Skip to main content
Key Specialties
Cardiology Diabetology Endocrinology Gastroenterology Geriatrics and Gerontology Gynecology and Obstetrics Hematology Infectious Disease Internal Medicine Nephrology Neurology Oncology Pediatrics Respiratory Medicine Rheumatology Surgery
Congress Coverage
2024 ACC Congress 2023 ESMO Congress 2023 EASD Congress 2023 ERS Congress 2023 ESC Congress 2023 EHA Congress 2023 ASCO Annual Meeting
Clinical Collections
Advances in Alzheimer’s

ACC 2024 Congress

Catch up on all the top stories and latest evidence in cardiology research with our ACC 2024 Congress hub page.
ADVANCED SEARCH
Log in
Top
The journal of nutrition, health & aging
Published in: The journal of nutrition, health & aging 1/2019

Open Access 01-01-2019

Native Whey Induces Similar Post Exercise Muscle Anabolic Responses as Regular Whey, Despite Greater Leucinemia, in Elderly Individuals

Authors: Håvard Hamarsland, S. N. Aas, A. L. Nordengen, K. Holte, I. Garthe, G. Paulsen, M. Cotter, E. Børsheim, H. B. Benestad, T. Raastad

Published in: The journal of nutrition, health & aging | Issue 1/2019

Login to get access

Abstract

Objective

Elderly muscle seems less sensitive to the anabolic stimulus of a meal. Changes in blood concentrations of leucine are suggested as one important trigger of the anabolic response in muscle. The aim of this study was to investigate whether native whey protein, containing high amounts of leucine, may be a more potent stimulator of muscle protein synthesis (MPS) in elderly than regular whey protein (WPC-80) or milk.

Design

Randomized controlled partial crossover.

Setting

Norwegian School of Sport Sciences.

Participants

21 healthy elderly men and women (≥70 years).

Intervention

Participants received either 20 g of WPC-80 and native whey (n = 11) on separate days in a crossover design, or milk (n = 10). Supplements were ingested immediately and two hours after a bout of lower body heavy-load resistance exercise.

Measurements

Blood samples and muscle biopsies were collected to measure blood concentrations of amino acids by gas-chromatography mass spectrometry (GCMS), phosphorylation of p70S6K, 4E-BP1 and eEF-2 by immunoblotting and mixed muscle fractional synthetic rate (FSR) by use of [2H5]phenylalanine-infusion, GCMS and isotope-ratio mass spectrometry.

Results

Native whey increased blood leucine concentrations more than WPC-80 (P < 0.05), but not p70S6K phosphorylation or mixed muscle FSR. Both whey supplements increased blood leucine concentrations (P < 0.01) and P70S6K phosphorylation more than milk (P = 0.014). Native whey reached higher mixed muscle FSR values than milk (P = 0.026) 1-3h after exercise.

