A Pilot Study on Skeletal Muscle Proteome Dynamics in Younger and Older Men Undertaking Normal Activity or Resistance Exercise Training. (LHMA Pilot)

Proteome Dynamics to Inform Healthy Muscle Ageing

The goal of this basic research study is to investigate effect of resistance exercise on the quality of muscle proteins in younger and older men. The main question[s] it aims to answer [is/are]: whether there is a difference in muscle protein quality between younger and older adults and if resistance exercise training has a beneficial impact on the quality of muscle proteins? Participants will perform five bouts of unilateral leg press exercise during a 14 day period of deuterium oxide consumption and biopsy samples will be taken from both their exercised leg and non-exercised leg before and after the intervention period to enable the measurement of muscle protein abundances and turnover rates.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Ageing Well
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Resistance Exercise

Detailed Description

Experimental Intervention Baseline muscle biopsy On day -1 of the experimental intervention (around 7 days after the initial assessment), you will need to arrive at the laboratory at ~8 am after an overnight fast. A blood sample (7 ml) will be collected via venipuncture and muscle samples will be collected by percutaneous biopsy of the vastus lateralis (quadriceps) of each leg (see below for more detail).

Deuterium Oxide consumption On the next day (Experiment Day 0) you will consume the stable isotope, deuterium oxide (D2O - see below for more details), which is a tracer that can be used to measure the turnover rate of proteins inside you muscle. You will consume a dose of 13.3 ml D2O per kg body weight on Day 0. This equates to ~1 L of liquid for a person of 75 kg body weight. The liquid must be consumed in 4 doses of ~250 ml each at 2 h intervals, during which time you will be monitored for potential side effect (see below) by the research team, this means you will need to be available for 6 h on this day. (N.B. during this period you will have access to office and catering facilities on the LJMU Byrom Street site). On subsequent days of the experiment you will need to consume one maintenance dose of 0.67 ml D2O per Kg body weight (e.g. 50 ml for a person of 75 kg body weight) - self-administered each day, at a standardised time of day until day 14.

Unilateral leg-press exercise On days 1, 4, 7, 10 and 13 of the experimental intervention, you will perform supervised single-legged resistance exercise (unilateral leg-press) at a standardised time of day. Each session will begin with a warm-up consisting of 5 repetitions at 70 % of 10RM. You will then perform three sets of 10 repetitions at a lifting intensity of 90 % of 10 RM with 2- to 3-min rest between sets. On days 1 and 7 we will collect a venous blood sample (7 ml) and a finger-prick blood sample (~0.2 ml).

Post-intervention muscle biopsy On day 15 of the experimental intervention, you will arrive at the laboratory at 8 am after an overnight fast. A blood sample (7 ml) will be collected via venipuncture and muscle samples will be collected by percutaneous biopsy of the vastus lateralis (quadriceps) of each leg.

Post-intervention muscle function test On day 18 of the experimental intervention, isokinetic torque of the knee extensor muscles will be assessed via isokinetic dynamometry (IKD). Consistent with the initial assessment (Experiment day -7), you will first perform a warm-up (5 min at 50 W on a cycle ergometer) and then complete a test protocol consisting of four consecutive maximal knee extension movements of each leg at two different fixed movement velocities, 1.05 rad.sec-1 (60 deg.sec-1) and 3.14 rad·sec-1 (180 deg.sec-1) from which peak torque (Nm) data will be recorded. This assessment will be scheduled at a time of day roughly equivalent to that of your initial visit.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 8
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United Kingdom
  • Merseyside
    • Liverpool, Merseyside, United Kingdom, L3 3AF
      • Liverpool John Moores University

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Male
• Age 25-35 OR 65-75 years

Exclusion Criteria:

• female
• take part in >3 bouts of endurance/resistance based training per week
• are pregnant
• have any previous diagnosis of ischaemic heart disease, diabetes mellitus myopathy or any neuromuscular disorder.
• take any anticoagulant medications such as warfarin
• have a current musculoskeletal injury.
• currently unwell with cold or flu
• have a chronic connective tissue disorder
• have a cardiovascular disease
• are currently enrolled in any other research study

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Basic Science
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Other: Unilateral resistance exercise training; Unilateral resistance exercise of the dominant leg using leg press exercise	Other: Resistance Exercise; Unilateral leg press. Participants undertook a supervised training session of unilateral leg-press exercise at a standardized time of day. During each session, participants performed a warm-up consisting of 5 repetitions at 70 % of 10RM. Participants performed three sets of 10 repetitions at a lifting intensity of 90 % of 10 RM with 2- to 3-min rest between sets.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Muscle proteome dynamics	Assessment of muscle proteome quality using dynamic proteome profiling to measure the abundances and turnover rates of muscle proteins.	Throughout the 14 day intervention period of unilateral leg press exercise.

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Liverpool John Moores University
• Collaborators: Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): March 10, 2023
• Primary Completion (Actual): March 12, 2023
• Study Completion (Actual): August 28, 2025

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: March 3, 2026
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 10, 2026
• First Posted (Actual): March 16, 2026

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): March 16, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 10, 2026
• Last Verified: March 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Liverpool Healthy Muscle Ageing Pilot
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Motor Activity; Movement; Musculoskeletal Physiological Phenomena; Musculoskeletal and Neural Physiological Phenomena; Therapeutics; Physical Therapy Modalities; Patient Care; Exercise Therapy; Rehabilitation; Aftercare; Continuity of Patient Care; Physical Conditioning, Human; Exercise; Resistance Training
• Other Study ID Numbers: 22/SPS/075

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO
• IPD Plan Description: Only anonymised data will be generated

Drug and device information, study documents

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