For example, Acalabrutinib clinical trial α-ketoglutarate (AKG), re-binds ammonia through the action of aminotransferase to form glutamate, and the branched-chain keto acid (BCKA) to form BCAA (the so-called BCKA-BCAA cycle) [16]. As a result, α-keto acids, by exerting biological roles in protein metabolism, may prevent or attenuate the hyperammonemia associated with physical training [17]. Previous studies of nutritional interventions with supplementation of amino acids during physical training have been published. BCAA supplementation was reported to increase endurance capacity in trained individuals [18, 19], but this result

was not supported by other studies [20, 21]. In addition, the combination of the keto analog and amino acid supplementation was reported to attenuate the increase in blood ammonia concentration after an exercise bout [8, 22]. However, studies of the effects of α-keto acid supplementation (KAS) seem to be principally limited to pathological conditions such as renal or hepatic disorders, and the effects of KAS alone on physical exercise in healthy subjects remain unknown. Because glutamate/glutamine and BCAA play

the prominent roles in protein metabolism and have been extensively investigated [23–25], examining the effects of their keto acid analogs (i.e., AKG and BCKA) on physical training is of scientific interest. We hypothesized that KAS can improve training tolerance under physiological conditions through its biochemical role as an amino acid analog, but without ammonia loading. This study was aimed to investigate the effects of KAS on exercise tolerance, selleck chemicals training effect, and stress-recovery state in normal healthy subjects in a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial. Epothilone B (EPO906, Patupilone) Methods Subjects Thirty-six healthy male volunteers were initially enrolled in the study. The health status of the subjects was verified by medical history, physical examination, electrocardiogram, echocardiogram, lung function test with body plethysmogram and routine blood tests (full

blood counts, creatine kinase, aspartate transaminase, alanine transaminase, and alkaline phosphatase, as well as electrolytes, glucose, cholesterol and triglycerides) according to the standards of German Society of Sports Medicine. Subjects with obesity, diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular diseases and maple syrup urine disease were excluded. The untrained status of the subjects was considered when the following criteria were all met: physical exercise had not been regular and was less than 2 hours each week during the last three years, and maximum oxygen uptake (VO2max) was < 50 ml·min1·kg-1. After giving informed consent, the subjects were randomized (randomization was generated by the software package SPSS, IBM, USA) into three groups, according to the type of nutritional intervention.