Mixed
Short-term muscle disuse atrophy (4 days) in humans is driven by declines in muscle protein synthesis (MPS), not by increased muscle protein breakdown (MPB).
If you are immobilized or inactive for a few days, your muscle loss is caused by a drop in your body's ability to build new muscle protein, not by an increase in muscle destruction. To mitigate this, interventions should focus on stimulating muscle protein synthesis (e.g., through protein intake or resistance stimuli if possible) rather than just trying to block breakdown pathways.
Human skeletal muscle disuse atrophy is driven by declines in MPS, not increases in MPB.
Why this rating
High-quality human study with gold-standard tracer methods (D2O and amino acid tracers) and bilateral control design.
Source
Declines in muscle protein synthesis account for short‐term muscle disuse atrophy in humans in the absence of increased muscle protein breakdown
Matthew S. Brook et al. · Journal of Cachexia Sarcopenia and Muscle · 2022
DOI 10.1002/jcsm.13005
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