Plasma BCAA concentrations during exercise of varied intensities in young healthy men-the impact of endurance training

Anna Gawedzka; Marcin Grandys; Krzysztof Duda; Justyna Zapart-Bukowska; Jerzy A Zoladz; Joanna Majerczak

doi:10.7717/peerj.10491

Plasma BCAA concentrations during exercise of varied intensities in young healthy men-the impact of endurance training

PeerJ. 2020 Dec 21:8:e10491. doi: 10.7717/peerj.10491. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Anna Gawedzka^{1

2}, Marcin Grandys¹, Krzysztof Duda^{1

3}, Justyna Zapart-Bukowska¹, Jerzy A Zoladz¹, Joanna Majerczak⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Muscle Physiology, Institute of Basic Sciences, Faculty of Rehabilitation, University School of Physical Education in Krakow, Krakow, Poland.
² Department of Biochemical Analytics, Faculty of Pharmacy, Jagiellonian University, Medical College, Krakow, Poland.
³ Institute of Health Care, State Higher Vocational School in Tarnow, Tarnow, Poland.
⁴ Department of Neurobiology, Faculty of Health Sciences, Poznan University School of Physical Education in Poznan, Poznan, Poland.

Abstract

Background: Branched-chain amino acids (BCAA) i.e., leucine (Leu), isoleucine (Ile) and valine (Val) are important amino acids, which metabolism play a role in maintaining system energy homeostasis at rest and during exercise. As recently shown lowering of circulating BCAA level improves insulin sensitivity and cardiac metabolic health. However, little is known concerning the impact of a single bout of incremental exercise and physical training on the changes in blood BCAA. The present study aimed to determine the impact of a gradually increasing exercise intensity-up to maximal oxygen uptake (VO_2max) on the changes of the plasma BCAA [∑BCAA]_pl, before and after 5-weeks of moderate-intensity endurance training (ET).

Methods: Ten healthy young, untrained men performed an incremental cycling exercise test up to exhaustion to reach VO_2max, before and after ET.

Results: We have found that exercise of low-to-moderate intensity (up to ∼50% of VO_2max lasting about 12 min) had no significant effect on the [∑BCAA]_pl, however the exercise of higher intensity (above 70% of VO_2max lasting about 10 min) resulted in a pronounced decrease (p < 0.05) in [∑BCAA]_pl. The lowering of plasma BCAA when performing exercise of higher intensity was preceded by a significant increase in plasma lactate concentration, showing that a significant attenuation of BCAA during incremental exercise coincides with exercise-induced acceleration of glycogen utilization. In addition, endurance training, which significantly increased power generating capabilities at VO_2max (p = 0.004) had no significant impact on the changes of [∑BCAA]_pl during this incremental exercise.

Conclusion: We have concluded that an exercise of moderate intensity of relatively short duration generally has no effect on the [∑BCAA]_pl in young, healthy men, whereas significant decrease in [∑BCAA]_pl occurs when performing exercise in heavy-intensity domain. The impact of exercise intensity on the plasma BCAA concentration seems to be especially important for patients with cardiometabolic risk undertaken cardiac rehabilitation or recreational activity.

Keywords: BCAA; Endurance training; Incremental exercise; Maximal oxygen uptake.

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education, Poland under Grant no. NN 404196637. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.