Impact of Amino Acids to Enhance Anabolism After Home-based Exercise (B2B)

An adequate quantity of lean body mass is vital for optimal health and performance, and is accrued when net protein balance (NPB) is positive. Amino acids are the building blocks of protein, and when consumed following resistance exercise, significantly improve NPB.

However, no study has investigated how a supplement of all of the essential amino acids (EAA) affects NPB following resistance exercise in a free-living, home-based setting, particularly when compared to a supplement of branched-chain amino acids (BCAA).

Therefore, the purpose of this study is to determine the impact of a novel EAA supplement on anabolism (e.g., NPB) as compared to BCAA and placebo supplements following home-based resistance exercise.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Exercise; Metabolism; Amino Acids, Essential
• Intervention / Treatment: Dietary supplement: Novel essential amino acid supplementation; Dietary supplement: Branched-chain amino acid supplementation (BCAA); Dietary supplement: Isocaloric carbohydrate supplementation

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 12
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Canada
  • Ontario
    • Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M5S2C9
      • Goldring Centre for High Performance Sport

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 35 years (Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Aged 18-35 years
• Recreationally active; currently performing structured exercise (e.g., running, weight lifting, team-sport activity) at least 2 days per week

Exclusion Criteria:

• Body Mass Index: >29.9kg/m^2
• Inability to perform physical activity as determined by the Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire
• Inability to adhere to protocol guidelines (e.g., alcohol, habitual diet)
• Regular tobacco use
• Illicit drug use (e.g., growth hormone, testosterone)
• Diagnosed medical condition under the care of a physician
• Inability to abstain from supplements (e.g., protein, creatine, HMB, BCAA, phosphatidic acid) at least three weeks before and during trials
• Individuals on any medications known to affect protein metabolism (e.g., corticosteroids, non-steroidal anti-inflammatories, or prescription-strength acne medications)

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Basic Science
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Crossover Assignment
• Masking: Triple

Number of Arms

4

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Novel essential amino acid supplementation (EAA+); Arm will investigate the effect of a novel essential amino acid-based formula (essential amino acids enriched with active botanical compounds; EAA+) developed by Iovate Health Sciences International Inc. on post-exercise anabolism. The formulation was recently granted a Natural Product Number (NPN: 80087022) and approved by the Natural and Non-prescription Health Products Directorate of Health Canada.	Dietary supplement: Novel essential amino acid supplementation; This intervention will determine the impact of EAA+ on markers of whole-body net protein balance, protein synthesis, and protein breakdown following home-based resistance exercise in a free-living setting.
Active Comparator: Branched-chain amino acid supplementation (BCAA); Arm will used a branched-chain amino acid supplement developed by Iovate Health Sciences International Inc. to compare with the experimental arm after exercise.	Dietary supplement: Branched-chain amino acid supplementation (BCAA); This intervention will determine the impact of the BCAA supplement (to be compared to EAA+) on markers of whole-body net protein balance, protein synthesis, and protein breakdown following home-based resistance exercise in a free-living setting.
Placebo Comparator: Isocaloric carbohydrate supplementation; Carbohydrate supplement that is isocaloric to the EAA+ supplement and designed to function as a placebo to the experimental arm after exercise.	Dietary supplement: Isocaloric carbohydrate supplementation; This intervention will determine the impact of an isocaloric carbohydrate placebo supplement (to be compared to EAA+) on markers of whole-body net protein balance, protein synthesis, and protein breakdown following home-based resistance exercise in a free-living setting.
Other: Rested control; Carbohydrate supplement that is isocaloric to the EAA+ supplement but consumed at rest to serve as the baseline control	Dietary supplement: Isocaloric carbohydrate supplementation; This intervention will determine the impact of an isocaloric carbohydrate placebo supplement (to be compared to EAA+) on markers of whole-body net protein balance, protein synthesis, and protein breakdown following home-based resistance exercise in a free-living setting.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Whole-body net leucine balance (umol/kg)	Used as a proxy of whole-body protein balance, and estimated by using [13C]leucine ingestion and breath/urine sample collection	5 hours/trial (four trials total)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Urinary 3-methylhistidine (3-methylhistidine:creatinine ratio)	Used as a marker of muscle protein breakdown by measuring the 3-methylhistidine:creatinine ratio in the urine	5 hours/trial (four trials total)

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Toronto
• Collaborators: Iovate Health Sciences International Inc
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Daniel Moore, University of Toronto

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): April 1, 2021
• Primary Completion (Actual): December 31, 2021
• Study Completion (Actual): December 31, 2021

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: April 17, 2021
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 17, 2021
• First Posted (Actual): April 20, 2021

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): May 5, 2022
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 29, 2022
• Last Verified: April 1, 2022

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Protein synthesis; Protein breakdown; Protein metabolism; Home-based resistance exercise; Net protein balance; Essential amino acids; Branched-chain amino acids
• Other Study ID Numbers: B2B

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: No

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No