Talk:Silk amino acid

NPOV?
So, this article needs a great deal of attention. I strongly, strongly suspect it was written by companies which distribute SAA's as a nutritional supplement - particularly with regard to the alleged health benefits. A molecular entomologist would be more focused on the polymerization chemistry, biosynthesis, and physical properties of the compound and not strange journal articles touting supposed ergogenic effects. I'd like to read each and every one of those articles then come back and edit this thing heavily! 67.183.154.215 (talk) 08:41, 23 May 2012 (UTC)
 * Totally agree. I would bet the originator of this article is affliated with a company that either markets of distributes silk amino acids as a sports nutrition product. I'm removing all of the "ergogenic" rat/mice marketing material and pasting it below for futher discussion. --Yankees 76 Talk 14:57, 17 July 2012 (UTC)

Blood lipids
Feeding of silk protein hydrolysates to animals resulted in the lowering of both blood cholesterol and triglycerides. Feeding diabetic mice hydrolyzed silk protein for 4 weeks resulted in significantly lower total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol and atherogenic scores of 11%, 27% and 26%, respectively, when given 200 milligrams per kilogram of bodyweight per day (abbreviated 200 mg/kg bw/d), but not with the lower dose of 100 mg/kg bw/d. No significant effect on lowering triglycerides was found.

In contrast, the addition of silkworm powder (200 mg/kg bw/day and 400 mg/kg bw/day) for 6 weeks in rats significantly lowered triglyceride levels 10% and 25%, respectively, yet had no effect on total cholesterol, LDL or high-density lipoprotein (HDL) levels.

One potential explanation why similar studies have found different results may be the form of the silk provided, whether it be a silk powder or a silk protein hydrolysate.

Diabetes
One of the more well-researched biological effects of silk proteins is their anti-diabetic, or blood glucose lowering, effect. Feeding diabetic mice hydrolyzed silk protein for 4 weeks resulted in significantly lowering of elevated blood glucose by 15% and 25% with 100 and 200 mg/kg bw/d doses, respectively. Interestingly, the mechanism by which the hydrolyzed silk protein produced its blood glucose lowering effect was through enhancing the insulin releasing effects of the beta-cells in the pancreas. This mechanism of action (MOA) would classify silk protein hydrolysate as an insulin secretagogue, which is one of the three categories used to describe oral antidiabetic agents; the other two being, insulin sensitizers, or alpha-glucosidase inhibitors. Silk fibroin has also been shown to increase insulin transport into adipocytes (fat cells) in vitro.

Others have also found similar anti-diabetic effects with the addition of silk protein hydrolysates to diabetic mice or rats.

The blood glucose lowering effect was also seen in type 2 diabetics when given silk protein hydrolysate, in addition to seeing enhanced insulin releasing activity.

Antioxidant
Silkworm powder has been shown to have a significant effect on reducing oxidation (eg, ~10% reduction in lipid peroxides and oxidized proteins) as well as increasing the activity of endogenous antioxidant enzymes (eg, SOD, CAT, GSHPx) dose dependently. More specifically, superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) activities were increased 10% and 40% in rats fed 200 mg/kg bw/d, respectively, while increasing 25% and 50% when an even larger dose was given (400 mg/kg bw/d). The larger dose also increased glutathione peroxidase (GSHPx) activity 10%.

In addition, sericin, the minor protein in silk has been shown to possess antioxidant effects by itself.

Lastly, silkworm powder has also been shown to have a synergistic effect in enhancing antioxidant enzyme activity in diabetic rats when combined with equal amounts of mulberry fruit and leaves.

Exercise
A recent animal study, found that when exercising mice were given three different doses of silk amino acids for 44 days, the mice experienced:


 * Improved exercise performance


 * SAA fed mice exercised more than twice as long as mice not fed SAAs (28 minutes vs 13 minutes)


 * In terms of absolute improvement in exercise performance, SAAs produced improvements that were six times greater than that seen with just exercise (18 minute increase compared to 3 minute increase)


 * Eliminated the increase in blood lactate levels (which were significantly increased with just exercise)


 * Eliminated the increase in muscle oxidation (which was also significantly increased with just exercise)


 * Maintained blood glucose levels (vs being significantly lowered in exercising mice)


 * Increased muscle glycogen and liver glycogen (compared to exercise alone)


 * Increased testosterone levels (64% increase vs 36% reduction in exercise group; in absolute terms, blood testosterone levels that were 2.6 times higher in SAAs group compared to exercise group)


 * Reduced cortisol (140% increase in cortisol in exercising group while no significant increase was seen when SAAs were given)


 * Increased anabolic ratio (4-fold higher anabolic ratio; ie, the testosterone to cortisol ratio compared to mice not receiving any)


 * Increased muscle size (16% increase with high-dose)

Other effects of silk amino acids (SAAs) or silk protein hydrolysates include regulating the immune system, lowering muscle and liver damage, as well as having anti-tumor,  and anti-viral effects.