Medical (1)
Amino acids
391 words
The branched chain amino acids (BCAAs) are leucine, valine and isoleucine. A multi-
million-dollar industry of nutritional supplements has grown around the concept that dietary
supplements of BCAAs alone produce an anabolic response in humans driven by a
stimulation of muscle protein synthesis. In this brief review the theoretical and empirical
bases for that claim are discussed. Theoretically, the maximal stimulation of muscle protein
synthesis in the post-absorptive state in response to BCAAs alone is the difference between
muscle protein breakdown and muscle protein synthesis (about 30% greater than synthesis),
because the other EAAs required for synthesis of new protein can only be derived from
muscle protein breakdown. Realistically, a maximal increase in muscle protein synthesis of
30% is an over-estimate because the obligatory oxidation of EAAs can never be completely
suppressed. An extensive search of the literature has revealed no studies in human subjects in
which the response of muscle protein synthesis to orally-ingested BCAAs alone was
quantified, and only two studies in which the effect of intravenously infused BCAAs alone
was assessed. Both of these intravenous infusion studies found that BCAAs decreased muscle
protein synthesis as well as protein breakdown, meaning a decrease in muscle protein
turnover. The catabolic state in which the rate of muscle protein breakdown exceeded the rate
of muscle protein synthesis persisted during BCAA infusion. We conclude that the claim that
consumption of dietary BCAAs stimulates muscle protein synthesis or produces an anabolic
response in human subjects is unwarranted.
There are a total of twenty amino acids that comprise muscle protein. Nine of the twenty are
considered essential amino acids (EAAs), meaning they cannot be produced by the body in
physiologically significant amounts, and therefore are crucial components of a balanced diet.
Muscle protein is in a constant state of turnover, meaning that protein synthesis is occurring
continuously to replace protein lost as a consequence of protein breakdown. For synthesis of
new muscle protein, all the EAAs, along with the eleven non-essential amino acids (NEAAs)
that can be produced in the body, must be present in adequate amounts. The branched-chain
amino acids leucine, isoleucine and valine are three of the nine EAAs. Leucine is not only a
precursor for muscle protein synthesis, but also may play a role as a regulator of intracellular
signaling pathways that are involved in the process of protein synthesis.
