scholarly journals The Role of Skeletal Muscle in The Pathogenesis of Altered Concentrations of Branched-Chain Amino Acids (Valine, Leucine, and Isoleucine) in Liver Cirrhosis, Diabetes, and Other Diseases

2021 ◽  
pp. 293-305
Author(s):  
M Holeček

The article shows that skeletal muscle plays a dominant role in the catabolism of branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs; valine, leucine, and isoleucine) and the pathogenesis of their decreased concentrations in liver cirrhosis, increased concentrations in diabetes, and nonspecific alterations in disorders with signs of systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS), such as burn injury and sepsis. The main role of skeletal muscle in BCAA catabolism is due to its mass and high activity of BCAA aminotransferase, which is absent in the liver. Decreased BCAA levels in liver cirrhosis are due to increased use of the BCAA as a donor of amino group to α-ketoglutarate for synthesis of glutamate, which in muscles acts as a substrate for ammonia detoxification to glutamine. Increased BCAA levels in diabetes are due to alterations in glycolysis, citric acid cycle, and fatty acid oxidation. Decreased glycolysis and citric cycle activity impair BCAA transamination to branched-chain keto acids (BCKAs) due to decreased supply of amino group acceptors (α-ketoglutarate, pyruvate, and oxaloacetate); increased fatty acid oxidation inhibits flux of BCKA through BCKA dehydrogenase due to increased supply of NADH and acyl-CoAs. Alterations in BCAA levels in disorders with SIRS are inconsistent due to contradictory effects of SIRS on muscles. Specifically, increased proteolysis and insulin resistance tend to increase BCAA levels, whereas activation of BCKA dehydrogenase and glutamine synthesis tend to decrease BCAA levels. The studies are needed to elucidate the role of alterations in BCAA metabolism and the effects of BCAA supplementation on the outcomes of specific diseases.

1990 ◽  
Vol 68 (1) ◽  
pp. 260-265 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joan Letto ◽  
John T. Brosnan ◽  
Margaret E. Brosnan

The interactions between fatty acid oxidation and the oxidation of the 2-oxo acids of the branched chain amino acids were studied in the isolated Langendorff-perfused heart. 2-Oxoisocaproate inhibited the oxidation of oleate, but 2-oxoisovalerate and 2-oxo-3-methylvalerate did not. This difference was not attributable to the magnitude of the flux through the branched chain 2-oxo acid dehydrogenase, which was slightly higher with 2-oxoisovalerate than with 2-oxoisocaproate. Oxidation of 2-oxoisocaproate in the perfused heart was virtually complete, since more than 80% of the isovaleryl-CoA formed from 2-oxo[1-14C]isocaproate was further metabolized to CO2, as determined by comparing 14CO2 production from 2-oxo[14C(U)]isocaproate with that from the 1-14C-labelled compound. Only twice as much 14CO2 was produced from 2-oxo[14C(U)]isovalerate as from the 1-14C-labelled compound, indicating incomplete oxidation. This was confirmed by the accumulation in the perfusion medium of substantial quantities of labelled 3-hydroxyisobutyrate (an intermediate in the pathway of valine catabolism), when hearts were perfused with 2-oxo[14C(U)]isovalerate. The failure of 2-oxoisovalerate to inhibit fatty acid oxidation, then, can be attributed to the fact that its partial metabolism in the heart produces little ATP. We have previously shown that 3-hydroxyisobutyrate is a good gluconeogenic substrate in liver and kidney, and postulate that 3-hydroxyisobutyrate serves as an interorgan metabolite such that valine can serve as a glucogenic amino acid, even when its catabolism proceeds beyond the irreversible 2-oxo acid dehydrogenase in muscle.Key words: branched chain amino acids, branched chain 2-oxoacids, perfused heart, fatty acid metabolism, 3 -hydroxyisobutyrate.


