{"doi":"10.1002/jcsm.12805","title":"Leucine‐enriched whey protein supplementation, resistance‐based exercise, and cardiometabolic health in older adults: a randomized controlled trial","abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:sec><jats:title>Background</jats:title><jats:p>Increasing protein intake (above the Recommended Dietary Amount) alone or with resistance‐based exercise is suggested to improve cardiometabolic health; however, randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are needed to confirm this.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods</jats:title><jats:p>The Liverpool Hope University‐Sarcopenia Aging Trial (LHU‐SAT) was a 16 week RCT (<jats:ext-link xmlns:xlink=\"http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink\" xlink:href=\"http://ClinicalTrials.gov\">ClinicalTrials.gov</jats:ext-link> Identifier: NCT02912130) of 100 community‐dwelling older adults [mean age: 68.73 ± 5.80 years, body mass index: 27.06 ± 5.18 kg/m<jats:sup>2</jats:sup> (52% women)] who were randomized to four independent groups [Control (C), Exercise (E), Exercise + Protein (EP), Protein (P)]. E and EP completed supervised and progressive resistance‐based exercise (resistance exercise: two times per week, functional circuit exercise: once per week), while EP and P were supplemented with a leucine‐enriched whey protein drink (three times per day) based on individual body weight (0.50 g/kg/meal, 1.50 g/kg/day). Outcome measures including arterial stiffness (pulse wave velocity), fasting plasma/serum biomarkers [glucose/glycated haemoglobin, total cholesterol, low‐density lipoprotein (LDL), high‐density lipoprotein, insulin, resistin, leptin, adiponectin, C‐reactive protein, tumour necrosis factor‐alpha, interleukin‐6, cystatin‐C, &amp; ferritin], insulin resistance (HOMA‐IR), and kidney function (eGFR) were measured before and after intervention.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results</jats:title><jats:p>Total protein intake (habitual diet plus supplementation) increased to 1.55 ± 0.69 g/kg/day in EP and to 1.93 ± 0.72 g/kg/day in P, and remained significantly lower (<jats:italic>P</jats:italic> &lt; 0.001) in unsupplemented groups (E: 1.08 ± 0.33 g/kg/day, C: 1.00 ± 0.26 g/kg/day). At 16 weeks, there was a group‐by‐time interaction whereby absolute changes in LDL‐cholesterol were lower in EP [mean difference: −0.79 mmol/L, 95% confidence interval (CI): −1.29, −0.28, <jats:italic>P</jats:italic> = 0.002] and P (mean difference: −0.76 mmol/L, 95% CI: −1.26, −0.26, <jats:italic>P</jats:italic> = 0.003) vs. C. Serum insulin also showed group‐by‐time interactions at 16 weeks whereby fold changes were lower in EP (mean difference: −0.40, 95% CI: −0.65, −0.16, <jats:italic>P</jats:italic> = 0.001) and P (mean difference: −0.32, 95% CI: −0.56, −0.08, <jats:italic>P</jats:italic> = 0.009) vs. C, and fold changes in HOMA‐IR improved in EP (mean difference: −0.37, 95% CI: −0.64, −0.10, <jats:italic>P</jats:italic> = 0.007) and P (mean difference: −0.27, 95% CI: −0.53, −0.00, <jats:italic>P</jats:italic> = 0.048) vs. C. Serum resistin declined in P only (group‐by‐time interaction at 16 weeks: <jats:italic>P</jats:italic> = 0.009). No other interactions were observed in outcome measures (<jats:italic>P</jats:italic> &gt; 0.05), and kidney function (eGFR) remained unaltered.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusions</jats:title><jats:p>Sixteen weeks of leucine‐enriched whey protein supplementation alone and combined with resistance‐based exercise improved cardiometabolic health markers in older adults.