Observational studyClinical nutrition (Edinburgh, Scotland)2018
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.
Observational study in Clinical nutrition (Edinburgh, Scotland), 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 2 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 66 papers, 4 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.
The Efficacy of Leucine Enriched-EAA Supplements vs. Whey Protein in the Modulation of Muscle Protein Synthesis, Albumin Synthesis and Leg/ Muscle Blood Flow in Older Women
Leucine Supplementation Strategies to Enhance Muscle Anabolic Responses in Older Age
Who cites it
66 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 120 citations in OpenAlex.
- Enhancing Muscle Quality: Exploring Leucine and Whey Protein in Sarcopenic Individuals.Journal of cachexia, sarcopenia and muscle · 2025Pooled it
- Association of postprandial postexercise muscle protein synthesis rates with dietary leucine: A systematic review.Physiological reports · 2023Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Evaluating the Leucine Trigger Hypothesis to Explain the Post-prandial Regulation of Muscle Protein Synthesis in Young and Older Adults: A Systematic Review.Frontiers in nutrition · 2021Pooled it
- Trial
- Resistance training partially restores age-related differences in skeletal muscle amino acid transporters - secondary analysis from two randomized controlled trials.The journal of nutrition, health & aging · 2026Trial
- 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
- Trial
- Postprandial plasma amino acid and appetite responses to a low protein breakfast supplemented with whey or pea protein in middle-to-older aged adults.European journal of nutrition · 2025Trial
- Acute ingestion of a ketone monoester, whey protein, or their co-ingestion in the overnight postabsorptive state elicit a similar stimulation of myofibrillar protein synthesis rates in young males: a double-blind randomized trial.The American journal of clinical nutrition · 2024Trial
- Effects of GLP-1 Infusion Upon Whole-body Glucose Uptake and Skeletal Muscle Perfusion During Fed-state in Older Men.The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism · 2023Trial
- Trial
- Trial
- A collagen hydrolysate/milk protein-blend stimulates muscle anabolism equivalently to an isoenergetic milk protein-blend containing a greater quantity of essential amino acids in older men.Clinical nutrition (Edinburgh, Scotland) · 2021Trial
- Trial
- A Novel Dietary Intervention Reduces Circulatory Branched-Chain Amino Acids by 50%: A Pilot Study of Relevance for Obesity and Diabetes.Nutrients · 2020Trial
- Trial
- Trial
- Trial
- Review
6 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
14 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
BACKGROUND &
aimsImpaired anabolic responses to nutrition and exercise contribute to loss of skeletal muscle mass with ageing (sarcopenia). Here, we tested responses of muscle protein synthesis (MPS), in the under represented group of older women, to leucine-enriched essential amino acids (EAA) in comparison to a large bolus of whey protein (WP).
methodsTwenty-four older women (65 ± 1 y) received (N = 8/group) 1.5 g leucine-enriched EAA supplements (LEAA_1.5), 6 g LEAA (LEAA_6) in comparison to 40 g WP. A primed constant I.V infusion of
resultsPlasma insulineamia and EAAemia were greater and more prolonged with WP than LEAA, although LEAA_6 peaked at similar levels to WP. Neither LEAA or WP modified LBF or MBF. FED increased MPS similarly in the LEAA_1.5, LEAA_6 and WP (P < 0.05) groups over 0-2 h, with MPS significantly higher than basal in the LEAA_6 and WP groups only over 0-4 h. However, FED-EX increased MPS similarly across all the groups from 0 to 4 h (P < 0.05). Only p-p70S6K1 increased with WP at 2 h in FED (P < 0.05), and at 2/4 h in FED-EX (P < 0.05).
conclusionsIn conclusion, LEAA_1.5, despite only providing 0.6 g of leucine, robustly (perhaps maximally) stimulated MPS, with negligible trophic advantage of greater doses of LEAA or even to 40 g WP. Highlighting that composition of EAA, in particular the presence of leucine rather than amount is most crucial for anabolism.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.