Evaluation of pea/rice and amylopectin/chromium as an alternative protein source to improve muscle protein synthesis in rats

• Published in: European journal of nutrition Vol. 62; no. 5; pp. 2293 - 2302
• Main Authors: Ozdemir, Oguzhan, Erten, Fusun, Er, Besir, Orhan, Cemal, Komorowski, James R., Sylla, Sarah, Perez Ojalvo, Sara, Sahin, Kazim
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.08.2023; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Amylopectin; Amylopectin - metabolism; Amylopectin - pharmacology; Animals; Chemistry; Chemistry and Materials Science; Chromium; Humans; Insulin; Insulins - metabolism; Insulins - pharmacology; Muscle Proteins; Muscle, Skeletal - metabolism; Nutrition; Original Contribution; Oryza; Phosphorylation; Pisum sativum; Protein biosynthesis; Protein synthesis; Proteins; Rats; Rice; TOR protein; TOR Serine-Threonine Kinases - metabolism; Essential amino acids; Musclin; Amylopectin/chromium; Insulin sensitivity; Pea/rice protein blend
• ISSN: 1436-6207; 1436-6215
• DOI: 10.1007/s00394-023-03150-8

Background A preclinical study reported that the combination of an amylopectin/chromium complex (ACr) of branched-chain amino acids (BCAA) significantly enhanced muscle protein synthesis (MPS). This study was conducted to determine the effects of the addition of ACr complex to a pea/rice (PR) protein on MPS, insulin, muslin levels, and the mTOR pathway in exercised rats. Methods Twenty-four rats were divided into three groups: (i) exercise (Ex); (ii) Ex + PR 1:1 blend (0.465 g/kg BW); (iii) Ex + PR + ACr (0.155 g/kg BW). On the day of single-dose administration, after the animals were exercised at 26/m/min for 2 h, the supplement was given by oral gavage. The rats were injected with a bolus dose (250 mg/kg BW, 25 g/L) of deuterium-labeled phenylalanine to determine the protein fractional synthesis rate (FSR) one h after consuming the study product. Results The combination of PR and ACr enhanced MPS by 42.55% compared to the Ex group, while Ex + PR alone increased MPS by 30.2% over the Ex group ( p  < 0.0001) in exercised rats. Ex + PR plus ACr significantly enhanced phosphorylation of mTOR and S6K1 ( p  < 0.0001), and 4E-BP1 ( p  < 0.001) compared to the Ex ( p  < 0.0001). PR to ACr also significantly increased insulin and musclin levels ( p  < 0.0001) in exercised rats. Additionally, compared to Ex + PR alone, Ex + PR + ACr enhanced mTOR ( p  < 0.0001) and S6K1 ( p  < 0.0001) levels. Conclusion These data suggested that PR + ACr may provide an alternative to animal proteins for remodeling and repairing muscle by stimulating MPS and mTOR signaling pathways in post-exercised rats. More preclinical and clinical human studies on combining pea/rice and amylopectin/chromium complex are required.