Effects of Preexercise Feeding on Markers of Satellite Cell Activation

ROBERTS, M. D., V. J. DALBO, S. E. HASSELL, R. BROWN, and C. M. KERKSICK. Effects of Preexercise Feeding on Markers of Satellite Cell Activation. Med. Sci. Sports Exerc., Vol. 42, No. 10, pp. 1861-1869, 2010. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine if consuming isoenergetic (25 g) doses of carbohydrate or protein versus a noncaloric placebo before conventional resistance training affected the myogenic expression of cell cycle-regulating genes as well as the muscle [DNA] acutely after exercise. Methods: Ten untrained men (mean +/- SD: age = 22 +/- 4 yr, body mass = 77.8 +/- 8.3 kg, percent body fat = 17.8 +/- 4.0) participated in three resistance exercise sessions (three sets of 10 repetitions at 80% one-repetition maximum for the bilateral hack squat, leg press, and leg extension exercises) in a crossover fashion, which were preceded by carbohydrate, protein, or placebo ingestion 30 min before training. Presupplement/preexercise and 2- and 6-h postexercise muscle biopsies were obtained during each session and analyzed for fold changes in CDK4, CYCLIN D1, MGF, MYOD, P21(CIP1), and P27(KIP1) messenger RNA expression using real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction as well as muscle [DNA] using cuvette-based fluorometric methods. Results: Nonparametric statistics were completed, and no conditions x time interaction effects were revealed. Several exercise-mediated responses were found to occur independent of condition: 1) muscle [DNA] increased at 6 h (+40%, P < 0.05), 2) CDK4 expression increased at 6 h (+86%, P < 0.05), 3) MYOD expression increased at 6 h (+98%, P < 0.05), 4) P27(KIP1) expression decreased at 2 h (-35%, P < 0.05) and 6 h (-59%, P < 0.001), and 5) P21(CIP1) expression substantially increased 2 and 6 h postexercise (+1.250% and +4.670%, respectively, P < 0.001). Conclusions: The tandem DNA and cell cycle regulator gene expression analyses provide preliminary evidence to suggest that satellite cell activation and proliferation may be occurring at early postexercise time points after a conventional resistance exercise bout, a phenomenon that may seemingly be independent of preexercise macronutrient ingestion.