The Effect of Chronic Dietary Protein Manipulation on Amino Acids’ Profile and Position Sense in the Elderly Suffering from Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

Abstract

Dietary protein with adequate essential amino acids effectively stimulates protein synthesis and improves muscle mass. Musculoskeletal disorders in lower or upper limbs are not uncommon among patients with type II diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Therefore, this study primarily examines the effects of chronic dietary protein manipulation on amino acids’ profile and position sense in the elderly suffering from T2DM. A total of 26 individuals suffering from non-insulin-dependent T2DM (age > 55 years old) participated in a 12 week nutritional intervention. The subjects were randomly assigned and the control group received 0.8–1.0 g protein/kg/day, while the intervention group received 1.2–1.5 g protein/kg/day. Lean body mass, muscle strength, and position sense were assessed at baseline, as well as at the 6th and 12th week of the intervention. Only in the intervention group, the essential amino acids intake met the current nutritional recommendations (p p p p p = 0.072). In the present investigation, it was revealed that the higher protein intake in the intervention group seemed to have positive effects on muscle strength and nearly positive effects on position sense.

Keywords

• elderly
• protein intake
• sarcopenia
• type 2 diabetes mellitus