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Effects of Whey Protein Combined with Amylopectin/Chromium on the Muscle Protein Synthesis and mTOR Phosphorylation in Exercised Rats

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Abstract

This study aimed to examine the impact of varying doses of whey protein (WP) and amylopectin/chromium complex (ACr) supplementation on muscle protein synthesis (MPS), amino acid and insulin levels, and the rapamycin (mTOR) signaling pathways in exercised rats. A total of 72 rats were randomly divided into nine groups: (1) Exercise (Ex), (2) Ex + WPI to (5) Ex + WPIV with various oral doses of whey protein (0.465, 1.55, 2.33, and 3.1 g/kg) and (6) Ex + WPI + ACr to (9) Ex + WPIV + ACr with various doses of whey protein combined with 0.155 g/kg ACr. On the day of single-dose administration, the products were given by oral gavage after exercise. To measure the protein fractional synthesis rate (FSR), a bolus dose of deuterium-labeled phenylalanine was given, and its effects were evaluated 1 h after supplementation. Rats that received 3.1 g/kg of whey protein (WP) combined with ACr exhibited the most significant increase in muscle protein synthesis (MPS) compared to the Ex group (115.7%, p < 0.0001). In comparison to rats that received the same dose of WP alone, those given the combination of WP and ACr at the same dosage showed a 14.3% increase in MPS (p < 0.0001). Furthermore, the WP (3.1 g/kg) + ACr group exhibited the highest elevation in serum insulin levels when compared to the Ex group (111.9%, p < 0.0001). Among the different groups, the WP (2.33 g/kg) + ACr group demonstrated the greatest increase in mTOR levels (224.2%, p < 0.0001). Additionally, the combination of WP (2.33 g/kg) and ACr resulted in a 169.8% increase in 4E-BP1 levels (p < 0.0001), while S6K1 levels rose by 141.2% in the WP (2.33 g/kg) + ACr group (p < 0.0001). Overall, supplementation with various doses of WP combined with ACr increased MPS and enhanced the mTOR signaling pathway compared to WP alone and the Ex group.

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Data Availability

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Nutrition 21 LLC (NY, USA) and the Turkish Academy of Science (Ankara, Turkey, KS, in part) for supporting the study.

Funding

This study received funding from Nutrition 21 LLC (NY, USA) and the Turkish Academy of Sciences (in part, KS). The funders were not involved in the study design, collection, analysis, and interpretation of data, the writing of this article, or the decision to submit it for publication.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Animal Nutrition, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Firat University, Elazig, 23119, Turkey

    Kazim Sahin, Cemal Orhan & Nurhan Sahin

  2. Technical Sciences, Vocational School, Department of Veterinary Science, Batman University, Batman, 72000, Turkey

    Oguzhan Ozdemir

  3. Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Firat University, Elazig, 23119, Turkey

    Mehmet Tuzcu

  4. Research and Development Department, Nutrition 21 LLC, Purchase, NY, 10577, USA

    Sara Perez Ojalvo & James R Komorowski

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Contributions

Kazim Sahin: Conceptualization, Writing-Review & Editing, Visualization.; Cemal Orhan: Methodology, Formal analysis, Software; Oguzhan Ozdemir: Formal analysis; Mehmet Tuzcu: Formal analysis; Nurhan Sahin: Methodology, Formal analysis; Sara Perez Ojalvo: Writing—Review & Editing; James R Komorowski: Writing—Review & Editing.

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Correspondence to Kazim Sahin.

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The study was approved by the Animal Ethics Committee of Firat University (#16–177) and performed following the internationally accepted standard ethical guidelines for laboratory animal use and care as described in the European Community guidelines, EEC Directive 2010/63/EU. All authors confirm that our figures/tables are original and have not been published previously.

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JRK and SPO are employees of Nutrition 21 LLC (NY, USA). The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted without commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

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12011_2023_3732_MOESM1_ESM.docx

Supplementary file 1. Full immunoblots related to Figure 2. mTOR A, S6K1 B, 4E-BP1 C, and ?-actin D. Each immunoblot is representative of three independent experiments. MW (in kDa) is indicated. Actin expression was used to ensure equal protein loading.

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Sahin, K., Orhan, C., Ozdemir, O. et al. Effects of Whey Protein Combined with Amylopectin/Chromium on the Muscle Protein Synthesis and mTOR Phosphorylation in Exercised Rats. Biol Trace Elem Res 202, 1031–1040 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-023-03732-x

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