NCT06721026

Re-evaluation of the Muscle-full Effect During Continuously Elevated Amino Acid Availability in Healthy Young Males

• Status: Not Yet Recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 12 (estimated)
• Sponsor: Maastricht University Medical Center · Academic / Other
• Sex: Male
• Age: 18 Years – 35 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

Muscle tissue consists of proteins. These proteins are built up of a collection of smaller building blocks: amino acids. When protein is consumed, it gets digested and absorbed into the blood. The body can use these amino acids, by taking them up from thecirculation. By consuming sufficient protein through our diet, we ensure that the body is provided with enough amino acids to enable muscle protein building. Sufficient muscle protein synthesis is important for maintaining muscle function and strength. Previous research has shown that when 20 to 25g of protein is eaten, muscle protein synthesis is maximized. It is therefore recommended to eat 20g of protein per meal. However, it is currently unclear what happens to muscle protein synthesis rates if multiple meals are eaten. When multiple meals are consumed, amino acids appear in the circulation for prolonged period of time. Theoretically, when there are a high amino acid concentrations in the blood, muscle protein synthesis rates will increase. Contrary to this theory, a study more than 20 years ago showed otherwise. It was observed that muscle protein synthesis rates are only elevated for2 hours afterwhich they decrease again. This phenomenon was referred to as the "muscle-full" effect. Because this phenomenon is in contrast with more previous studies, the objective is to replicate that study. This is important so that nutritional advice for healthy, but also clinical populations in the future can be improved.

Conditions

• Muscle Protein Synthesis

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
OTHER	Continuous intravenous stable isotope amino acid tracer infusion	During the single 12 h trial day, a primed continuous stable isotope infusion will run in order to assess muscle protein synthesis in the basal (4 h) and post-prandial (8 h) state.
OTHER	Amino acid infusion	In order to assess muscle protein synthesis rates during continuous elevated plasma amino acid availability, the amino acid infusion solution Vamin®14 EF will be used. Vamin® 14EF contains 85g amino acids per liter and will be administered in the post-prandial period for 8 hours to ensure a constant rate of amino acid infusion over the full assessment period of the primary outcome measure.

Timeline

• Start date: 2025-03-01
• Primary completion: 2025-12-31
• Completion: 2026-02-01
• First posted: 2024-12-06
• Last updated: 2024-12-13

Locations

1 site across 1 country: Netherlands