Effects of clenbuterol and propranolol on muscle mass. Evidence that clenbuterol stimulates muscle β-adrenoceptors to induce hypertrophy
Open accessAbstract
1. A single subcutaneous injection of clenbuterol hydrochloride (0.125 mg/kg body wt.) to female Wistar rats produced a rapid increase in muscle cyclic AMP and lactate concentrations and a decrease in muscle glycogen concentrations. These changes are characteristic of muscle beta-adrenoceptor stimulation and were abolished by intraperitoneal injection of propranolol (12.5 mg/kg) 15 min before clenbuterol administration. 2. When this dose of clenbuterol was injected twice daily, the changes in muscle metabolite concentrations which followed its acute administration persisted until day 7 of treatment, and were accompanied by increases in muscle mass, body weight and muscle protein synthesis rate (ks). When the clenbuterol injections were preceded by propranolol injections (12.5 mg/kg administered according to the protocol described above), or if animals were treated with propranolol only, the values of these variables were not significantly different from those of sham-injected controls. 3. In rats fed on a semi-synthetic diet (PW3) supplemented with 2 mg of clenbuterol/kg of diet for 7 days, the muscle mass was greater than that of rats fed on unsupplemented PW3. The increased muscle mass was accompanied by increased muscle lactate and decreased muscle glycogen concentrations. When PW3 was supplemented with 2 mg of clenbuterol/kg and 200 mg of propranolol/kg, the increase in muscle mass remained, but decreased muscle glycogen concentrations and increased muscle lactate concentrations were also observed. 4. These data are consistent with the hypothesis that clenbuterol influences muscle growth via beta-adrenoceptor stimulation.
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β2 agonists such as clenbuterol promote skeletal muscle hypertrophy.
“Moreover, β2 agonists such as clenbuterol promote skeletal muscle hypertrophy, suggesting an involvement of this system in the control of skeletal muscle growth (89).”
From The Hippo signal transduction network for exercise physiologists (2016) · cites this paper as [89]
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The Hippo signal transduction network for exercise physiologists
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- Authors
- MacLennan, P. A., & Edwards, R. H.
- Affiliations
- University of Liverpool (GB)
- Venue
- Biochemical Journal
- Publisher
- Portland Press Ltd.
- Published
- 1989-12-01
- Volume
- 264
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 573-579
- ISSN
- 0264-6021 (ISSN-L)
- 1470-8728
- PMC
- PMC1133617
- OpenAlex
- W2280891448
- Cited by
- 119
- References
- 25
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 1 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 2 · 2017: 1 · 2016: 1 · 2015: 1 · 2014: 2 · 2013: 7 · 2012: 1
- FWCI
- 8.86
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Biochemical Journal (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Animal Science and Zoology › Pharmacological Effects and Assays
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Muscle Physiology and Disorders
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Doping in Sports
- Keywords
- clenbuterol, propranolol, muscle hypertrophy, beta-adrenergic receptors, muscle mass, cyclic AMP, muscle lactate, muscle glycogen, muscle protein synthesis, beta-adrenergic stimulation, muscle growth
- MeSH terms
- Cyclic AMP, Animals, Body Composition, Clenbuterol, Ethanolamines, Female, Glycogen, Heart, Hypertrophy, Lactates, Liver, Muscle Proteins, Muscles, Myocardium, Propranolol, Rats, Inbred Strains, Receptors, Adrenergic, beta, Reference Values, RNA, Rats
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