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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Nutr.
Sec. Nutrition and Metabolism
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnut.2025.1486482
Dietary Protein Requirements of Older Adults with Sarcopenia Determined by the Indicator Amino Acid Oxidation Technology
Provisionally accepted
Wenxuan Wu 1
Fengge Chen 2 Hui Ma 2 Jiaxi Lu 1 Yanhong Zhang 3 Haisong Zhou 3 Yunqi Yang 1 Shuhui Nie 1 Rui Wang 1 Weixiao Yue 1 Min Li 1* Xiaoguang Yang 1*- 1 Chinese Center For Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, China
- 2 Shijiazhuang City Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province, China
- 3 Zhengding County Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Zhengding, China
Background: Although protein supplementation may be desirable in the management of sarcopenia, the appropriate protein requirements for older adults with sarcopenia are presently unclear.The aim of this study was to determine the protein requirements of older adults (65-81 y) with sarcopenia by using the indicator amino acid oxidation (IAAO) technology.Methods: Nine older adults with sarcopenia (four male participants and five female participants) participated in the study, with protein intakes ranging from 0.1 to 1.8 g/(kg• d). Each participant consumed an adapted diet with a protein level of 1.0 g/(kg• d) and 1.7 resting energy expenditure (REE) for 2 d. Day 3 was the oxidation day of the study. Diets that delivered energy at a 1.5 × REE were isocaloric. The amounts of phenylalanine and tyrosine maintained at a constant across intakes. Therefore, phenylalanine and tyrosine were added to the protein doses of 0.1-1.5 g/kg, which was based on the highest dose of lactalbumin content [1.8 g/(kg• d)]. Applying a nonlinear mixed-effects model analysis of F 13 CO2, the protein requirement was determined by identifying the breakpoint in the F 13 CO2 data with graded amounts of dietary protein.The mean estimated average requirement (EAR) and recommended nutrient intake (RNI) of protein for older adults with sarcopenia were 1.21 (95% CI: 0.95, 1.46) and 1.54 (95% CI:1.13, 1.95) g/(kg• d), respectively. Conclusions: To our knowledge, this is the first study of protein intake in older adults with sarcopenia and indicates that older adults with sarcopenia may require a higher intake of dietary protein.Clinical trial registration: http://www.chictr.org.cn, ChiCTR2200061383.
Keywords: Protein Requirement, older adults, Sarcopenia, Indicator amino acid oxidation, stable isotope
Received: 26 Aug 2024; Accepted: 17 Feb 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Wu, Chen, Ma, Lu, Zhang, Zhou, Yang, Nie, Wang, Yue, Li and Yang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Min Li, Chinese Center For Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, China
Xiaoguang Yang, Chinese Center For Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.