EPA attenuates increased muscle protein degradation in sepsis. - GreenMedInfo Summary
Downregulation of muscle protein degradation in sepsis by eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA).
Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2008 Oct 17;375(2):238-40. Epub 2008 Aug 12. PMID: 18703014
Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) has been shown to attenuate muscle atrophy in cancer, starvation and hyperthermia by downregulating the increased expression of the ubiquitin-proteasome proteolytic pathway leading to a reduction in protein degradation. In the current study EPA (0.5 g/kg) administered to septic mice completely attenuated the increased protein degradation in skeletal muscle by preventing the increase in both gene expression and protein concentration of the alpha- and beta-subunits of the 20S proteasome, as well as functional activity of the proteasome, as measured by the 'chymotrypsin-like' enzyme activity. These results suggest that muscle protein catabolism in sepsis is mediated by the same intracellular signalling pathways as found in other catabolic conditions.