Effects of Nutrient Intake Timing on Post-Exercise Glycogen Accumulation and Its Related Signaling Pathways in Mouse Skeletal Muscle

We investigated the effects of nutrient intake timing on glycogen accumulation and its related signals in skeletal muscle after an exercise that did not induce large glycogen depletion. Male ICR mice ran on a treadmill at 25 m/min for 60 min under a fed condition. Mice were orally administered a solution containing 1.2 mg/g carbohydrate and 0.4 mg/g protein or water either immediately (early nutrient, EN) or 180 min (late nutrient, LN) after the exercise. Tissues were harvested at 30 min after the oral administration. No significant difference in blood glucose or plasma insulin concentrations was found between the EN and LN groups. The plantaris muscle glycogen concentration was significantly (p < 0.05) higher in the EN group—but not in the LN group—compared to the respective time-matched control group. Akt Ser(473) phosphorylation was significantly higher in the EN group than in the time-matched control group (p < 0.01), while LN had no effect. Positive main effects of time were found for the phosphorylations in Akt substrate of 160 kDa (AS160) Thr(642) (p < 0.05), 5′-AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) Thr(172) (p < 0.01), and acetyl-CoA carboxylase Ser(79) (p < 0.01); however, no effect of nutrient intake was found for these. We showed that delayed nutrient intake could not increase muscle glycogen after endurance exercise which did not induce large glycogen depletion. The results also suggest that post-exercise muscle glycogen accumulation after nutrient intake might be partly influenced by Akt activation. Meanwhile, increased AS160 and AMPK activation by post-exercise fasting might not lead to glycogen accumulation.