Immune Function and Muscle Adaptations to Resistance Exercise in Older Adults

Summary

The loss of muscle mass and strength due to aging leads to serious health problems for older adults. Muscle health can be improved by exercise training, but some people improve their strength substantially, whereas others improve little. The reason for this variation is unknown. This study will investigate whether function of the immune system influences how well people respond to exercise. Older Veterans who participate will have their muscle size, strength, and function measured periodically for almost a year. Participants will drink a nutritional supplement or placebo daily and complete a 36 session strength training program. Participants will be vaccinated for tetanus and donate small amounts of blood and muscle tissue during the study so that immune function can be compared to muscle outcomes during training and during a long-term follow-up. The study results should increase the investigators' understanding of the negative effects of aging on muscle and will possibly lead to better strategies for muscle maintenance and rehabilitation for older adults.

Timeline

Start

2014-07-23

Primary completion

2018-12-31

Completion

2019-09-30

Publications

• Background Long DE, Villasante Tezanos AG, Wise JN, Kern PA, Bamman MM, Peterson CA, Dennis RA. A guide for using NIH Image J for single slice cross-sectional area and composition analysis of the thigh from computed tomography. PLoS One. 2019 Feb 7;14(2):e0211629. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0211629. eCollection 2019.
• Results Dennis RA, Long DE, Landes RD, Padala KP, Padala PR, Garner KK, Wise JN, Peterson CA, Sullivan DH. Tutorial for using SliceOmatic to calculate thigh area and composition from computed tomography images from older adults. PLoS One. 2018 Oct 2;13(10):e0204529. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0204529. eCollection 2018.
• Results Kosmac K, Peck BD, Walton RG, Mula J, Kern PA, Bamman MM, Dennis RA, Jacobs CA, Lattermann C, Johnson DL, Peterson CA. Immunohistochemical Identification of Human Skeletal Muscle Macrophages. Bio Protoc. 2018 Jun 20;8(12):e2883. doi: 10.21769/BioProtoc.2883.
• Results Dennis RA, Ponnappan U, Kodell RL, Garner KK, Parkes CM, Bopp MM, Padala KP, Peterson CA, Padala PR, Sullivan DH. Immune Function and Muscle Adaptations to Resistance exercise in Older Adults: Study Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial of a Nutritional Supplement. Trials. 2015 Mar 27;16:121. doi: 10.1186/s13063-015-0631-3.

Drugs

Indications