The rise in blood glucose after lunch is less if breakfast has been eaten. The metabolic basis of this second-meal phenomenon remains uncertain. We hypothesized that storage of ingested glucose as glycogen could be responsible during the post-meal suppression of plasma NEFAs (non-esterified fatty acids; ‘free’ fatty acids). In the present study we determined the metabolic basis of the second-meal phenomenon. Healthy subjects were studied on two separate days, with breakfast and without breakfast in a random order. We studied metabolic changes after a standardized test lunch labelled with 3 g of 13C-labelled (99%) glucose. Changes in post-prandial muscle glycogen storage were measured using 13C magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The rise in plasma glucose after lunch was significantly less if breakfast had been taken (0.9±0.3 compared with 3.2±0.3 mmol/l, with and without breakfast respectively; P<0.001), despite comparable insulin responses. Pre-lunch NEFAs were suppressed after breakfast (0.13±0.03 compared with 0.51±0.04 mmol/l) and levels correlated positively with the maximum glucose rise after lunch (r=0.62, P=0.001). The increase in muscle glycogen signal was greater 5 h after lunch on the breakfast day (103±21 compared with 48±12 units; P<0.007) and correlated negatively with plasma NEFA concentrations before lunch (r=−0.48, P<0.05). The second-meal effect is associated with priming of muscle glycogen synthesis consequent upon sustained suppression of plasma NEFA concentrations.
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Research Article|
July 02 2009
The second-meal phenomenon is associated with enhanced muscle glycogen storage in humans
Ana Jovanovic;
Ana Jovanovic
*Diabetes Research Group, Institute of Cellular Medicine, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE4 5PL, U.K.
†Newcastle Magnetic Resonance Centre, Institute of Cellular Medicine, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE4 5PL, U.K.
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Emily Leverton;
Emily Leverton
‡Magnetic Resonance Centre, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, U.K.
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Bhavana Solanky;
Bhavana Solanky
‡Magnetic Resonance Centre, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, U.K.
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Balasubramanian Ravikumar;
Balasubramanian Ravikumar
*Diabetes Research Group, Institute of Cellular Medicine, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE4 5PL, U.K.
†Newcastle Magnetic Resonance Centre, Institute of Cellular Medicine, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE4 5PL, U.K.
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Johanna E. M. Snaar;
Johanna E. M. Snaar
‡Magnetic Resonance Centre, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, U.K.
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Peter G. Morris;
Peter G. Morris
‡Magnetic Resonance Centre, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, U.K.
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Roy Taylor
*Diabetes Research Group, Institute of Cellular Medicine, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE4 5PL, U.K.
†Newcastle Magnetic Resonance Centre, Institute of Cellular Medicine, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE4 5PL, U.K.
Correspondence: Professor Roy Taylor (email Roy.Taylor@ncl.ac.uk).
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Publisher: Portland Press Ltd
Received:
October 23 2008
Revision Received:
December 23 2008
Accepted:
January 23 2009
Accepted Manuscript online:
January 23 2009
Online ISSN: 1470-8736
Print ISSN: 0143-5221
© The Authors Journal compilation © 2009 Biochemical Society
2009
Clin Sci (Lond) (2009) 117 (3): 119–127.
Article history
Received:
October 23 2008
Revision Received:
December 23 2008
Accepted:
January 23 2009
Accepted Manuscript online:
January 23 2009
Citation
Ana Jovanovic, Emily Leverton, Bhavana Solanky, Balasubramanian Ravikumar, Johanna E. M. Snaar, Peter G. Morris, Roy Taylor; The second-meal phenomenon is associated with enhanced muscle glycogen storage in humans. Clin Sci (Lond) 1 August 2009; 117 (3): 119–127. doi: https://doi.org/10.1042/CS20080542
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