%0 Journal Article %T The Effect of Oral Leucine on Protein Metabolism in Adolescents with Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus %A Desikan Vardhini %A Mileva Izolda %A Garlick Jeremy %A Lane AndrewH %J International Journal of Pediatric Endocrinology %D 2010 %I BioMed Central %R 10.1186/1687-9856-2010-493258 %X Lack of insulin results in a catabolic state in subjects with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus which is reversed by insulin treatment. Amino acid supply, especially branched chain amino acids such as leucine, enhances protein synthesis in both animal and human studies. This small study was undertaken to assess the acute effect of supplemental leucine on protein metabolism in adolescents with type 1 diabetes. L-[1-13C] Leucine was used to assess whole-body protein metabolism in six adolescent females (16¨C18 yrs) with type 1 diabetes during consumption of a basal diet (containing 58 ¦̀moles leucine/kg/h) and the basal diet with supplemental leucine (232 ¦̀moles leucine/kg/h). Net leucine balance was significantly higher with supplemental leucine ( ¦̀moles leucine/kg body weight/hr) than with the basal diet (, ) due to reduced protein degradation ( ¦̀moles leucine/kg body weight/hr) compared to the basal diet (, ). %U http://www.ijpeonline.com/content/2010/493258