β-alanine Supplementation on Knee Extensor Contractile and Force Properties

NCT02819505 | Completed Phase 4

• 1 other identifier: 369
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 23
• Locations: 0 countries
• Sites: N/A

Brief Summary

Carnosine (made by bonding β-alanine and histidine) has been suggested to contribute to the extension of physical exercise, counteracting the decline in muscle performance due to fatigue. However this process is largely restricted by the levels of β-alanine available in the human body. Carnosine levels can be raised through long term ingestion of food products, such as meat, fish and poultry, however it can also be significantly increased by β-alanine supplementation. Improved β-alanine levels can potentially advance exercise capacity and exercise performance, which may have been previously limited. Recently research has demonstrated no beneficial effect of β-alanine supplementation on neuromuscular performance in active, healthy males when they were well rested, with no prior exercise or fatigue of the assessed muscle. It remains unknown if β-alanine supplementation would aid physical performance when the muscle has already been fatigued. This is currently being investigated in older adults (60-80 years), however there is no clear comparison between the potential effects in younger and older participants. Therefore this investigation hopes to examine the effects of 4 week β-alanine supplementation on lower limb contractile and force properties, pre and post muscle specific fatigue in 18-30 year old males.

Conditions

Muscle Function

Keywords

beta-alanine; carnosine; neuromuscular; stimulation; skeletal muscle

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Half relaxation time

  The time taken to decline to 50% maximum following a evoked twitch contraction

  4 weeks

Secondary Outcomes (5)

• Force frequency relationship

  4 weeks

• Time to peak tension

  4 weeks

• Electromechanical delay

  4 weeks

• Maximal voluntary force production

  4 weeks

• Explosive voluntary force production

  4 weeks

Study Arms (2)

Beta-alanine supplementation

EXPERIMENTAL

Participants will be supplemented with 6.4g·d-1 β-alanine (CarnoSyn™, NAI, USA). The β-alanine dosing regimen will consist of two 800 mg tablets four times per day at 3-4 hour intervals or the same regimen for placebo tablets. The use of multiple small doses throughout the day has been used in numerous studies using β-alanine in solutions or gelatine capsules (Hoffman et al., 2008; Sale et al., 2011; Saunders et al., 2012; Sale et al., 2012; Tobias et al., 2013) in order to circumvent potential symptoms of paraesthesia (see box xii for possible risks and discomforts). Overall increases have been shown to be between 40% and 80% depending upon dose (between 3.2 and 6.4 g·d-1) and duration of administration (between 4 and 10 weeks) (Sale et al., 2012).

Dietary Supplement: beta-alanine

Placebo supplementation

PLACEBO COMPARATOR

Participants will be supplemented with 6.4g·d-1 placebo (maltodextrin; NAI, USA).

Dietary Supplement: Placebo

Interventions

beta-alanine DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT

Beta-alanine supplementation

Placebo DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT

Placebo supplementation

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 30 Years
• Sex: male
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64)

You may qualify if:

• physically active
• male

You may not qualify if:

• vegetarian/vegan
• have been using β-alanine or carnosine supplements within the past 6 months
• Bone disorders in the assessed lower limb, sustained within the previous 2 years, including osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, bone cyst and osteopenia.
• Non-arthroscopic joint surgery, or joint replacement, ever, in the assessed limb (knee, hip and ankle).
• Lower limb leg injuries including sprains and strains, joint dislocations and fractures.
• Regular knee pain in the assessed limb when performing daily movement tasks.
• Participation within a resistance training programme in the last 6 months

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Nottingham Trent University: lead

Related Publications (5)

• Sale C, Saunders B, Harris RC. Effect of beta-alanine supplementation on muscle carnosine concentrations and exercise performance. Amino Acids. 2010 Jul;39(2):321-33. doi: 10.1007/s00726-009-0443-4. Epub 2009 Dec 20.

  PMID: 20091069 BACKGROUND

• Sale C, Artioli GG, Gualano B, Saunders B, Hobson RM, Harris RC. Carnosine: from exercise performance to health. Amino Acids. 2013 Jun;44(6):1477-91. doi: 10.1007/s00726-013-1476-2. Epub 2013 Mar 12.

  PMID: 23479117 BACKGROUND

• Harris RC, Sale C. Beta-alanine supplementation in high-intensity exercise. Med Sport Sci. 2012;59:1-17. doi: 10.1159/000342372. Epub 2012 Oct 15.

  PMID: 23075550 BACKGROUND

• Artioli GG, Gualano B, Smith A, Stout J, Lancha AH Jr. Role of beta-alanine supplementation on muscle carnosine and exercise performance. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2010 Jun;42(6):1162-73. doi: 10.1249/MSS.0b013e3181c74e38.

  PMID: 20479615 BACKGROUND

• Jones RL, Barnett CT, Davidson J, Maritza B, Fraser WD, Harris R, Sale C. beta-alanine supplementation improves in-vivo fresh and fatigued skeletal muscle relaxation speed. Eur J Appl Physiol. 2017 May;117(5):867-879. doi: 10.1007/s00421-017-3569-1. Epub 2017 Mar 27.

  PMID: 28349262 DERIVED

MeSH Terms

Interventions

beta-Alanine

Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Alanine; Amino Acids; Amino Acids, Peptides, and Proteins

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: phase 4
• Allocation: NON RANDOMIZED
• Masking: TRIPLE
• Who Masked: PARTICIPANT, INVESTIGATOR, OUTCOMES ASSESSOR
• Purpose: BASIC SCIENCE
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Academic Associate

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: June 21, 2016
• First Posted: June 30, 2016
• Study Start: December 1, 2014
• Primary Completion: August 1, 2015
• Study Completion: August 1, 2015
• Last Updated: June 30, 2016

Record last verified: 2016-06

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share