RESTORATION OF CELL SIGNALING AND MUSCLE PROTEIN SYNTHESIS IN THE ELDERLY

这个子项目是许多研究子项目中利用 资源由NIH/NCRR资助的中心拨款提供。子项目和 调查员(PI)可能从NIH的另一个来源获得了主要资金， 并因此可以在其他清晰的条目中表示。列出的机构是 该中心不一定是调查人员的机构。 背景：老年人有更大的风险经历肌肉质量和力量的下降。这可能是由于许多因素，但我们关注的是营养的潜在预防作用-特别是由氨基酸亮氨酸组成的补充剂。 假设：我们假设，两周的亮氨酸补充将恢复肌肉蛋白质合成的潜力，在一顿已被证明对老年人没有年轻人有效的饮食之后。 具体目标和程序(摘要)：我们将使用技术来测量肌肉蛋白质合成(稳定同位素方法学)和调节合成过程的机制(mTOR细胞信号)，以确定补充2周亮氨酸是否有益于老年人肌肉生长的潜力。 实验设计(总结)：我们将对一组老年志愿者进行为期14天的研究。在第1天和第14天，我们将采集血液和肌肉样本进行测试。在第2-13天，我们将为志愿者提供带回家的亮氨酸(每包4克)，他们将溶解在水或果汁中，每天3次随餐而食。我们将为志愿者提供日记，记录他们的正常食物摄入量，并监测他们的补充剂使用情况。 意义(摘要)：本补充剂代表了一种新颖的、侵入性最小的预防性干预措施，它最大限度地减少了与以前的补充剂方案相关的额外卡路里/容量负荷，并直接适用于患者群体和因疾病、伤害而有更大风险加速肌肉损失的老年人。

This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. Background: Older individuals are at greater risk of experiencing a decrease in muscle mass and strength. This may be due to a number of factor, however we are focusing on the potential preventative role of nutrition - specifically a supplement consisting of the amino acid leucine. Hypothesis: We hypothesis that two weeks of leucine supplementation will restore the potential for muscle protein synthesis following a meal that has been shown to be less effective in elderly individuals compared to the young. Specific Aims and Procedures (summary): We will employ techniques to measure muscle protein synthesis (stable isotope methodology) and the mechanisms regulating the synthetic process (mTOR cell signaling) to determine if 2 weeks of leucine supplementation has a beneficial effect the potential for muscle growth in elderly. Experimental Design (summary): We will study a cohort of elderly volunteers over a 14 day period. On days 1 and 14, we will obtain blood and muscle samples to perform our tests. On days 2-13, we will provide volunteers with take-home packets of leucine (4 g each) that they will dissolve in water or juice and consume 3 times/day with their daily meals. We will provide volunteers with a diary to record their normal food intake and monitor their supplement use. Significance (summary): This supplement represents a novel, minimally invasive, preventative intervention that minimizes the additional caloric/volume load associated with previous supplement regimens and has direct application for patient populations and elderly individuals who have a much greater risk of accelerated muscle loss due to illness, injury.