Role of protein intake on protein synthesis and fiber distribution in the unweighted soleus muscle

Protein turnover in skeletal muscle is very sensitive to protein intake. To examine whether protein intake is able to affect protein synthesis in the atrophied soleus muscle, the effects of a high-protein (30%, HP) and a medium-protein (15%, MP) diet were studied in rats after 21 days of hindlimb unweighting. Three weeks of unweighting induced a sharp decrease in food intake (30%). The fractional rate of protein synthesis (ks) was determined in vivo in the slow-twitch soleus muscle by use of a flooding-dose method. With respect to pair-fed animals, a significant reduction in ks occurred (33%) in MP non-weight-bearing rats, whereas it was of lesser magnitude and not significant in HP rats. In the atrophied soleus muscle of non-weight-bearing MP rats, a large decrease (42%) in type I fiber distribution was accompanied by an increase in intermediate and type IIa fibers. By contrast, a higher percentage of type I fiber was maintained with the HP diet. However, the HP diet had no beneficial effect in preventin...