Early lean mass sparing effect of high-protein diet with excess leucine during long-term bed rest in women.

Muscle inactivity leads to muscle atrophy. Leucine is known to inhibit protein degradation and to promote protein synthesis in skeletal muscle. We tested the ability of a high-protein diet enriched with branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) to prevent muscle atrophy during long-term bed rest (BR). We determined body composition (using dual energy x-ray absorptiometry) at baseline and every 2-weeks during 60 days of BR in 16 healthy young women. Nitrogen (N) balance was assessed daily as the difference between N intake and N urinary excretion. The subjects were randomized into two groups: one received a conventional diet (1.1 ± 0.03 g protein/kg, 4.9 ± 0.3 g leucine per day) and the other a high protein, BCAA-enriched regimen (1.6 ± 0.03 g protein-amino acid/kg, 11.4 ± 0.6 g leucine per day). There were significant BR and BR × diet interaction effects on changes in lean body mass (LBM) and N balance throughout the experimental period (repeated measures ANCOVA). During the first 15 days of BR, lean mass decreased by 4.1 ± 0.9 and 2.4 ± 2.1% (

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The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.