Trial reportThe American journal of clinical nutrition2016
Leucine partially protects muscle mass and function during bed rest in middle-aged adults.
Trial report in The American journal of clinical nutrition, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT00968344 (An Integrated Low-Volume Nutritional Countermeasure to Maintain Muscle Mass and Function During Space Exploration), which is not on this map. Cited by 86 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
An Integrated Low-Volume Nutritional Countermeasure to Maintain Muscle Mass and Function During Space Exploration
Who cites it
86 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 160 citations in OpenAlex.
- The effect of protein or amino acid provision on immobilization-induced muscle atrophy in healthy adults: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Experimental physiology · 2024Pooled it
- The role of muscle disuse in muscular and cardiovascular fitness: A systematic review and meta-regression.European journal of sport science · 2024Pooled it
- Effects of Bed Rest on Physical Performance in Athletes: A Systematic and Narrative Review.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2023Pooled it
- Do dietary supplements prevent loss of muscle mass and strength during muscle disuse? A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Frontiers in nutrition · 2023Pooled it
- Effect of Time on Human Muscle Outcomes During Simulated Microgravity Exposure Without Countermeasures-Systematic Review.Frontiers in physiology · 2019Pooled it
- Leucine supplementation does not attenuate the decline in daily muscle protein synthesis rates or preserve leg muscle mass during leg immobilization in young or older adults: a double-blind randomized trial.The American journal of clinical nutrition · 2026Trial
- Meals Containing Equivalent Total Protein from Foods Providing Complete, Complementary, or Incomplete Essential Amino Acid Profiles do not Differentially Affect 24-h Skeletal Muscle Protein Synthesis in Healthy, Middle-Aged Women.The Journal of nutrition · 2024Trial
- Countering disuse atrophy in older adults with low-volume leucine supplementation.Journal of applied physiology (Bethesda, Md. : 1985) · 2020Trial
- Impact of dairy protein during limb immobilization and recovery on muscle size and protein synthesis; a randomized controlled trial.Journal of applied physiology (Bethesda, Md. : 1985) · 2018Trial
- Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation Combined with Protein Ingestion Preserves Thigh Muscle Mass But Not Muscle Function in Healthy Older Adults During 5 Days of Bed Rest.Rejuvenation research · 2017Trial
- Trial
- Identifying effective and feasible interventions to accelerate functional recovery from hospitalization in older adults: A randomized controlled pilot trial.Contemporary clinical trials · 2016Trial
- Spaceflight and sport science: Physiological monitoring and countermeasures for the astronaut-athlete on Mars exploration missions.Experimental physiology · 2026Review
- Protein Consumption and Cognitive Health in Aging: Associations with Sarcopenia and Dietary Options, a Narrative Review.Nutrients · 2026Review
- The effects of bed rest on cardiometabolic health: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Experimental physiology · 2026Article
- Associations of high protein supplements with gut microbiota and skeletal muscle mass in hospitalized older people.BMC geriatrics · 2025Article
- The effect of bed rest, unilateral limb immobilization and head-down tilt on muscle protein synthesis: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Experimental physiology · 2025Review
- Integrated muscle protein synthesis during disuse and rehabilitation in late-midlife adults.American journal of physiology. Regulatory, integrative and comparative physiology · 2025Article
- What Is 'Muscle Health'? A Narrative Review and Conceptual Framework.Journal of functional morphology and kinesiology · 2025Review
- Use of Amino Acids as Supplements for Matching Nutrition, Training, and Rehabilitation-Focusing on Some Questions.Nutrients · 2025Review
26 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors at 5 institutions in 5 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundPhysical inactivity triggers a rapid loss of muscle mass and function in older adults. Middle-aged adults show few phenotypic signs of aging yet may be more susceptible to inactivity than younger adults.
objectiveThe aim was to determine whether leucine, a stimulator of translation initiation and skeletal muscle protein synthesis (MPS), can protect skeletal muscle health during bed rest.
designWe used a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial to assess changes in skeletal MPS, cellular signaling, body composition, and skeletal muscle function in middle-aged adults (n = 19; age ± SEM: 52 ± 1 y) in response to leucine supplementation (LEU group: 0.06 g ∙ kg(-1) ∙ meal(-1)) or an alanine control (CON group) during 14 d of bed rest.
resultsBed rest decreased postabsorptive MPS by 30% ± 9% (CON group) and by 10% ± 10% (LEU group) (main effect for time, P < 0.05), but no differences between groups with respect to pre-post changes (group × time interactions) were detected for MPS or cell signaling. Leucine protected knee extensor peak torque (CON compared with LEU group: -15% ± 2% and -7% ± 3%; group × time interaction, P < 0.05) and endurance (CON compared with LEU: -14% ± 3% and -2% ± 4%; group × time interaction, P < 0.05), prevented an increase in body fat percentage (group × time interaction, P < 0.05), and reduced whole-body lean mass loss after 7 d (CON compared with LEU: -1.5 ± 0.3 and -0.8 ± 0.3 kg; group × time interaction, P < 0.05) but not 14 d (CON compared with LEU: -1.5 ± 0.3 and -1.0 ± 0.3 kg) of bed rest. Leucine also maintained muscle quality (peak torque/kg leg lean mass) after 14 d of bed-rest inactivity (CON compared with LEU: -9% ± 2% and +1% ± 3%; group × time interaction, P < 0.05).
conclusionsBed rest has a profoundly negative effect on muscle metabolism, mass, and function in middle-aged adults. Leucine supplementation may partially protect muscle health during relatively brief periods of physical inactivity. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT00968344.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.