2008 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 141-142
Author(s):  
Graham Paul Holloway

This thesis is an investigation of the role of fatty acid translocase (FAT/CD36), plasma membrane associated fatty acid binding protein (FABPpm), and carnitine palmitoyltransferase I (CPTI) in transporting long-chain fatty acids (LCFAs) across mitochondrial membranes. Maximal CPTI activity, as well as the sensitivity of CPTI for its substrate palmitoyl-CoA (P-CoA) and its inhibitor malonyl-CoA (M-CoA), were measured in mitochondria isolated from human vastus lateralis muscles at rest and following muscle contraction. Exercise did not alter maximal CPTI activity or the sensitivity of CPTI for P-CoA. In contrast, exercise progressively attenuated the ability of M-CoA to inhibit CPTI activity. Mitochondrial FAT/CD36 protein content was also measured at rest, during, and following 2 h of cycling at ~60% maximal oxygen uptake. Exercise progressively increased the content of mitochondrial FAT/CD36 (+59%), which was significantly (p < 0.05) correlated with palmitate oxidation during exercise (r = 0.52), while palmitate oxidation was inhibited ~80% by the administration of a specific FAT/CD36 inhibitor. These data suggest that alterations in CPTI M-CoA sensitivity and increases in mitochondrial FAT/CD36 coordinate exercise-induced increases in fatty acid oxidation. FABPpm, another plasma membrane transport protein, has identical amino acid sequence to mitochondrial aspartate aminotransferase (mAspAT). Since FABPpm contributes to plasma membrane fatty acid transport, the role of FABPpm with respect to mitochondrial LCFA transport was investigated. However, unlike FAT/CD36, muscle contraction did not induce an increase in mitochondrial FABPpm protein in rat or human skeletal muscle. In addition, electrotransfecting FABPpm cDNA into rat skeletal muscle upregulated this protein in mitochondria by 80% without altering mitochondrial palmitate oxidation. In contrast, electrotransfection increased mAspAT activity  by 90%, and this was correlated (r = 0.75; p < 0.01) with FABPpm protein. These data suggest that FABPpm does not contribute to the regulation of mitochondrial LCFA transport. Previously, it has been suggested that mitochondria from obese individuals contain an inherent dysfunction to oxidize LCFAs. In age-matched lean (BMI = 23.3 ± 0.7 kg·m–2) and obese (BMI = 37.6 ± 2.2 kg·m–2) individuals, isolated mitochondrial palmitate oxidation was not altered. In addition, mitochondrial FAT/CD36 content was not different in lean and obese individuals. In contrast, citrate synthase and β-hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenase, common markers of total mitochondrial content, were decreased with obesity. Therefore, the decrease in mitochondrial content appeared to account for the observed reductions in whole-muscle LCFA oxidation.


2017 ◽  
Vol 41 ◽  
pp. 117-123 ◽  
Author(s):  
José Luiz de Brito Alves ◽  
Ana Elisa Toscano ◽  
João Henrique da Costa-Silva ◽  
Hubert Vidal ◽  
Carol Góis Leandro ◽  
...  

2002 ◽  
Vol 27 (6) ◽  
pp. 646-662 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald K. Layman

Exercise produces changes in protein and amino acid metabolism. These changes include degradation of the branched-chain amino acids, production of alanine and glutamine, and changes in protein turnover. One of the amino acid most affected by exercise is the branched-chain amino acid leucine. Recently, there has been an increased understanding of the role of leucine in metabolic regulations and remarkable new findings about the role of leucine in intracellular signaling. Leucine appears to exert a synergistic role with insulin as a regulatory factor in the insulin/phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase (PI3-K) signal cascade. Insulin serves to activate the signal pathway, while leucine is essential to enhance or amplify the signal for protein synthesis at the level of peptide initiation. Studies feeding amino acids or leucine soon after exercise suggest that post-exercise consumption of amino acids stimulates recovery of muscle protein synthesis via translation regulations. This review focuses on the unique roles of leucine in amino acid metabolism in skeletal muscle during and after exercise. Key words: branched-chain amino acids, insulin, protein synthesis, skeletal muscle


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