Nutr Res Pract.  2010 Oct;4(5):375-382.

Short-term protein intake increases fractional synthesis rate of muscle protein in the elderly: meta-analysis

• Gweon HS
• Sung HJ
• Lee DH

Abstract

The precise effects of protein intake on fractional synthesis rate (FSR) of muscle protein are still under debate. The sample size of these studies was small and the conclusions in young and elderly subjects were inconsistent. To assess the effect of dietary protein intake on the FSR level, we conducted a meta-analysis of controlled protein intake trials. Random-effects models were used to calculate the weighted mean differences (WMDs). Ten studies were included and effects of short-term protein intake were evaluated. In an overall pooled estimate, protein intake significantly increased the FSR (20 trials, 368 participants; WMD: 0.025%/h; 95%CI: 0.019-0.031; P < 0.0001). Meta-regression analysis suggested that the protein dose was positively related to the effect size (regression coefficient = 0.108%/h; 95%CI: 0.035, 0.182; P = 0.009). A subgroup analysis indicated that protein intake significantly increased FSR when the protein dose was < or = 0.80 g/kg BW (16 trials, 308 participants; WMD: 0.027%/h; 95%CI: 0.019-0.031; P < 0.0001), but did not affect FSR when the protein dose was > 0.80 g/kg BW (4 trials, 60 participants; WMD: 0.016%/h; 95%CI: 0.004-0.029; P = 0.98). In conclusion, this study is the first integrated results showing that a short-term protein intake is effective at improving the FSR of muscle protein in the healthy elderly as well as young subjects. This beneficial effect seems to be dose-dependent when the dose levels of protein range from 0.08 to 0.80 g/kg BW.

Keyword

Protein intakes; fractional synthesis rate; muscle protein; meta-analysis

MeSH Terms

Aged
Dietary Proteins
Humans
Muscle Proteins
Muscles
Sample Size
Dietary Proteins
Muscle Proteins

Figure

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  Fig. 1 Flow chart representing the publication selection process. Flow chart shows the number of citations retrieved by individual searches and the number of trials included in the review. FSR, Fractional synthesis rate.

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  Fig. 2 Random-effect meta-analysis of weight mean differences (95% CI) in FSR of muscle protein with dietary protein intake compared with control. Sizes of data markers indicate the weight of each study in the analysis.

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  Fig. 3 Funnel plot of all individual studies in the meta-analysis. Studies that evaluated the effect of protein ingestion on FSR were plotted with mean difference on the horizontal axis and the inverse standard error along the vertical axis.

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  Fig. 4 Funnel plot of studies in the meta-analysis with the FSR level (≤ 0.80 g) of low protein dose. Studies that evaluated the effect of protein ingestion on FSR were plotted with mean difference on the horizontal axis and the inverse standard error along the vertical axis.

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