Conclusions

Despite greater increases in blood leucine concentrations than WPC-80 and milk, native whey was only superior to milk concerning increases in MPS and phosphorylation of P70S6K during a 5-hour post-exercise period in elderly individuals.
Appendix
Available only for authorised users
Literature
1.
Baumgartner RN, Koehler KM, Gallagher D, et al. Epidemiology of sarcopenia among the elderly in New Mexico. Am J Epidemiol 1998;147(8):755–63.CrossRefPubMed
2.
Atkins JL, Whincup PH, Morris RW, Lennon LT, Papacosta O, Wannamethee SG. Sarcopenic Obesity and Risk of Cardiovascular Disease and Mortality: A Population-Based Cohort Study of Older Men. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 2014;62(2):253–60.CrossRefPubMed
3.
4.
Volpi E, Sheffield-Moore M, Rasmussen BB, Wolfe RR. Basal muscle amino acid kinetics and protein synthesis in healthy young and older men. JAMA 2001;286(10):1206–12.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
5.
Shad BJ, Thompson JL, Breen L. Does the muscle protein synthetic response to exercise and amino acid-based nutrition diminish with advancing age? A systematic review. AJP: Endocrinology and Metabolism 2016;311(5):E803–17.
6.
Macnaughton LS, Wardle SL, Witard OC, et al. The response of muscle protein synthesis following whole-body resistance exercise is greater following 40 g than 20 g of ingested whey protein. Physiol Rep 2016;4(15):e12893.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
7.
Moore DR, Churchward-Venne TA, Witard O, et al. Protein Ingestion to Stimulate Myofibrillar Protein Synthesis Requires Greater Relative Protein Intakes in Healthy Older Versus Younger Men. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci 2014;70(1):57–62.CrossRefPubMed
8.
Westenhoefer J. Age and gender dependent profile of food choice. Forum Nutr 2005;(57):44–51.CrossRef
9.
Volpi E, Kobayashi H, Sheffield-Moore M, Mittendorfer B, Wolfe RR. Essential amino acids are primarily responsible for the amino acid stimulation of muscle protein anabolism in healthy elderly adults. Am J Clin Nutr 2003;78(2):250–8.CrossRefPubMed
10.
Atherton PJ, Smith K, Etheridge T, Rankin D, Rennie MJ. Distinct anabolic signalling responses to amino acids in C2C12 skeletal muscle cells. Amino Acids 2010;38(5):1533–9.CrossRefPubMed
11.
Atherton PJ, Kumar V, Selby A, et al. Enriching a protein drink with leucine augments muscle protein synthesis after resistance exercise in young and older men. Clinical Nutrition 2017;36(3):888–95.CrossRefPubMed
12.
Dickinson JM, Gundermann DM, Walker DK, et al. Leucine-Enriched Amino Acid Ingestion after Resistance Exercise Prolongs Myofibrillar Protein Synthesis and Amino Acid Transporter Expression in Older Men. The Journal of nutrition 2014;144(11):1694–702.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
13.
Rutherfurd SM, Moughan PJ. Available versus digestible dietary amino acids. Br J Nutr 2012;108(S2):S298–S305.CrossRefPubMed
14.
Fekete ÁA, Giromini C, Chatzidiakou Y, Givens DI, Lovegrove JA. Whey protein lowers blood pressure and improves endothelial function and lipid biomarkers in adults with prehypertension and mild hypertension: results from the chronic Whey2Go randomized controlled trial. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 2016;104(6):1534–44.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
15.
Gryson C, Ratel S, Rance M, et al. Four-Month Course of Soluble Milk Proteins Interacts With Exercise to Improve Muscle Strength and Delay Fatigue in Elderly Participants. J Am Med Dir Assoc 2014;15(12):958.e1–958.e9.CrossRef
16.
Hamarsland H, Laahne JAL, Paulsen G, Cotter M, Borsheim E, Raastad T. Native whey induces higher and faster leucinemia than other whey protein supplements and milk: a randomized controlled trial. BMC Nutrition 2017 3:1 2017;3(1):10.CrossRef
17.
Goodpaster BH, Park SW, Harris TB, et al. The loss of skeletal muscle strength, mass, and quality in older adults: the health, aging and body composition study. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci 2006;61(10):1059–64.CrossRefPubMed
18.
Hughes VA, Frontera WR, Wood M, et al. Longitudinal Muscle Strength Changes in Older Adults Influence of Muscle Mass, Physical Activity, and Health. The Journals of Gerontology: Series A 2001;56(5):B209–17.CrossRef
19.
Paulsen G, Hamarsland H, Cumming KT, et al. Vitamin C and E supplementation alters protein signalling after a strength training session, but not muscle growth during 10 weeks of training. The Journal of Physiology 2014;592(24):5391–408.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
20.
Wolfe RR, Chinkes DL. Isotope Tracers in Metabolic Research. John Wiley & Sons; 2005.
21.
Burd NA, West DW, Rerecich T, et al. Validation of a single biopsy approach and bolus protein feeding to determine myofibrillar protein synthesis in stable isotope tracer studies in humans. Nutr Metab (Lond) 2011;8(1):15.CrossRef
22.
Hamarsland H, Nordengen AL, Nyvik Aas S, et al. Native whey protein with high levels of leucine results in similar post-exercise muscular anabolic responses as regular whey protein: a randomized controlled trial. J Int Soc Sports Nutr 2017;14(1):43.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
23.
Burd NA, Yang Y, Moore DR, Tang JE, Tarnopolsky MA, Phillips SM. Greater stimulation of myofibrillar protein synthesis with ingestion of whey protein isolate v. micellar casein at rest and after resistance exercise in elderly men. Br J Nutr 2012;108(6):958–62.PubMed
24.
Volpi E, Mittendorfer B, Wolf SE, Wolfe RR. Oral amino acids stimulate muscle protein anabolism in the elderly despite higher first-pass splanchnic extraction. Am J Physiol 1999;277(3 Pt 1):E513–20.PubMed
