Oliver's mTOR Atlas Evidence Platform
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Rapamycin administration in humans blocks the contraction-induced increase in skeletal muscle protein synthesis

Drummond MJ, Rasmussen BB et al. · 2009 · Journal of Physiology · Atlas ID DRU2009

What this study shows

Rapamycin given before resistance exercise completely blocked the normal post-exercise increase in human muscle protein synthesis.

Abstract

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Muscle protein synthesis and mTORC1 signalling are concurrently stimulated following muscle contraction in humans. In an effort to determine whether mTORC1 signalling is essential for regulating muscle protein synthesis in humans, we treated subjects with a potent mTORC1 inhibitor (rapamycin) prior to performing a series of high-intensity muscle contractions. Here we show that rapamycin treatment blocks the early (1-2 h) acute contraction-induced increase ( approximately 40%) in human muscle protein synthesis.

Read the full abstract on PubMed →

At a glance

Evidence type H Human study Marked H because it is direct evidence from a human clinical trial or human cohort; the code names the kind of study, not its quality -- a small, well-run trial is still H.
Study type2 - Human Clinical Trial
Model systemHumans, controlled trial
JournalJournal of Physiology
Year2009
Peer reviewedYes
Record last updated2026-08-22
SourceDOI 10.1113/jphysiol.2008.163816 · PMID 19188252 · Free full text (PMC2678224)

Extracted findings

InterventionRapamycin (pre-exercise)
TargetmTORC1
ModelHuman – controlled trial
EffectRapamycin blocks the contraction-induced increase in human skeletal muscle protein synthesis
DoseRapamycin, single oral dose before a bout of high-intensity resistance exercise (exact mg not captured; full text not retrievable via PMC).
Sample sizeSmall human controlled trial (full text unavailable; abstract-level).
Effect sizeRapamycin blocked the early (1-2 h) ~40% contraction-induced increase in human muscle protein synthesis; downstream mTORC1 signaling (S6K1) blunted.
LimitationsSmall sample; full text not retrievable via PMC, so dose/n taken from abstract only.

In the Atlas

Related topics

Muscle growthRapamycinmTORC1Protein synthesis

Open questions that cite this study

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Cite this paper

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Drummond, M. J., et al. (2009). Rapamycin administration in humans blocks the contraction-induced increase in skeletal muscle protein synthesis. Journal of Physiology. https://doi.org/10.1113/jphysiol.2008.163816

@article{DRU2009,
  author       = {Drummond, M. J. and Rasmussen, B. B. and others},
  title        = {{Rapamycin administration in humans blocks the contraction-induced increase in skeletal muscle protein synthesis}},
  journal      = {Journal of Physiology},
  year         = {2009},
  doi          = {10.1113/jphysiol.2008.163816},
  note         = {PMID: 19188252},
}

Cite this Atlas record

The record is the Atlas's own work — the evidence label, the extracted findings and the links. It is cited as part of the dataset, not as the paper. 

Barton, O. (2026). Oliver's mTOR Atlas (record DRU2009) [Data set]. https://mtor-atlas.org/study/DRU2009/ · Dataset DOI 10.5281/zenodo.22059963

@misc{atlas_DRU2009,
  author       = {Barton, Oliver},
  title        = {{Oliver's mTOR Atlas}, record DRU2009},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  year         = {2026},
  url          = {https://mtor-atlas.org/study/DRU2009/},
  doi          = {10.5281/zenodo.22059963}
}