Biomarkers associated with low, moderate, and high vastus lateralis muscle hypertrophy following 12 weeks of resistance training

We sought to identify biomarkers which delineated individual hypertrophic responses to resistance training. Untrained, college-aged males engaged in full-body resistance training (3 d/wk) for 12 weeks. Body composition via dual x-ray absorptiometry (DXA), vastus lateralis (VL) thickness via ultrasound, blood, VL muscle biopsies, and three-repetition maximum (3-RM) squat strength were obtained prior to (PRE) and following (POST) 12 weeks of training. K-means cluster analysis based on VL thickness changes identified LOW [n = 17; change (mean±SD) = +0.11±0.14 cm], modest (MOD; n = 29, +0.40±0.06 cm), and high (HI; n = 21, +0.69±0.14 cm) responders. Biomarkers related to histology, ribosome biogenesis, proteolysis, inflammation, and androgen signaling were analyzed between clusters. There were main effects of time (POST>PRE, p2 = 0.114, p = 0.005). Forced post hoc analysis indicated that muscle total RNA levels (i.e., ribosome density) did not significantly increase in the LOW cluster (351±70 ng/mg to 380±62, p = 0.253), but increased in the MOD (369±115 to 429±92, p = 0.009) and HI clusters (356±77 to 470±134, pPOST LOW, p = 0.013). Nonetheless, there was only a weak association between change in muscle total RNA and VL thickness (r2 = 0.079, p = 0.026). IL-1β mRNA levels decreased in the MOD and HI clusters following training (p2 = 0.0002, p = 0.919). In conclusion, individuals with lower pre-training VL thickness values and greater increases muscle total RNA levels following 12 weeks of resistance training experienced greater VL muscle growth, although these biomarkers individually explained only ~8–11% of the variance in hypertrophy.