[Effect of a beta-agonist and a beta-agonist/beta-antagonist combination on muscle growth, body composition and protein metabolism in rats].

In 3 experimental groups 9 female Wistar rats (initial live weight 150 g) were fed either the control diet, the control diet supplemented with 5 mg clenbuterol or the combination of 5 mg clenbuterol and 500 mg propranolol per kg diet over a 12-day period. The N-balance was estimated over days 6 to 10 followed by a 15N-tracer experiment for determining the influence of the feed additives on characteristics of protein metabolism on day 12. All differences in the means were concluded to be significant for P < 0.05. Live weight gain and feed efficiency were improved by clenbuterol. The animals treated with clenbuterol had 18%-24% higher muscle weights whereas the combined treatment increased the muscle weights by 10%-16% only. The good correlation between the increase of muscle weights and the total protein content indicates that clenbuterol does not change the relation between protein- and water accumulation. Histological-histochemical investigations showed that the higher muscle weights were achieved through muscle fibre hypertrophy. The number of muscle fibres remained constant. Concerning the distribution of the fibre types, clenbuterol increased the proportion of FTG-fibres (white, fast-twitch, glycolytic) on the expense of the FTO-fibres (fast-twitch, oxidative). While the number of nuclei per muscle fibre did not change, the nucleus-cytoplasm relation decreased by 24%. Compared to the animals fed the control diet, the N-balance in the clenbuterol-treated group was increased by 41%. Feeding the combination of clenbuterol and propranolol resulted in an increase of 24% only. Clenbuterol increased the N-content of the carcass by 6% and reduced the carcass fat content by 30%. In the group fed clenbuterol and propranolol, the N-content of the carcass only tended to be increased and the influence on carcass fat reduction was only 16%. The stimulated N-deposition in the carcass of clenbuterol-treated rats was obtained, since the calculated protein degradation rates were more reduced than protein synthesis rates. In-vitro investigations of the muscle protein synthesis and -protease activities support these results. The clenbuterol-induced increase in muscle protein was accompanied by an inhibition of the Ca-dependent protease activity and an increase of muscle DNA- and RNA-content. The additional application of propranolol reduced these effects of clenbuterol again. Since propranolol partly prevented the effects of clenbuterol on protein metabolism it is suggested that not only the lipolytic but also protein anabolic effects are caused by the beta-adrenergic action of clenbuterol.