β-Hydroxy-β-methylbutyrate (HMB), a leucine metabolite, is used as a nutritional ingredient to improve skeletal muscle health. Preclinical studies indicate that this supplement also elicits significant benefits in the brain; it promotes neurite outgrowth and prevents age-related reductions in neuronal dendrites and cognitive performance. As orally administered HMB elicits these effects in the brain, we infer that HMB crosses the blood-brain barrier (BBB). However, there have been no reports detailing the transport mechanism for HMB in BBB. Here we show that HMB is taken up in the human BBB endothelial cell line hCMEC/D3 via H+-coupled monocarboxylate transporters that also transport lactate and β-hydroxybutyrate. MCT1 (monocarboxylate transporter 1) and MCT4 (monocarboxylate transporter 4) belonging to the solute carrier gene family SLC16 (solute carrier, gene family 16) are involved, but additional transporters also contribute to the process. HMB uptake in BBB endothelial cells results in intracellular acidification, demonstrating cotransport with H+. Since HMB is known to activate mTOR with potential to elicit transcriptomic changes, we examined the influence of HMB on the expression of selective transporters. We found no change in MCT1 and MCT4 expression. Interestingly, the expression of LAT1 (system L amino acid transporter 1), a high-affinity transporter for branched-chain amino acids relevant to neurological disorders such as autism, is induced. This effect is dependent on mTOR (mechanistic target of rapamycine) activation by HMB with no involvement of histone deacetylases. These studies show that HMB in systemic circulation can cross the BBB via carrier-mediated processes, and that it also has a positive influence on the expression of LAT1, an important amino acid transporter in the BBB.
Keywords: LAT1 (SLC7A5); MCT1 (SLC16A1); MCT4 (SLC16A3); blood–brain barrier; mTOR; β-hydroxy-β-methylbutyrate.