Acute supplementation of valine reduces fatigue during swimming exercise in rats

Abstract

We investigated the respective effects of the acute supplementation of valine, leucine, and isoleucine on metabolism-related markers by administering a swimming exercise test to rats. As a behavioral analysis, we evaluated the effect of valine and that of leucine on spontaneous activity after exercise. Acute supplementation of valine before exercise significantly suppressed the depression of the liver glycogen and the blood glucose after exercise, whereas leucine decreased the blood glucose and isoleucine had no effect. Valine or leucine supplementation significantly decreased the plasma corticosterone level after exercise, while isoleucine had no effect. In the behavioral analysis, valine significantly increased the spontaneous activity after exercise, whereas leucine had no effect. These results indicate that in rats, the acute supplementation of valine, not leucine or isoleucine, is effective for maintaining liver glycogen and blood glucose and increasing spontaneous activity after exercise, which could contribute to the reduction of fatigue during exercise.

Acute supplementation with an amino acid mixture suppressed the exercise-induced cortisol response in recreationally active healthy volunteers: a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled crossover study

“…Cortisol breaks down muscle or liver glycogen to maintain the blood glucose level when blood glucose levels decrease [ 33 , 34 ]. It was reported that acute valine supplementation maintained the liver glycogen content and suppressed the cortisol level in rodents [ 26 ]. These findings suggest that muscle or liver glycogen might be maintained by the AA mixture supplement in this study.…”

“…It was reported that arginine administration promoted lipid metabolism in rodents and humans [ 23 – 25 ], which might lead to the maintenance of glucose or glycogen levels during exercise and therefore suppress the cortisol increase. The acute supplementation of valine is reported to effectively decrease the level of glucocorticoid (corticosterone in rodents) by maintaining liver glycogen and blood glucose in a rodent study [ 26 ]. Serine is known as a substrate in the production of phosphatidylserine, which is reported to blunt the increases in cortisol levels during exercise [ 27 ].…”

“…First, arginine, which promotes lipid metabolism [ 23 – 25 ], might contribute to suppressing the cortisol response by maintaining glucose or glycogen levels during exercise. Second, valine might also act to decrease the cortisol level via the maintenance of glycogen and blood glucose [ 26 ]. In addition, serine might blunt the increase in cortisol levels by producing phosphatidylserine, which is a different mechanism from arginine or valine [ 27 ].…”

Intraduodenal Administration of L-Valine Has No Effect on Antropyloroduodenal Pressures, Plasma Cholecystokinin Concentrations or Energy Intake in Healthy, Lean Men

“…In contrast to L-leucine and L-isoleucine, the few studies on the effects of valine on blood glucose have yielded inconsistent findings [22]. In fasted rats, L-valine (0.3 g/kg body weight, equivalent to ~22.5 g in a 75 kg human), given orally 30 min before an oral glucose tolerance test, increased plasma glucose levels, 60 min later by ~20 mg/dl [38], and, at a dose of 1 g/kg body weight, ameliorated the fall in blood glucose induced by exercise [39], while, in contrast, intrahypothalamic infusion of L-valine (12 nmol), given with a continuous intravenous glucose infusion, was reported to lower blood glucose [40], compared with control rats. In fasted healthy humans, intravenous administration of 30 g L-valine resulted in a small stimulation of insulin secretion and decrease in blood glucose concentrations [21].…”

Effect of the Chinese Medicine YangZheng XiaoJi on Reducing Fatigue in Mice with Orthotopic Transplantation of Colon Cancer

“…A number of studies have confirmed that increasing glycogen levels may alleviate fatigue; for example, hydrogen water drinking relieves fatigue by lowering blood sugar, lactic acid, BUN, and increasing liver glycogen [56]. In the mouse swimming experiment, acute valine supplementation helps maintain liver glycogen and blood sugar levels and increases spontaneous activity, which could contribute to relieving postexercise fatigue [57]. For a long time, people have tried to adopt traditional Chinese medicine methods such as Ginseng and fungus to treat fatigue and achieved good results.…”