The activation of fatty acid metabolism by Vespa amino acid mixture (VAAM) and related nutrients during endurance exercise in mice

Abstract

Advances in Exercise and Sports Physiology Volume 3, No. 1:35-44, 1997 Abstract: The action of Vespa amino acid mixture (VAAM) on fatty acid metabolism was analyzed as changed in blood biochemical indices during endurance exercise in swimming mice. In response to the oral ingestion of VAAM, but not other nutrients, the concentrations of serum NEFA, blood ketone bodies, and plasma noradrenaline (NA) increased significantly during endurance exercise. The same mice showed the suppression of increase in blood lactate and decrease in blood glucose. Under similar exercise conditions, a relatively low plasma insulin concentration and an increase in the pyruvate/lactate ratio were observed simultaneously compared with other nutrients. A strong correlation (r = 0.794) was found between the blood glucose and lactate concentration in mice ingesting various nutrients other than VAAM. The minimal compositional requirement for the induction of serum NEFA during endurance exercise was an amino acid mixture containing proline, alanine, valine, lysine, and isoleucine or leucine in the same compositional ratio as in VAAM, but the effect was not the same as with VAAM. Compositional analyses suggest that the excretion of plasma NA and adrenaline (A) are stimulated by different amino acid compositions, but a constant ratio of both catecholamines was secreted following feeding with either VAAM or VAAM 8. We also showed a high correlation (r = 0.746) between the induction of serum NEFA and the secretion of plasma NA by various nutrients. These results suggest that VAAM suppresses glucose oxidation, increases fatty acid oxidation, and also enhances the aerobic metabolism through the hormonal activation of NA during endurance exercise