induced positive net protein balance (i.e., anabolic response). However, the anabolic response was more than two times greater with the HiEAA than the LoEAA (p < 0.001), largely through a greater suppression of protein breakdown (p < 0.001). Net protein accretion (g) was also greater in the HiEAA when data were normalized for either amino acid or caloric content (p < 0.001). We conclude that a properly formulated EAA mixture can elicit a greater anabolic response in individuals with heart failure than a protein-based meal replacement. Since heart failure is often associated with obesity, the minimal caloric value of the HiEAA formulation is advantageous.


1996 ◽  
Vol 75 (2) ◽  
pp. 217-235 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. E. Lobley ◽  
A. Connell ◽  
D. K. Revell ◽  
B. J. Bequette ◽  
D. S. Brown ◽  
...  

AbstractThe response in whole-body and splanchnic tissue mass and isotope amino acid transfers in both plasma and blood has been studied in sheep offered 800 g lucerne (Medicago sutiva) pellets/d. Amino acid mass transfers were quantified over a 4 h period,by arterio-venous procedures, across the portal-drained viscera (PDV) and liver on day 5 of an intravenous infusion of either vehicle or the methylated products, choline (0.5 g/d) plus creatine (10 g/d). Isotopic movements were monitored over the same period during a 10 h infusion of a mixture of U-13C-labelled amino acids obtained from hydrolysis of labelled algal cells. Sixteen amino acids were monitored by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, with thirteen of these analysed within a single chromatographic analysis. Except for methionine, which is discussed in a previous paper, no significant effects of choline plus creatine infusion were observed on any of the variables reported. Whole-body protein irreversible-loss rates ranged from 158 to 245 g/d for the essential amino acids, based on the relative enrichments (dilution of the U-13C molecules by those unlabelled) of free amino acids in arterial plasma, and 206-519 g/d, when blood free amino acid relative enrichments were used for the calculations. Closer agreement was obtained between lysine, threonine, phenylalanine and the branched-chain amino acids. Plasma relative enrichments always exceeded those in blood (P < 0.001), possibly due to hydrolysis of peptides or degradation of protein within the erythrocyte or slow equilibration between plasma and the erythrocyte. Net absorbed amino acids across the PDV were carried predominantly in the plasma. Little evidence was obtained of any major and general involvement of the erythrocytes in the transport of free amino acids from the liver. Net isotope movements also supported these findings. Estimates of protein synthesis rates across the PDV tissues from [U-13C] leucine kinetics showed good agreement with previous values obtained with single-labelled leucine. Variable rates were obtained between the essential amino acids, probably due to different intracellular dilutions. Isotope dilution across the liver was small and could be attributed predominantly to uni-directional transfer from extracellular sources into the hepatocytes and this probably dominates the turnover of the intracellular hepatic amino acid pools.


1989 ◽  
Vol 257 (5) ◽  
pp. E639-E646 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Obled ◽  
F. Barre ◽  
D. J. Millward ◽  
M. Arnal

These studies were undertaken to determine to what extent constant infusion measurements and plasma sampling could provide sensible answers for rates of whole body protein turnover and also which amino acid would be the most representative probe of whole body protein turnover. Whole body protein synthesis rates were estimated in 70-g rats with L-[U-14C]threonine, L-[U-14C]lysine, L-[U-14C]tyrosine, L-[U-14C]phenylalanine, and L-[1-14C]leucine by either simultaneous tracer infusion of four amino acids or by injections of large quantities of 14C-labeled amino acids. In the infusion experiment, indirect estimates of whole body protein turnover based on free amino acid specific radioactivity and stochastic modeling were compared with direct measurement of the incorporation of the tracer into proteins. These two methods of analysis provided similar results for each amino acid, although in each case fractional synthesis rates were lower (by between 26 and 63%) when calculations were based on plasma rather than tissue specific radioactivity. With the flooding-dose method, whole body fractional protein synthesis rates were 41.4, 25.6, 31.1, and 31.4% with threonine, lysine, phenylalanine, and leucine, respectively. These values were similar to those obtained by the continuous infusion method using tissue specific radioactivity for threonine and lysine. For leucine, however, the flooding-dose method provided an intermediate value between the two estimates derived either from the plasma or the tissue specific radioactivity in the infusion method.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


2000 ◽  
Vol 279 (5) ◽  
pp. E978-E988 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul G. Whittaker ◽  
Choy H. Lee ◽  
Roy Taylor

