Sarcojoint®, the branched-chain amino acid-based supplement, plus resistance exercise improved muscle mass in adults aged 50 years and older: A double-blinded randomized controlled trial.

What Was Tested

Researchers studied Copper (Supplement) in this randomized controlled trial publication.

This 12-week double-blinded randomized controlled trial enrolled community-dwelling adults aged 50 years and older to examine the effects of Sarcojoint®, a comprehensive formula for the musculoskeletal system, plus resistance exercise on muscle mass.

This study intended to enroll 80 participants with a randomly selected subsample of 32 participants (16 from the intervention group and 16 from controls) for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to assess the cross-sectional area of the bilateral mid-thighs.

Results of MRI were the subgroup analysis to examine muscle mass and intramuscular adiposity.

Why It Was Studied

Functional ability and intrinsic capacity are key elements of healthy aging, in which exercise and good nutrition play important roles.

The whole study was pre-registered and data reporting followed Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials with the primary endpoints of muscle mass, 30-s chair-rise test, and gait speed.

Who Took Part

The study group was 80 participants.

PubMed indexes the participants as middle-aged adults and older adults, both men and women.

How the Study Was Run

The researchers set it up as a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study.

Because people in this Copper (Supplement) study were split into groups at random, differences between the groups are less likely to reflect who happened to join each one.

As a double-blind Copper (Supplement) study, the assignments were hidden from both participants and investigators until the end.

A placebo (an inactive look-alike) gave the Copper (Supplement) group a baseline to be compared against.

What Was Measured

The whole study was pre-registered and data reporting followed Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials with the primary endpoints of muscle mass, 30-s chair-rise test, and gait speed.

The subject headings attached to it are Amino Acids, Branched-Chain, Body Composition, Dietary Supplements, Exercise, Hand Strength, Muscle Strength and Muscle, Skeletal.

The authors tagged it with the keywords Branched-chain amino acid, Leucine, Protein, Sarcopenia and Vitamin D.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study of Copper (Supplement) in 80 participants.

The publication is from 2022 (Experimental gerontology), a journal based in England.

More context: the Copper (Supplement) compound page, all human trials.