Citation

Chao T, Herndon DN, Porter C, Chondronikola M, Chaidemenou A, Abdelrahman DR, Bohanon FJ, Andersen C, Sidossis LS. Shock 2015; 44(5): 397-401.

Affiliation

*Metabolism Unit, Shriners Hospitals for Children †Division of Rehabilitation Sciences, Department of Preventive Medicine and Community Health ‡Department of Surgery, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas §Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Harokopio University of Athens, Athens, Greece ¶Department of Internal Medicine, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2015, The Shock Society, Publisher Lippincott Williams and Wilkins)

DOI

10.1097/SHK.0000000000000454

PMID

26263438

Abstract

Acute alterations in skeletal muscle protein metabolism are a well-established event associated with the stress response to burns. Nevertheless, the long-lasting effects of burn injury on skeletal muscle protein turnover are incompletely understood. This study was undertaken to investigate fractional synthesis (FSR) and breakdown (FBR) rates in skeletal muscle of pediatric burn patients (n = 42, >30% total body surface area burns) for up to 1 year after injury. Skeletal muscle protein kinetics were measured in the postprandial state following bolus injections of C6 and N phenylalanine stable isotopes. Plasma and muscle phenylalanine enrichments were quantified using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. We found that the FSR in burn patients was 2- to 3-fold higher than values from healthy men previously reported in the literature (P ≤ 0.05). The FBR was 4- to 6-fold higher than healthy values (P < 0.01). Therefore, net protein balance was lower in burn patients compared with healthy men from 2 weeks to 12 months postinjury (P < 0.05). These findings show that skeletal muscle protein turnover stays elevated for up to 1 year after burn, an effect attributable to simultaneous increases in FBR and FSR. Muscle FBR exceeds FSR during this time, producing a persistent net negative protein balance, even in the postprandial state, which likely contributes to the prolonged cachexia seen in burned victims.

Language: en