Co-ingestion of carbohydrate with leucine-enriched essential amino acids does not augment acute postexercise muscle protein synthesis in a strenuous exercise-induced hypoinsulinemic state

Strenuous exercise following overnight fasting increases fat oxidation during exercise, which can modulate training adaptation. However, such exercise induces muscle protein catabolism by decreasing blood insulin concentrations and increasing amino acid oxidation during the exercise. Leucine-enriched essential amino acids (LEAAs) enhance muscle protein synthesis (MPS) at rest and after exercise. However, it remains to be clarified if the co-ingestion of carbohydrate with LEAAs induces an additional increase in MPS, particularly in a hypoinsulinemic state induced by strenuous exercise. Eight-week-old male Sprague–Dawley rats were made to perform strenuous jump exercise (height 35 cm, 200 jumps, 3-s intervals), after which they ingested distilled water and 1 g/kg LEAAs with or without 1 g/kg of glucose. The fractional synthesis rate was determined by measuring the incorporation of l-[ring-²H₅]-phenylalanine into skeletal muscle protein. Immediately after the exercise, plasma insulin concentration was significantly lower than that at the basal level. Co-ingestion of glucose with LEAAs alleviated the reduction in plasma insulin concentration, while LEAA ingestion alone did not. LEAA administration with or without glucose led to a higher MPS compared with water administration (P < 0.05). However, the co-ingestion of glucose with LEAAs did not induce further increases in MPS compared with LEAA ingestion alone. Thus, the co-ingestion of glucose with LEAAs does not additionally increase MPS under a strenuous exercise–induced hypoinsulinemic state when glucose is co-ingested with a dose of LEAAs that maximally stimulates MPS.