| Increased consumption of
amino acids or protein may help stop the gradual loss of skeletal muscle associated with
aging, according to researchers in Galveston, Texas. Dr. Robert R. Wolfe of the
Shriners Burns Institute and colleagues there and at The University of Texas Medical
Branch gave a group of six healthy elderly individuals (average age, 71 years) intravenous
infusions of labeled amino acids.
The researchers discovered that the protein infusion stimulated muscle protein
anabolism as measured by increased amino acid delivery and transport, as well as a rise in
muscle protein synthesis. Since the efficiency of protein synthesis in the muscles
examined did not change, they believe that the increase in net protein synthesis was
directed related to the increase in protein intake.
This effect has also been "...observed in young individuals in similar
experimental conditions," the researchers say. In the elderly, they conclude in the
May 1st issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, "...the response of muscle
amino-acid transport and net protein synthesis to increased amino-acid availability is
preserved."
Dr. Wolfe and his colleagues conclude in their paper that maintaining protein or amino
acid intake over time could help reduce the muscle wasting that occurs with age.
J Clin Invest 1998;101:000-000. |
