A fish-derived protein hydrolysate induces postprandial aminoacidaemia and skeletal muscle anabolism in an in vitro cell model using ex vivo human serum

Matthew J. Lees, David Nolan, Miryam Amigo-Benavent, Conor J. Raleigh, Neda Khatib, Pádraigín Harnedy-Rothwell, Richard J. Fitzgerald, Brendan Egan, Brian P. Carson

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Fish-derived proteins, particularly fish protein hydrolysates (FPH), offer potential as high-quality sources of dietary protein, whilst enhancing economic and environmental sustainability. This study investigated the impact of a blue whiting-derived protein hydrolysate (BWPH) on ami-noacidaemia in vivo and skeletal muscle anabolism in vitro compared with whey protein isolate (WPI) and an isonitrogenous, non-essential amino acid (NEAA) control (0.33 g·kg-1·body mass-1) in an ex vivo, in vitro experimental design. Blood was obtained from seven healthy older adults (two males, five females; age: 72 ± 5 years, body mass index: 24.9 ± 1.6 kg·m2) in three separate trials in a randomised, counterbalanced, double-blind design. C2C12 myotubes were treated with ex vivo human serum-conditioned media (20%) for 4 h. Anabolic signalling (phosphorylation of mTOR, p70S6K, and 4E-BP1) and puromycin incorporation were determined by immunoblotting. Although BWPH and WPI both induced postprandial essential aminoacidaemia in older adults above the NEAA control, peak and area under the curve (AUC) leucine and essential amino acids were more pronounced following WPI ingestion. Insulin was elevated above baseline in WPI and BWPH only, a finding reinforced by higher peak and AUC values compared with NEAA. Muscle protein syn-thesis, as measured by puromycin incorporation, was greater after incubation with WPI-fed serum compared with fasted serum (P = 0.042), and delta change was greater in WPI (P = 0.028) and BWPH (P = 0.030) compared with NEAA. Myotube hypertrophy was greater in WPI and BWPH compared with NEAA (both P = 0.045), but was similar between bioactive conditions (P = 0.853). Taken to-gether, these preliminary findings demonstrate the anabolic potential of BWPH in vivo and ex vivo, thus providing justification for larger studies in older adults using gold-standard measures of acute and chronic MPS in vivo.

Original languageEnglish
Article number647
Pages (from-to)1-17
Number of pages17
JournalNutrients
Volume13
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Feb 2021

Keywords

  • Ageing
  • Blue whiting
  • Hypertrophy
  • Leucine
  • MTORC1
  • Muscle protein synthesis

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