Evaluating the effect of 20-hydroxyecdysone (20HE) on mechanistic target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) signaling in the skeletal muscle and liver of rats

Abstract

Phytoecdysteroids such as 20-hydroxyecdysone (20HE) are nutritional supplements marketed as enhancers of lean body mass. In this study the impact of 20HE ingestion on protein kinase B/Akt-mechanistic target of rapamycin complex 1 signaling in the skeletal muscle and liver of male rats was found to be limited. Bioavailability of 20HE, whether consumed alone or with leucine, also remained low at all doses ingested. Additional work is necessary to clarify 20HE mechanism of action in vivo.

Effects of dietary 20-hydroxyecdysone supplementation on whole-body protein turnover in growing pigs

“…Feeding these and other phytoecdysteroids causes a decrease in obesity in mice [11,16]. However, recent feeding studies have failed to identify the distinct effects of 20-hydroxyecdysone on Akt or mTORC1 signaling in skeletal muscle [12]. This suggests that phytoecdysteroids may be involved in the regulation of long-term transcriptional changes in muscle protein breakdown, in contrast to the signaling mechanisms that regulate muscle protein synthesis [11,12].…”

“…In recent years, great progress has been noted in the study of phytoecdysteroids, their physiological actions in various pathologies and the corrective properties in relation to metabolism in the body have been intensively studied [6,7,8,9,10,11]. According to studies [12], 20-hydroxyecdysone enhances protein synthesis by activating signals through PKB / Akt (protein kinase B / Akt kinase (RAC-alpha serine / threonine protein kinase) to the target of the rapamycin 1 complex (mTORC1).…”

The functional ingredients of quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa) and physiological effects of consuming quinoa: A review

“…On the other hand, 20HE has been reported to facilitate protein synthesis and muscle growth, in which protein synthesis was increased by up to 20% when the cell was treated by 10 μM 20HE (Gorelick‐Feldman et al., 2008). Animal experiments have shown that ingestion of 20HE increased muscle fiber size and lean body mass with an unknown mechanism (Anthony et al., 2015).…”

Dietary Phytoecdysteroids

“…These data appear to be in conflict with those of Gorelick-Feldman et al (2008, but the route of 20E application was different. Unfortunately, it is not known if the rats used by Anthony et al (2015) would have demonstrated muscular hypertrophy, as the animals were sacrificed after 4 h or less after gavage with 20E.…”