University of Coimbra, Faculty of Sports Sciences and Physical Education-(FCDEF-UC), 3040-248 Coimbra, Portugal.
Research Centre for Sport and Physical Activity, CIDAF-FCDEF-UC, 3040-248 Coimbra, Portugal.
Nutrients. 2021 Mar 28;13(4):1106. doi: 10.3390/nu13041106.
Nowadays, it is accepted that the regular practice of exercise and branched-chain amino acids supplementation (BCAAs) can benefit the immune responses in older persons, prevent the occurrence of physical frailty (PF), cognitive decline, and aging-related comorbidities. However, the impact of their combination (as non-pharmacological interventions) in albumin and the inflammatory markers is not fully understood. Therefore, we investigated the effect of a 40-week multifactorial intervention [MIP, multicomponent exercise (ME) associated or not with BCAAs] on plasma levels of inflammatory markers and albumin in frail older persons (≥75 years old) living at residential care homes (RCH). This study consisted of a prospective, naturalistic, controlled clinical trial with four arms of multifactorial and experimental (interventions-wahshout-interventions) design. The intervention groups were ME + BCAAs ( = 8), ME ( = 7), BCAAs ( = 7), and control group ( = 13). Lower limb muscle-strength, cognitive profile, and PF tests were concomitantly evaluated with plasma levels of albumin, anti- and pro-inflammatory cytokines [Interleukin-10 (IL-10) and Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha (TNF-α) respectively], TNF-α/IL-10 ratio, and myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity at four different time-points: Baseline (T1), after 16 weeks of multifactorial intervention (T2), then after a subsequent 8 weeks washout period (T3) and finally, after an additional 16 weeks of multifactorial intervention (T4). Improvement of cognitive profile and muscle strength-related albumin levels, as well as reduction in the TNF-α levels were found particularly in ME plus BCAAs group. No significant variations were observed over time for TNF-α/IL-10 ratio or MPO activity. Overall, the study showed that MIP triggered slight alterations in the inflammatory and physical function of the frail older participants, which could provide independence and higher quality of life for this population.
如今，人们普遍认为定期锻炼和支链氨基酸补充（BCAAs）可以改善老年人的免疫反应，预防身体虚弱（PF）、认知能力下降和与衰老相关的合并症的发生。然而，它们的组合（作为非药物干预措施）对白蛋白和炎症标志物的影响尚未完全了解。因此，我们研究了 40 周多因素干预[多成分运动（ME）与 BCAAs 联合或不联合]对居住在养老院（RCH）的虚弱老年人（≥75 岁）血浆炎症标志物和白蛋白水平的影响。这项研究包括一项前瞻性、自然主义、对照临床试验，有四个多因素和实验（干预-对照-干预）设计的实验组。干预组为 ME+BCAAs（=8）、ME（=7）、BCAAs（=7）和对照组（=13）。同时评估了下肢肌肉力量、认知状况和 PF 测试以及血浆白蛋白、抗炎和促炎细胞因子[白细胞介素 10（IL-10）和肿瘤坏死因子-α（TNF-α）]水平、TNF-α/IL-10 比值和髓过氧化物酶（MPO）活性在四个不同时间点：基线（T1）、多因素干预 16 周后（T2）、随后 8 周洗脱期后（T3），最后，在多因素干预 16 周后（T4）。在 ME+BCAAs 组中，发现认知状况改善与肌肉力量相关的白蛋白水平升高，以及 TNF-α 水平降低。TNF-α/IL-10 比值或 MPO 活性在整个研究过程中没有明显变化。总的来说，该研究表明，MIP 轻微改变了虚弱老年人的炎症和身体功能，这可以为这一人群提供独立性和更高的生活质量。
