A high-whey-protein diet does not enhance mechanical and structural remodeling of cardiac muscle in response to aerobic exercise in rats

Abstract

[Purpose] Aerobic exercise training results in distinct structural and mechanical myocardial adaptations. In skeletal muscle, whey protein supplementation is effective in enhancing muscle adaptation following resistance exercise. However, it is unclear whether cardiac adaptation to aerobic exercise can be enhanced by systematic protein supplementation. [Methods] Twelve-week-old rats were assigned to 12 weeks of either sedentary or aerobic exercise with either a standard (Sed+Standard, Ex+Standard) or high-protein (Sed+Pro, Ex+Pro) diet. Echocardiography was used to measure cardiac structural remodeling and performance. Skinned cardiac fiber bundles were used to determine the active and passive stress properties, maximum shortening velocity, and calcium sensitivity. [Results] Aerobic training was characterized structurally by increases in ventricle volume (Ex+Standard, 19%; Ex+Pro, 29%) and myocardial thickness (Ex+Standard, 26%; Ex+Pro, 12%) compared to that of baseline. Skinned trabecular fiber bundles also had a greater unloaded shortening velocity (Sed+Standard, 1.04±0.05; Sed+Pro, 1.07±0.03; Ex-+Standard, 1.16±0.04; Ex+Pro, 1.18±0.05 FL/s) and calcium sensitivity (pCa50: Sed+Standard, 6.04±0.17; Sed+Pro, 6.08±0.19; Ex+Standard, 6.30±0.09; Ex+Pro, 6.36±0.12) in trained hearts compared to that of hearts from sedentary animals. However, the addition of a high-protein diet did not provide additional benefits to either the structural or mechanical adaptations of the myocardium. [Conclusion] Therefore, it seems that a high-whey-protein diet does not significantly enhance adaptations of the heart to aerobic exercise in comparison to that of a standard diet.