Keep your body cells hydrated for proper protein synthesis

Water. It covers roughly two – thirds of the earth’s surface. It’s where life began millions of years ago. Just think: The first anabolic reaction that joined two amino acids occurred in a body of water. This was the original spark of life that – after trial and error and countless stages of evolution – created the marvel we know as the human body.

Just as these first chemical reactions took place in water, all biochemical reactions in the body happen in water. For this very reason, it’s important to ensure that the cells of the body have an adequate amount of the wet stuff. This is especially true for muscle cells. Listen up, bodybuilders: The amount of water in your body can make the difference between being in a catabolic or an anabolic state.Cell Hydration & Protein Synthesis
Cell swelling means anabolism

The amount of water inside a cell, known as the cellular hydration state, can change within minutes. Changes in a cell’s hydration state can alter its metabolism, especially protein turnover.1 Such factors as catabolic hormones, low glutamine concentrations, and changes in amino acid metabolism contribute to putting the body in a catabolic state. These same factors have also been found to affect the hydration state of cells.

Special transport systems carry amino acids, along with sodium, across the cell membrane into cells. This increase in the intracellular concentration of sodium causes water to move into the cell. Hormones can also affect the amount of water that moves in and out of cells. Insulin can cause the cell to swell by activating sodium – and potassium – dependent transport systems that cause these ions to accumulate within the cell. Water enters the cell to dilute the increased salt concentration. Glucagon causes cell shrinkage by opening up cell channels that allow potassium loss from the cells. A number of other hormones affect cell hydration in a similiar manner.

Cell swelling inhibits the breakdown of glycogen, glucose and protein. It also stimulates the synthesis of glycogen and protein. In other words, it creates an anabolic reaction. But when cell shrinkage occurs due to loss of water, the dehydrated cells rapidly go into a catabolic state.

These metabolic changes that occur with respect to the cell’s state of hydration suggest that the transport of amino acids across the cell membrane may do more than just shuttle amino acids for protein synthesis. The amino acid transport system may directly modify cellular metabolism by affecting the degree of hydration.

Experiments have shown that the anabolic changes induced by insulin and amino acids can be simulated simply by swelling the cells with pure water. If these same cells are then placed in a high – salt solution, they dehydrate and enter a catabolic state. Cell swelling appears to be an anabolic signal, while cell shrinkage is a catabolic signal.

The Role Of Amino Acids In Hydration
The glutamine connection

Glutamine is the most abundant amino acid in the body.2 It accounts for more than 50% of the free amino acids in muscle cells. Muscle cell membranes have an extensive transport system for absorbing glutamine, as well as the ability to make it.

Glutamine can both stimulate protein synthesis and prevent protein breakdown in muscles. When the muscles of rats were perfuseed with glutamine, muscle glutamine levels and protein synthesis increased. The addition of insulin to the glutamine solution increased protein synthesis even more.

It now appears that the glutamine transport system may be responsible for the increased synthesis. Therefore, the amino acid that has the greatest ability to affect the amount of water that enters a cell is glutamine. Physiological concentrations of glutamine can cause a cell to swell 12% within two minutes. As large amounts of glutamine are transported into the muscles by the sodium transport system, intra – cellular concentration of sodium in – creases, which causes an increase in the water content of the muscle cell.

During disease states, when muscle wasting occurs, the muscle cells of patients who lacked glutamine were also dehydrated. Again this suggests that the lack of glutamine transport results in cell dehydration and a catabolic state.

Unfortunately, glutamine is a very unstable amino acid. All glutamine, whether ingested as a protein or free amino acid, is metabolized by the stomach and never enters the blood – stream. This created what I call the glutamine paradox. More glutamine can put our muscles in anabolic overdrive, but we can’t effectively use supplements due to the instability of glutamine.

But we may not necessarily need to supplement with glutamine. Research has found that branched  chain amino acids are used by muscles for the synthesis of glutamine. When the synthesis of glutemine is increased, more branched – chain amino acids are transported across the cell membrane, which increase the degree of cell hydration. Under normal circumstances, our muscle are loaded with glutamine, properly hydrated and in an anabolic state. All we have to do is see that they dont’t lose their existing glutamine and become dehydrated.