25.
Devries MC, Phillips SM. Supplemental Protein in Support of Muscle Mass and Health: Advantage Whey. Journal of Food Science 2015;80(S1):A8–A15.CrossRefPubMed
26.
Greenhaff PL, Karagounis LG, Peirce N, et al. Disassociation between the effects of amino acids and insulin on signaling, ubiquitin ligases, and protein turnover in human muscle. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab 2008;295(295):E595–E604.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
27.
Crozier SJ, Kimball SR, Emmert SW, Anthony JC, Jefferson LS. Oral Leucine Administration Stimulates Protein Synthesis in Rat Skeletal Muscle. JN 2005;135:376–82.
28.
Reitelseder S, Agergaard J, Doessing S, et al. Whey and casein labeled with L-[1-13C]leucine and muscle protein synthesis: effect of resistance exercise and protein ingestion. AJP: Endocrinology and Metabolism 2011;300(1):E231–42.
29.
Glynn EL, Fry CS, Timmerman KL, Drummond MJ, Volpi E, Rasmussen BB. Addition of Carbohydrate or Alanine to an Essential Amino Acid Mixture Does Not Enhance Human Skeletal Muscle Protein Anabolism. Journal of Nutrition 2013;143(3):307–14.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
30.
Agergaard J, Bülow J, Jensen JK, et al. Light-load resistance exercise increases muscle protein synthesis and hypertrophy signaling in elderly men. AJP: Endocrinology and Metabolism 2017;312(4):E326–38.
31.
Moore DR, Atherton PJ, Rennie MJ, Tarnopolsky MA, Phillips SM. Resistance exercise enhances mTOR and MAPK signalling in human muscle over that seen at rest after bolus protein ingestion. Acta Physiol (Oxf) 2011;201(3):365–72.CrossRef
32.
Choo AY, Yoon S-O, Kim SG, Roux PP, Blenis J. Rapamycin differentially inhibits S6Ks and 4E-BP1 to mediate cell-type-specific repression of mRNA translation. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2008;105(45):17414–9.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
33.
Kang SA, Pacold ME, Cervantes CL, et al. mTORC1 phosphorylation sites encode their sensitivity to starvation and rapamycin. Science 2013;341(6144):1236566–6.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
34.
Witard OC, Jackman SR, Breen L, Smith K, Selby A, Tipton KD. Myofibrillar muscle protein synthesis rates subsequent to a meal in response to increasing doses of whey protein at rest and after resistance exercise. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 2014;99(1):86–95.CrossRefPubMed
35.
Bukhari SS, Phillips BE, Wilkinson DJ, et al. Intake of low-dose leucine-rich essential amino acids stimulates muscle anabolism equivalently to bolus whey protein in older women, at rest and after exercise. AJP: Endocrinology and Metabolism 2015;308:E1057–65.
36.
Wall BT, Hamer HM, de Lange A, et al. Leucine co-ingestion improves post-prandial muscle protein accretion in elderly men. Clinical Nutrition 2013;32(3):412–9.CrossRefPubMed
37.
Yang Y, Breen L, Burd NA, et al. Resistance exercise enhances myofibrillar protein synthesis with graded intakes of whey protein in older men. Br J Nutr 2012;108(10):1780–8.CrossRefPubMed
38.
West DW, Burd NA, Coffey VG, et al. Rapid aminoacidemia enhances myofibrillar protein synthesis and anabolic intramuscular signaling responses after resistance exercise. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 2011;94(3):795–803.CrossRefPubMed
39.
Tang JE, Moore DR, Kujbida GW, Tarnopolsky MA, Phillips SM. Ingestion of whey hydrolysate, casein, or soy protein isolate: effects on mixed muscle protein synthesis at rest and following resistance exercise in young men. J Appl Physiol 2009;107(3):987–92.CrossRefPubMed
40.
Kumar V, Atherton PJ, Selby A, et al. Muscle protein synthetic responses to exercise: effects of age, volume, and intensity. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci 2012;67(11):1170–7.CrossRefPubMed
41.
Symons TB, Sheffield-Moore M, Wolfe RR, Paddon-Jones D. A Moderate Serving of High-Quality Protein Maximally Stimulates Skeletal Muscle Protein Synthesis in Young and Elderly Subjects. Journal of the American Dietetic Association 2009;109(9):1582–6.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
42.
Paulsen G, Mikkelsen UR, Raastad T, Peake JM. Leucocytes, cytokines and satellite cells: what role do they play in muscle damage and regeneration following eccentric exercise? Exerc Immunol Rev 2012;18:42–97.PubMed
43.
Phillips SM, Tipton KD, Aarsland A, Wolf SE, Wolfe RR. Mixed muscle protein synthesis and breakdown after resistance exercise in humans. Am J Physiol 1997;273(1 Pt 1):E99–107.PubMed
44.
Phillips SM, Tipton KD, Aarsland A, Wolf SE, Wolfe RR. Mixed muscle protein synthesis and breakdown after resistance exercise in humans. 1997;273(1):E99–E107.
45.
Glynn EL, Fry CS, Drummond MJ, et al. Muscle protein breakdown has a minor role in the protein anabolic response to essential amino acid and carbohydrate intake following resistance exercise. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol 2010;299(2):R533–40.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
Metadata
Title
Native Whey Induces Similar Post Exercise Muscle Anabolic Responses as Regular Whey, Despite Greater Leucinemia, in Elderly Individuals
Authors
Håvard Hamarsland
S. N. Aas
A. L. Nordengen
K. Holte
I. Garthe
G. Paulsen
M. Cotter
E. Børsheim
H. B. Benestad
T. Raastad
Publication date
01-01-2019
Publisher
Springer Paris
Published in
The journal of nutrition, health & aging / Issue 1/2019
Print ISSN: 1279-7707
Electronic ISSN: 1760-4788
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s12603-018-1105-6