</jats:p></jats:sec>","journal":"Journal of Cachexia, Sarcopenia and Muscle","year":2021,"id":608725,"datarank":0.5897738449086489,"base_score":3.9318256327243257,"endowment":3.9318256327243257,"self_citation_contribution":0.5897738449086489,"citation_network_contribution":0.0,"self_endowment_contribution":0.5897738449086489,"citer_contribution":0.0,"corpus_percentile":null,"corpus_rank":null,"citation_count":50,"citer_count":0,"citers_with_citation_signal":0,"citers_with_endowment":0,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"is_dataset":false,"is_dataset_confidence":null,"is_data_producer":false,"deposit_databanks":null,"is_oa":false,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":null,"fair_score":null,"fair_percentile":null,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":1563725,"name":"Kate Mooney","orcid":null,"position":1,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":252356,"name":"Sara Vogrin","orcid":"0000-0002-1597-9421","position":2,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":81648,"name":"Matthew Jackson","orcid":"0000-0002-7891-6217","position":3,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":465766,"name":"Gustavo Duque","orcid":"0000-0001-8126-0637","position":4,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1213822,"name":"Omid Khaiyat","orcid":"0000-0002-0509-9172","position":5,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1563726,"name":"Farzad Amirabdollahian","orcid":null,"position":6,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":614584,"name":"Ben Kirk","orcid":"0000-0002-0176-776X","position":0,"is_corresponding":false}],"reference_count":0,"raw_metadata":{"has_enrichment":true,"resolved":true,"title":"Leucine‐enriched whey protein supplementation, resistance‐based exercise, and cardiometabolic health in older adults: a randomized controlled trial","abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:sec><jats:title>Background</jats:title><jats:p>Increasing protein intake (above the Recommended Dietary Amount) alone or with resistance‐based exercise is suggested to improve cardiometabolic health; however, randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are needed to confirm this.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods</jats:title><jats:p>The Liverpool Hope University‐Sarcopenia Aging Trial (LHU‐SAT) was a 16 week RCT (<jats:ext-link xmlns:xlink=\"http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink\" xlink:href=\"http://ClinicalTrials.gov\">ClinicalTrials.gov</jats:ext-link> Identifier: NCT02912130) of 100 community‐dwelling older adults [mean age: 68.73 ± 5.80 years, body mass index: 27.06 ± 5.18 kg/m<jats:sup>2</jats:sup> (52% women)] who were randomized to four independent groups [Control (C), Exercise (E), Exercise + Protein (EP), Protein (P)]. E and EP completed supervised and progressive resistance‐based exercise (resistance exercise: two times per week, functional circuit exercise: once per week), while EP and P were supplemented with a leucine‐enriched whey protein drink (three times per day) based on individual body weight (0.50 g/kg/meal, 1.50 g/kg/day). Outcome measures including arterial stiffness (pulse wave velocity), fasting plasma/serum biomarkers [glucose/glycated haemoglobin, total cholesterol, low‐density lipoprotein (LDL), high‐density lipoprotein, insulin, resistin, leptin, adiponectin, C‐reactive protein, tumour necrosis factor‐alpha, interleukin‐6, cystatin‐C, &amp; ferritin], insulin resistance (HOMA‐IR), and kidney function (eGFR) were measured before and after intervention.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results</jats:title><jats:p>Total protein intake (habitual diet plus supplementation) increased to 1.55 ± 0.69 g/kg/day in EP and to 1.93 ± 0.72 g/kg/day in P, and remained significantly lower (<jats:italic>P</jats:italic> &lt; 0.001) in unsupplemented groups (E: 1.08 ± 0.33 g/kg/day, C: 1.00 ± 0.26 g/kg/day). At 16 weeks, there was a group‐by‐time interaction whereby absolute changes in LDL‐cholesterol were lower in EP [mean difference: −0.79 mmol/L, 95% confidence interval (CI): −1.29, −0.28, <jats:italic>P</jats:italic> = 0.002] and P (mean difference: −0.76 mmol/L, 95% CI: −1.26, −0.26, <jats:italic>P</jats:italic> = 0.003) vs. C. Serum insulin also showed group‐by‐time interactions at 16 weeks whereby fold changes were lower in EP (mean difference: −0.40, 95% CI: −0.65, −0.16, <jats:italic>P</jats:italic> = 0.001) and P (mean difference: −0.32, 95% CI: −0.56, −0.08, <jats:italic>P</jats:italic> = 0.009) vs. C, and fold changes in HOMA‐IR improved in EP (mean difference: −0.37, 95% CI: −0.64, −0.10, <jats:italic>P</jats:italic> = 0.007) and P (mean difference: −0.27, 95% CI: −0.53, −0.00, <jats:italic>P</jats:italic> = 0.048) vs. C. Serum resistin declined in P only (group‐by‐time interaction at 16 weeks: <jats:italic>P</jats:italic> = 0.009). No other interactions were observed in outcome measures (<jats:italic>P</jats:italic> &gt; 0.05), and kidney function (eGFR) remained unaltered.