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. 2023 Oct 12;8(5):102.
doi: 10.3390/geriatrics8050102.

Can Leucine Supplementation Improve Frailty Index Scores?

Cristina Buigues  1   2 , Olga Theou  3   4 , Rosa Fonfría-Vivas  1   2 , Francisco M Martínez-Arnau  1   5 , Kenneth Rockwood  3 , Omar Cauli  1   2
Affiliations

Can Leucine Supplementation Improve Frailty Index Scores?

Cristina Buigues et al. Geriatrics (Basel). .

Abstract

Sarcopenia and frailty are important conditions that become increasingly prevalent with age. There is partial overlap between the two conditions, especially in terms of the physical aspects of the frailty phenotype: low grip strength, gait speed, and muscle mass. This study examined whether administration of the essential branched-chain amino acid leucine, besides improving sarcopenia, may reduce frailty assessed by frailty index (FI) in older institutionalized people living in nursing homes. We conducted a secondary analysis of a placebo-controlled, randomized, double-blind design study (ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03831399). The study included fifty males and females aged 65 and over who were living in nursing homes and did not have dementia. The participants were randomized to a parallel group intervention of 13 weeks' duration, with a daily intake of leucine (6 g/day) or placebo (lactose, 6 g/day). The outcome of this study was to evaluate whether there was a change in the level of a 95 item FI compared to the baseline and to compare the effect of the leucine group versus the placebo group. A significant inverse correlation was found between FI and performance of the activities of daily life, cognitive function, gait and balance, muscle function parameters, and nutritional status (p < 0.001 in all cases). There were no statistically significant differences in FI levels at baseline (placebo group FI 0.27 ± 0.08 and leucine group FI 0.27 ± 0.10) and at the 13 week follow-up (placebo group FI 0.28 ± 0.10 and leucine group FI 0.28 ± 0.09). There were also no significant differences between the leucine and placebo groups in the mean FI difference between baseline and follow-up (p = 0.316, Cohen's d: 0.04). This pilot study showed that a nutritional supplementation with leucine did not significantly modify the frailty index in older nursing home residents.

Keywords: frailty index; muscular strength; nursing home; randomized clinical trial; skeletal muscle.

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Conflict of interest statement

Kenneth Rockwood has asserted copyright of the Clinical Frailty Scale through Dalhousie University’s Industry, Liaison, and Innovation Office. Use is free for education, research, and not-for-profit healthcare. Users agree not to change, commercialize, or charge for the scale.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Correlation between Frailty Index at baseline and psycho-geriatric assessments ((A) Barthel Index, (B) Mini Mental State Examination, (C) Mini Nutritional Assessment, (D) Tinetti Balance and Gait Evaluation).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Frailty index levels at baseline and follow-up for the placebo and intervention groups.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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