Other articles of this Issue 1/2019

The journal of nutrition, health & aging 1/2019 Go to the issue

OriginalPaper

Low Levels of Branched Chain Amino Acids, Eicosapentaenoic Acid and Micronutrients are Associated with Low Muscle Mass, Strength and Function in Community-Dwelling Older Adults

OriginalPaper

Self-Perception of Economic Means is Associated with Dietary Choices, Diet Quality and Physical Health in the Oldest Old Men from the Highest Socioeconomic Group

OriginalPaper

Total Body Water and Intracellular Water Relationships with Muscle Strength, Frailty and Functional Performance in an Elderly Population. A Cross-Sectional Study

OriginalPaper

The Prevalence and Prognosis of Sarcopenic Dysphagia in Patients Who Require Dysphagia Rehabilitation

OriginalPaper

Current Situation of Frailty Screening Tools for Older Adults

OriginalPaper

Dietary Factors Associated with the Development of Physical Frailty in Community-Dwelling Older Adults

ACC 2024 Congress Coverage

Cardiology Video

Highlights from the ACC 2024 Congress

Watch now

Watch official videos from the ACC congress summarizing key highlights from the last year in heart failure, cardiomyopathies, valvular disease, pulmonary vascular disease, and pediatric cardiology.

Semaglutide benefits people with type 2 diabetes and obesity-related heart failure

16-04-2024 Type 2 Diabetes News

Incentivised to exercise

11-04-2024 Lifestyle Modifications News

New intervention for STEMI-related cardiogenic shock

10-04-2024 Myocardial Infarction News

» View more highlights on the ACC 2024 congress hub page

Image Credits