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Eccentric exercise results in prolonged muscle damage that may lead to muscle dysfunction. Although inflammation is essential to recover from muscle damage, excessive inflammation may also induce secondary damage, and should thus be suppressed. In this study, we investigated the effect of leucine-enriched essential amino acids on muscle inflammation and recovery after eccentric contraction. These amino acids are known to stimulate muscle protein synthesis via mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), which, is also considered to alleviate inflammation. Five sets of 10 eccentric contractions were induced by electrical stimulation in the tibialis anterior muscle of male SpragueDawley rats (8-9 weeks old) under anesthesia. Animals received a 1 g/kg dose of a mixture containing 40 % leucine and 60 % other essential amino acids or distilled water once a day throughout the experiment. Muscle dysfunction was assessed based on isometric dorsiflexion torque, while inflammation was evaluated by histochemistry. Gene expression of inflammatory cytokines and myogenic regulatory factors was also measured. We found that leucine-enriched essential amino acids restored full muscle function within 14 days, at which point rats treated with distilled water had not fully recovered. Indeed, muscle function was stronger 3 days after eccentric contraction in rats treated with amino acids than in those treated with distilled water. The amino acid mix also alleviated expression of interleukin-6 and impeded infiltration of inflammatory cells into muscle, but did not suppress expression of myogenic regulatory factors. These results suggest that leucine-enriched amino acids accelerate recovery from muscle damage by preventing excessive inflammation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eccentric exercise results in prolonged muscle weakness and muscle soreness, which are typical symptoms of muscle damage. Recovery from muscle damage is related to mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) activity. Leucine-enriched essential amino acids (LEAAs) stimulate muscle protein synthesis via activation of the mTOR pathway. Therefore, we investigated the effect of LEAAs on muscle protein synthesis and muscle soreness after eccentric contractions (EC). Male Sprague-Dawley rats (9-11 weeks old) were administered an LEAA solution (AminoL40; containing 40 % leucine and 60 % other essential amino acids) at 1 g/kg body weight or distilled water (control) 30 min before and 10 min after EC. Tibialis anterior (TA) muscle was exposed to 500 EC by electrical stimulation under anesthesia. The fractional synthesis rate (FSR; %/h) in the TA muscle was measured by incorporating l-[ring-H] phenylalanine into skeletal muscle protein. Muscle soreness was evaluated by the paw withdrawal threshold using the Randal-Selitto test with some modifications from 1 to 3 days after EC. The FSR in the EC-control group (0.147 ± 0.016 %/h) was significantly lower than in the sedentary group (0.188 ± 0.016 %/h, p < 0.05). AminoL40 administration significantly mitigated the EC-induced impairment of the FSR (0.172 ± 0.018 %/h). EC decreased the paw withdrawal threshold at 1 and 2 days after EC, which indicated that EC induced muscle soreness. Furthermore, AminoL40 administration alleviated the decreased paw withdrawal threshold. These findings suggest that LEAA supplementation improves the rate of muscle protein synthesis and ameliorates muscle soreness after eccentric exercise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]