Leucine Supplementation Strategies to Enhance Muscle Anabolic Responses in Older Age

NCT06567665 — Not applicable, Recruiting, 10 participants, University of Nottingham

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RegistryNCT06567665
StatusRecruiting
PhaseNot applicable
Study typeInterventional; randomized, crossover, masking: single, basic science
Enrollment10 (Estimated)
SponsorUniversity of Nottingham (Other)
ConditionsMuscle Protein Synthesis
InterventionsLeucine (Dietary supplement)
Datesstart 2024-08-05, primary completion 2026-08-05 (estimated), completion 2026-08-05 (estimated), first posted 2024-08-23, last updated 2026-05-04
Locations1 site in United Kingdom

Related Papers Related Patents Related Grants Related Experts
All trials for Muscle Protein Synthesis All trials of Leucine

-Summary

Sarcopenia describes the progressive decline of muscle mass and strength with advancing age and is associated with increased frailty and morbidity, however we do not currently have an effective treatment. Protein feeding and exercise is known to increase muscle mass, but aged muscle shows a lower response to these stimuli leading to muscle loss over time. We do know that ingesting leucine, a building block of protein, can overcome this reduced response to protein feeding and exercise leading to increased muscle mass in older people. However, we do not understand when the optimum time to ingest leucine is to maximise muscle mass after exercise in older people. In this study we will examine the effect of feeding leucine after exercise either with a meal or between meals.

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+Arms and interventions

ArmTypeInterventionsDescription
Leucine supplementation between mealsExperimentalDietary Supplement: LeucineVolunteers will take leucine supplements between breakfast and lunch, between lunch and dinner, and between dinner and supper.
Leucine supplementation with mealsExperimentalDietary Supplement: LeucineVolunteers will take leucine supplements with breakfast, with lunch and with dinner.
  • Leucine (Dietary supplement): Leucine is a dietary supplement that can be easily purchased over the counter at health food stores. It is an essential amino acid and is involved in stimulate muscle protein synthesis.

+Outcome measures

Primary outcomes

  • Muscle protein synthesis in response to leucine feeding [7 days]: To quantify muscle protein synthesis in response to feeding leucine with a meal or in-between meals using mass spectrometry.

Secondary outcomes

  • Measure muscle anabolic and catabolic signalling pathways in response to leucine feeding [7 days]: To determine the impacts of leucine feeding timings on muscle anabolic and catabolic signalling pathways using western blotting techniques.

+Eligibility

Sex: Male, ages: 65 Years to 75 Years, accepts healthy volunteers

Inclusion Criteria:

* Male, 65-75 years of age
* BMI 18-28 kg/m2
* Non smoker
* Not performing regular resistance type exercise
* Participant is willing and able to give informed consent for participation in the study

Exclusion Criteria:

* A BMI <18 or >28 kg·m-2
* Active cardiovascular disease: uncontrolled hypertension (BP > 160/100), angina, heart failure (class III/IV), arrhythmia, right to left cardiac shunt or recent cardiac event
* Cerebrovascular disease: previous stroke, aneurysm (large vessel or intracranial)
* Respiratory disease including pulmonary hypertension or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
* Metabolic disease: hyper and hypo parathyroidism, untreated hyper and hypothyroidism, Cushing's disease, types 1 or 2 diabetes (treated and untreated), inborn/ congenital errors of metabolism (e.g. phenylketonuria (PKU), galactosaemia)
* Active inflammatory bowel disease
* Acute infection
* Acute or chronic renal disease
* Malignancy (or history of malignancy with 5 y)
* Recent steroid treatment (within 6 mo), or hormone replacement therapy
* Coagulopathy
* Musculoskeletal or neurological disorders
* Known allergies to any of the product ingredients
* Having taken part in a research study in the last 3 months involving invasive procedures or an inconvenience allowance

+Locations (1)

FacilityCityCountryStatus
University of NottinghamNottingham, NottinghamshireUnited KingdomRecruiting

+Publications

  • Mitchell WK, Williams J, Atherton P, Larvin M, Lund J, Narici M. Sarcopenia, dynapenia, and the impact of advancing age on human skeletal muscle size and strength; a quantitative review. Front Physiol. 2012 Jul 11;3:260. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2012.00260. eCollection 2012. PMID 22934016
  • Atherton PJ, Smith K. Muscle protein synthesis in response to nutrition and exercise. J Physiol. 2012 Mar 1;590(5):1049-57. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.2011.225003. Epub 2012 Jan 30. PMID 22289911
  • Wilkinson DJ, Bukhari SSI, Phillips BE, Limb MC, Cegielski J, Brook MS, Rankin D, Mitchell WK, Kobayashi H, Williams JP, Lund J, Greenhaff PL, Smith K, Atherton PJ. Effects of leucine-enriched essential amino acid and whey protein bolus dosing upon skeletal muscle protein synthesis at rest and after exercise in older women. Clin Nutr. 2018 Dec;37(6 Pt A):2011-2021. doi: 10.1016/j.clnu.2017.09.008. Epub 2017 Sep 23. PMID 29031484
  • Katsanos CS, Kobayashi H, Sheffield-Moore M, Aarsland A, Wolfe RR. A high proportion of leucine is required for optimal stimulation of the rate of muscle protein synthesis by essential amino acids in the elderly. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab. 2006 Aug;291(2):E381-7. doi: 10.1152/ajpendo.00488.2005. Epub 2006 Feb 28. PMID 16507602
  • Brook MS, Wilkinson DJ, Mitchell WK, Lund JN, Phillips BE, Szewczyk NJ, Greenhaff PL, Smith K, Atherton PJ. Synchronous deficits in cumulative muscle protein synthesis and ribosomal biogenesis underlie age-related anabolic resistance to exercise in humans. J Physiol. 2016 Dec 15;594(24):7399-7417. doi: 10.1113/JP272857. Epub 2016 Nov 7. PMID 27654940

+Investigators