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusions</jats:title><jats:p>Sixteen weeks of leucine‐enriched whey protein supplementation alone and combined with resistance‐based exercise improved cardiometabolic health markers in older adults.</jats:p></jats:sec>","is_dataset_classified":null,"base_score":3.9318256327243257,"endowment":3.9318256327243257,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"views":0,"has_version_chain":false,"is_dataset":false,"is_oa":false,"pmid":"34520104","pmcid":"PMC8718053","openalex_id":"https://openalex.org/W3199241170","authors":[],"funders":[],"total_grants":0,"fwci":2.6794,"citation_percentile":0.90686342,"influential_citations":0,"citation_trend":[{"year":2021,"count":1},{"year":2022,"count":10},{"year":2023,"count":3},{"year":2024,"count":13},{"year":2025,"count":17},{"year":2026,"count":6}],"oa_status":"gold","license":"cc-by","oa_locations":[{"url":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdfdirect/10.1002/jcsm.12805","host_type":"journal"},{"url":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdfdirect/10.1002/jcsm.12805","host_type":"publisher"},{"url":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/jcsm.12805","host_type":"publisher"},{"url":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1002/jcsm.12805","host_type":"publisher"},{"url":"https://doi.org/10.1002/jcsm.12805","host_type":"journal"},{"url":"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34520104","host_type":"repository"},{"url":"https://doaj.org/article/c56302f105844895a4323f3b6c59daaf","host_type":"repository"},{"url":"http://hdl.handle.net/11343/289690","host_type":"repository"},{"url":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/8718053","host_type":"repository"},{"url":"http://hdl.handle.net/2436/624885","host_type":"repository"},{"url":"https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC8718053","host_type":"Europe_PMC"},{"url":"https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC8718053?pdf=render","host_type":"Europe_PMC"}],"fields_of_study":["Muscle metabolism and nutrition","Cardiovascular and exercise physiology","Thermoregulation and physiological responses","Aged","Cardiovascular Diseases","Dietary Supplements","Exercise","Female","Humans","Leucine","Male","Middle Aged","Whey Proteins"],"mesh_terms":["Whey Proteins","Aged","Cardiovascular Diseases","Female","Humans","Leucine","Male","Middle Aged","Exercise","Dietary Supplements"],"keywords":["Randomized controlled trial","Whey protein","Resistance training","Medicine","Physical activity","Leucine","Physical therapy","Food science","Internal medicine","Biology","Biochemistry","Amino acid","Aging","Lipoproteins","Inflammation","Insulin resistance"],"sdg_mappings":[{"sdg_number":0,"sdg_label":"Good health and well-being"}],"linked_datasets":[],"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"database_accessions":[{"name":"nct"},{"name":"doi"}],"source":"live","citation_network_status":"fetched"},"created_at":"2026-07-30T20:56:21.310365Z","pmid":null,"pmcid":null,"fwci":null,"citation_percentile":null,"influential_citations":0,"oa_status":null,"license":null,"views":0,"total_file_size_bytes":0,"version_count":0,"fair_f":null,"fair_a":null,"fair_i":null,"fair_r":null,"fair_zscore":null,"fair_rationale":null,"fair_model":null,"fair_agent_version":null,"fair_fulltext_source":null,"fair_has_llm":null,"fair_computed_at":null,"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"db_accessions":[],"linked_datasets":[],"topics":[]}