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19.08.2021

Anabolic effect of dileucine greater than that of leucine

Bodybuilders know leucine very well. They know everything about the essential amino acid, which switches on anabolic signal molecules in muscle cells and - if there are enough other amino acids available - accelerates the growth of muscle protein. Martin Purpura and Jäger of research firm Increnovo [increnovo.com] discovered that the dipeptide of leucine stimulates muscle protein synthesis more strongly than regular leucine.

Dileucine
We'll just say it right away. Purpura and Jäger patented their invention, and this patent will probably not expire until 2039. [US11026991B2] Jäger and Purpura are also co-authors of the human study that will soon be published in the Journal of Applied Physiology, about which this post is about.

Dileucine is a dipeptide, which consists of two leucine molecules stuck together. The idea that such a molecule works better than regular leucine is not at all strange. The body absorbs di- and tripeptides better than regular free amino acids.

Dileucine is found in foods, according to analyzes by the researchers. Dairy proteins such as whey are a good source, but dileucine is also present in the protein of mung beans.

Click on the table below for a larger version.

Study
Researchers in the group led by Nicholas Burd, a nutrition scientist at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, gave 10 male college students 2 grams of leucine on one occasion, and 2 grams of dileucine on the other. The subjects had not had breakfast, but had all eaten the same meal the night before the experiment.

Just before and up to 3 hours after the administration of the supplements, the researchers took pieces of muscle tissue from the subjects' thigh muscles.

Results
Dileucine stimulated the FSR [say: the synthesis of muscle protein] 42 percent more than leucine.

Dileucine gave the anabolic machinery of muscle cells a greater boost than leucine. Below you see, for example, dileucine activated the anabolic molecule Akt more than leucine.

Unknown
"We don't yet know the mechanism by which dileucine works", says study leader Nicholas Burd in a press release. [sciencedaily.com August 9, 2021.] "This is just a first attempt to understand how these types of peptides are playing a role in human physiology."

Source:
J Appl Physiol (1985). 2021 Jul 29. doi: 10.1152/japplphysiol.00295.2021. Online ahead of print.

More:
How creatine, leucine or HMB may enhance the effect of anabolic steroids 03.12.2020
HMB works just as well as leucine 27.09.2019
Glutamine enhances muscle strengthening effect of leucine 27.06.2018

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Leucine

If leucine isn't stimulating muscle growth, try combining it with glycine Many studies have shown that leucine stimulates anabolic processes in muscle cells, but others suggest that leucine doesn't always work.	The unprecedented possibilities of the Horny Goat Weed-leucine cocktail The amino acid leucine and the flavonoid icariin - the active ingredient in Horny Goat Weed - boost each other's effect on fat and muscle cells.	Three myostatin inhibitors available from your supplements supplier One of them is leucine.