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Institute
Objective:
Current data regarding the roles of branched-chain amino acids (BCAA) in metabolic health are rather conflicting, as positive and negative effects have been attributed to their intake.
Methods:
To address this, individual effects of leucine and valine were elucidated in vivo (C57BL/6JRj mice) with a detailed phenotyping of these supplementations in high-fat (HF) diets and further characterization with in vitro approaches (C2C12 myocytes).
Results:
Here, we demonstrate that under HF conditions, leucine mediates beneficial effects on adiposity and insulin sensitivity, in part due to increasing energy expenditure-likely contributing partially to the beneficial effects of a higher milk protein intake. On the other hand, valine feeding leads to a worsening of HF-induced health impairments, specifically reducing glucose tolerance/ insulin sensitivity. These negative effects are driven by an accumulation of the valine-derived metabolite 3-hydroxyisobutyrate (3HIB). Higher plasma 3-HIB levels increase basal skeletal muscle glucose uptake which drives glucotoxicity and impairs myocyte insulin signaling.
Conclusion:
These data demonstrate the detrimental role of valine in an HF context and elucidate additional targetable pathways in the etiology of BCAA-induced obesity and insulin resistance.
Dairy intake, as a source of branched-chain amino acids (BCAA), has been linked to a lower incidence of type-2-diabetes and increased circulating odd-chain fatty acids (OCFA). To understand this connection, we aimed to investigate differences in BCAA metabolism of leucine and valine, a possible source of OCFA, and their role in hepatic metabolism. Male mice were fed a high-fat diet supplemented with leucine and valine for 1 week and phenotypically characterized with a focus on lipid metabolism. Mouse primary hepatocytes were treated with the BCAA or a Ppar alpha activator WY-14643 to systematically examine direct hepatic effects and their mechanisms. Here, we show that only valine supplementation was able to increase hepatic and circulating OCFA levels via two pathways; a PPAR alpha-dependent induction of alpha-oxidation and an increased supply of propionyl-CoA for de novo lipogenesis. Meanwhile, we were able to confirm leucine-mediated effects on the inhibition of food intake and transport of fatty acids, as well as induction of S6 ribosomal protein phosphorylation. Taken together, these data illustrate differential roles of the BCAA in lipid metabolism and provide preliminary evidence that exclusively valine contributes to the endogenous formation of OCFA which is important for a better understanding of these metabolites in metabolic health.
Odd-chain fatty acids (OCFA) are inversely associated with type-2-diabetes in epidemiological studies. They are considered as a biomarker for dairy intake because fermentation in ruminants yields high amounts of propionate, which is used as the primer for lipogenesis. Recently, we demonstrated endogenous OCFA synthesis from propionate in humans and mice, but how this is affected by microbial colonization is still unexplored. Here, we investigated the effect of increasing microbiota complexity on hepatic lipid metabolism and OCFA levels in different dietary settings. Germ-free (GF), gnotobiotic (SIH, simplified human microbiota) or conventional (CONV) C3H/HeOuJ-mice were fed a CHOW or high-fat diet with inulin (HFI) to induce microbial fermentation. We found that hepatic lipogenesis was increased with increasing microbiota complexity, independently of diet. In contrast, OCFA formation was affected by diet as well as microbiota. On CHOW, hepatic OCFA and intestinal gluconeogenesis decreased with increasing microbiota complexity (GF > SIH > CONV), while cecal propionate showed a negative correlation with hepatic OCFA. On HFI, OCFA levels were highest in SIH and positively correlated with cecal propionate. The propionate content in the CHOW diet was 10 times higher than that of HFI. We conclude that bacterial propionate production affects hepatic OCFA formation, unless this effect is masked by dietary propionate intake.