scholarly journals Artificial gravity maintains skeletal muscle protein synthesis during 21 days of simulated microgravity

2009 ◽  
Vol 107 (1) ◽  
pp. 34-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. B. Symons ◽  
M. Sheffield-Moore ◽  
D. L. Chinkes ◽  
A. A. Ferrando ◽  
D. Paddon-Jones

We sought to determine the effects of longitudinal loading (artificial gravity) on skeletal muscle protein kinetics in 15 healthy young males after 21 days of 6° head-down tilt bed rest [experimental treatment (Exp) group: n = 8, 31 ± 1 yr; control (Con) group; n = 7, 28 ± 1 yr, means ± SE]. On days 1 and 21 of bed rest, postabsorptive venous blood samples and muscle biopsies (vastus lateralis and soleus) were obtained during a 1-h pulse bolus infusion protocol (0 min, l-[ ring-13C6]phenylalanine, 35 μmol/kg; 30 min, l-[ ring-15N]phenylalanine, 35 μmol/kg). Outcome measures included mixed muscle fractional synthesis (FSR) and breakdown rates (FBR). The Exp group experienced 1 h of longitudinal loading (2.5G at the feet) via a short-radius centrifuge during each day of bed rest. Mixed muscle FSR in the Con group was reduced by 48.5% ( day 1, 0.081 ± 0.000%/h vs. day 21, 0.042 ± 0.000%/h; P = 0.001) in vastus lateralis after 21 days of bed rest, whereas the Exp group maintained their rate of protein synthesis. A similar but nonsignificant change in FSR was noted for the soleus muscle (Exp, −7%; Con, −22%). No changes in muscle protein breakdown were observed. In conclusion, 1 h of daily exposure to artificial gravity maintained the rate of protein synthesis of the vastus lateralis and may represent an effective adjunct countermeasure to combat the loss of muscle mass and functional during extended spaceflight.

1997 ◽  
Vol 82 (3) ◽  
pp. 807-810 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arny A. Ferrando ◽  
Kevin D. Tipton ◽  
Marcas M. Bamman ◽  
Robert R. Wolfe

Ferrando, Arny A., Kevin D. Tipton, Marcas M. Bamman, and Robert R. Wolfe. Resistance exercise maintains skeletal muscle protein synthesis during bed rest. J. Appl. Physiol. 82(3): 807–810, 1997.—Spaceflight results in a loss of lean body mass and muscular strength. A ground-based model for microgravity, bed rest, results in a loss of lean body mass due to a decrease in muscle protein synthesis (MPS). Resistance training is suggested as a proposed countermeasure for spaceflight-induced atrophy because it is known to increase both MPS and skeletal muscle strength. We therefore hypothesized that scheduled resistance training throughout bed rest would ameliorate the decrease in MPS. Two groups of healthy volunteers were studied during 14 days of simulated microgravity. One group adhered to strict bed rest (BR; n = 5), whereas a second group engaged in leg resistance exercise every other day throughout bed rest (BREx; n = 6). MPS was determined directly by the incorporation of infusedl-[ ring-13C6]phenylalanine into vastus lateralis protein. After 14 days of bed rest, MPS in the BREx group did not change and was significantly greater than in the BR group. Thus moderate-resistance exercise can counteract the decrease in MPS during bed rest.


2001 ◽  
Vol 11 (s1) ◽  
pp. S150-S163 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter A. Farrell

Skeletal muscle proteins are constantly being synthesized and degraded, and the net balance between synthesis and degradation determines the resultant muscle mass. Biochemical pathways that control protein synthesis are complex, and the following must be considered: gene transcription, mRNA splicing, and transport to the cytoplasm; specific amino acyl-tRNA, messenger (mRNA), ribosomal (rRNA) availability; amino acid availability within the cell; the hormonal milieu; rates of mRNA translation; packaging in vesicles for some types of proteins; and post-translational processing such as glycation and phosphorylation/dephosphorylation. Each of these processes is responsive to the need for greater or lesser production of new proteins, and many states such as sepsis, uncontrolled diabetes, prolonged bed-rest, aging, chronic alcohol treatment, and starvation cause marked reductions in rates of skeletal muscle protein synthesis. In contrast, acute and chronic resistance exercise cause elevations in rates of muscle protein synthesis above rates found in nondiseased rested organisms, which are normally fed. Resistance exercise may be unique in this capacity. This chapter focuses on studies that have used exercise to elucidate mechanisms that explain elevations in rates of protein synthesis. Very few studies have investigated the effects of aging on these mechanisms; however, the literature that is available is reviewed.


1996 ◽  
Vol 270 (4) ◽  
pp. E627-E633 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. A. Ferrando ◽  
H. W. Lane ◽  
C. A. Stuart ◽  
J. Davis-Street ◽  
R. R. Wolfe

We sought to determine the extent to which the loss of lean body mass and nitrogen during inactivity was due to alterations in skeletal muscle protein metabolism. Six male subjects were studied during 7 days of diet stabilization and after 14 days of stimulated microgravity (-6 degrees bed rest). Nitrogen balance became more negative (P < 0.03) during the 2nd wk of bed rest. Leg and whole body lean mass decreased after bed rest (P < 0.05). Serum cortisol, insulin, insulin-like growth factor I, and testosterone values did not change. Arteriovenous model calculations based on the infusion of L-[ring-13C6]-phenylalanine in five subjects revealed a 50% decrease in muscle protein synthesis (PS; P < 0.03). Fractional PS by tracer incorporation into muscle protein also decreased by 46% (P < 0.05). The decrease in PS was related to a corresponding decrease in the sum of intracellular amino acid appearance from protein breakdown and inward transport. Whole body protein synthesis determined by [15N]alanine ingestion on six subjects also revealed a 14% decrease (P < 0.01). Neither model-derived nor whole body values for protein breakdown change significantly. These results indicate that the loss of body protein with inactivity is predominantly due to a decrease in muscle PS and that this decrease is reflected in both whole body and skeletal muscle measures.


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.


2008 ◽  
Vol 22 (S1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa Vislocky ◽  
P. Courtney Gaine ◽  
Matthew Pikosky ◽  
Douglas Bolster ◽  
Arny Ferrando ◽  
...  

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