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Updated: Feb 6, 2026

Metabolic Pathway Confirmation and Discovery Through 13C-labeling of Proteinogenic Amino Acids
Published on: January 26, 2012
Branched Chain Amino Acids in Metabolic Disease
Zoltan Arany1, Michael Neinast2
1Cardiovascular Institute, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, TRC 11-106 3400 Civic Blvd, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA. zarany@pennmedicine.upenn.edu.
Purpose Of Review:
Elevations in circulating branched chain amino acids (BCAAs) have gained attention as potential contributors to the development of insulin resistance and diabetes.
Recent Findings:
Epidemiological evidence strongly supports this conclusion. Suppression of BCAA catabolism in adipose and hepatic tissues appears to be the primary drivers of plasma BCAA elevations. BCAA catabolism may be shunted to skeletal muscle, where it indirectly leads to FA accumulation and insulin resistance, via a number of proposed mechanisms. BCAAs have an important role in the development of IR, but our understanding of how plasma BCAA elevations occur, and how these elevations lead to insulin resistance, is still limited.
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