Exogenous insulin does not increase muscle protein synthesis rate when administered systemically: a systematic review

J. Trommelen, B. Groen, H.M. Hamer, C.P.G.M. de Groot, L.J.C. van Loon*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

23 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Background Though it is well appreciated that insulin plays an important role in the regulation of muscle protein metabolism, there is much discrepancy in the literature on the capacity of exogenous insulin administration to increase muscle protein synthesis rates in vivo in humans. Objective To assess whether exogenous insulin administration increases muscle protein synthesis rates in young and older adults. Design A systematic review of clinical trials was performed and the presence or absence of an increase in muscle protein synthesis rate was reported for each individual study arm. In a stepwise manner, multiple models were constructed that excluded study arms based on the following conditions: model 1, concurrent hyperaminoacidemia; model 2, insulin-induced hypoaminoacidemia; model 3, supraphysiological insulin concentrations; and model 4, older, more insulin resistant, subjects. Conclusions From the presented data in the current systematic review, we conclude that: i) exogenous insulin and amino acid administration effectively increase muscle protein synthesis, but this effect is attributed to the hyperaminoacidemia; ii) exogenous insulin administered systemically induces hypoaminoacidemia which obviates any insulin-stimulatory effect on muscle protein synthesis; iii) exogenous insulin resulting in supraphysiological insulin levels exceeding 50¿000¿pmol/l may effectively augment muscle protein synthesis; iv) exogenous insulin may have a diminished effect on muscle protein synthesis in older adults due to age-related anabolic resistance; and v) exogenous insulin administered systemically does not increase muscle protein synthesis in healthy, young adults.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)R25-R34
JournalEuropean Journal of Endocrinology
Volume173
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2015

Keywords

  • human skeletal-muscle
  • amino-acid infusion
  • healthy-human subjects
  • anabolic response
  • human forearm
  • whole-body
  • physiological hyperinsulinemia
  • differential regulation
  • dependent vasodilation
  • postabsorptive state

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Exogenous insulin does not increase muscle protein synthesis rate when administered systemically: a systematic review'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this