The effects of pregnancy and type 1 diabetes [insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM)] on protein metabolism are still uncertain. Therefore, six normal and five IDDM women were studied during and after pregnancy, using [13C]leucine and [2H5]phenylalanine with a hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamp and amino acid infusion. Fasting total plasma amino acids were lower in pregnancy in normal but not IDDM women (2,631 ± 427 vs. 2,057 ± 471 and 2,523 ± 430 vs. 2,500 ± 440 μmol/l, respectively). Whole body protein breakdown (leucine) increased in pregnancy [change in normal (ΔN) and IDDM women (ΔD) 0.59 ± 0.40 and 0.48 ± 0.26 g · kg−1 · day−1, both P < 0.001], whereas reductions in protein breakdown due to insulin/amino acids (ΔN −0.57 ± 0.19, ΔD −0.58 ± 0.20 g · kg−1 · day−1, both P < 0.001) were unaffected by pregnancy. Protein breakdown in IDDM women was not higher than normal, and neither pregnancy nor type 1 diabetes altered the insulin sensitivity of amino acid turnover. Nonoxidized leucine disposal (protein synthesis) increased in pregnancy (ΔN 0.67 ± 0.45, ΔD 0.64 ± 0.34 g · kg−1 · day−1, both P < 0.001). Pregnancy reduced the response of phenylalanine hydroxylation to insulin/amino acids in both groups (ΔN −1.14 ± 0.74, ΔD −1.12 ± 0.77 g · kg−1 · day−1, both P < 0.05). These alterations may enable amino acid conservation for protein synthesis and accretion in late pregnancy. Well-controlled type 1 diabetes caused no abnormalities in the regulation of basal or stimulated protein metabolism.


2012 ◽  
Vol 108 (S2) ◽  
pp. S139-S148 ◽  
Author(s):  
Renate Jonker ◽  
Mariëlle P. K. J. Engelen ◽  
Nicolaas E. P. Deutz

In a variety of chronic and acute disease states, alterations in protein synthesis, breakdown and protein turnover rates occur that are related to the loss of body protein and skeletal muscle wasting. A key observation is the stimulation of protein breakdown in muscle and the stimulation of protein synthesis in the splanchnic area; mainly liver. An altered splanchnic extraction of amino acids as well as an anabolic resistance to dietary protein, related to stress, disuse and aging play a key role in the pathogenesis of muscle wasting in these conditions. To overcome these factors, specific dietary protein and amino acid diets have been introduced. The main focus of these diets is the quantity and quality of dietary proteins and whether a balanced mixture or solely dietary essential amino acids are required with or without higher intake levels of specific amino acids. Specifically in cancer patients, stimulated muscle protein synthesis has been obtained by increasing the amount of protein in a meal and by providing additional leucine. Also in other chronic diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and cystic fibrosis, meals with specific dietary proteins and specific combinations of dietary essential amino acids are able to stimulate anabolism. In acute diseases, a special role for the amino acid arginine and its precursor citrulline as anabolic drivers has been observed. Thus, there is growing evidence that modifying the dietary amino acid composition of a meal will positively influence the net balance between muscle protein synthesis and breakdown, leading to muscle protein anabolism in a variety of chronic and acute disease states. Specific amino acids with anabolic potential are leucine, arginine and citrulline.


Nutrients ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (12) ◽  
pp. 3717
Author(s):  
David D. Church ◽  
Katie R. Hirsch ◽  
Sanghee Park ◽  
Il-Young Kim ◽  
Jess A. Gwin ◽  
...  

Ingesting protein-containing supplements and foods provides essential amino acids (EAA) necessary to increase muscle and whole-body protein synthesis (WBPS). Large variations exist in the EAA composition of supplements and foods, ranging from free-form amino acids to whole protein foods. We sought to investigate how changes in peripheral EAA after ingesting various protein and free amino acid formats altered muscle and whole-body protein synthesis. Data were compiled from four previous studies that used primed, constant infusions of L-(ring-2H5)-phenylalanine and L-(3,3-2H2)-tyrosine to determine fractional synthetic rate of muscle protein (FSR), WBPS, and circulating EAA concentrations. Stepwise regression indicated that max EAA concentration (EAACmax; R2 = 0.524, p < 0.001), EAACmax (R2 = 0.341, p < 0.001), and change in EAA concentration (ΔEAA; R = 0.345, p < 0.001) were the strongest predictors for postprandial FSR, Δ (change from post absorptive to postprandial) FSR, and ΔWBPS, respectively. Within our dataset, the stepwise regression equation indicated that a 100% increase in peripheral EAA concentrations increases FSR by ~34%. Further, we observed significant (p < 0.05) positive (R = 0.420–0.724) correlations between the plasma EAA area under the curve above baseline, EAACmax, ΔEAA, and rate to EAACmax to postprandial FSR, ΔFSR, and ΔWBPS. Taken together our results indicate that across a large variety of EAA/protein-containing formats and food, large increases in peripheral EAA concentrations are required to drive a robust increase in muscle and whole-body protein synthesis.


2007 ◽  
Vol 21 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Renan A. Orellana ◽  
Marta L. Fiorotto ◽  
Farook Jahoor ◽  
Douglas G. Burrin ◽  
Hanh V. Nguyen ◽  
...  

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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