Leucine and Protein Synthesis

J

Jon Stark

New Member
I just ran across an article of (potential) interest to us HST types.  Unfortuntately, not being a bio major, I can barely make heads or tails of the study.  (All I see is "blah blah LEUCINE blah blah ENHANCES PROTEIN SYNTHESIS blah blah 58%...")

Here's a link to an abstract.

What I'm trying to figure out is...

A. Is this of an interest to non-diabetic weightlifters?  It seems as though it is (since they conclude leucine has insulin-dependent and independent effects).

B. How much leucine were they feeding these rats?  (The article says "...1.35 gkg body wt leucine (prepared as 54.0 gll L-amino acid in distilled water) by oral gavage. The volume of the leucine suspension administered was 2.5 ml/100 g body wt. The amount of leucine administered was equivalent to that consumed in a 24-h period when rats of this age and strain are provided free access to food (10).")

C. Is this increase in protein synthesis even noteworthy?  Is it any higher than what one would experience consuming the typical high-protein fare that most of us are already eating?

I should have chosen a different major.   :mad:
 
And on a related note, might this enhanced protein systhesis be triggered by HMB (which, as I understand, is a metabolite of leucine) rather than by the leucine?
 
More and more abstracts that I read (thanks again Steve, for the link) indicate that giving an amino acid into the blood increases synthesis.

Unfortunately, getting aa's through the liver is tougher than taping an IV on.

Still, maybe eating protein with a good leucine rating is worth our time.
 
I would assume that based on the information that Bryan posted that the protein type is not that important from an amino acid perspective, but I'm left to wonder if better digestion from a particular protein would lead to less stomach discomfort? Thoughts?
 
There are a couple of points here

they are rats

The amount of luecine would be excessive on humans, it is 1.35g/kg prepared as a solution (54g/L giving ~0.135g/2.5mL which is given to the rat as 2.5mL/100g or 1.35g/kg)

my copy doesnt have all the figures so I cant be bothered reading the article to try and hunt down significance levels
but the two points above basically show that its not worth it to non-diabetic weightlifters.
YOu cant eat that much leucine, not without a vast quanitity of money and no tastebuds (raw aminos are foul).
Thats why HMB caused such interest, because as a metaolite of Leucine, it affected net protein balance, without hte need for such high doses.
 
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