Research paper
Effect of gut microbiome modulation on muscle function and cognition: the PROMOTe randomised controlled trial
Study answer
What this study found
The prebiotic improved cognition versus placebo, but it did not improve the primary muscle outcome of chair rise time or other muscle-strength outcomes over 12 weeks. Chair rise time changed from 10.38 to 9.49 seconds in the prebiotic group versus 10.24 to 9.12 seconds in placebo, with no treatment effect (β = 0.579; 95% CI -1.080 to 2.239; p = 0.494). Cognition factor score improved more with prebiotic than placebo (β = -0.482; 95% CI -0.813 to -0.141; p = 0.014). The intervention also increased Bifidobacterium and microbiome features correlated with cognition and muscle-related measures.
- Study & population
- Randomized controlled trial in older adults aged 60 years or older from the TwinsUK cohort, using a twin-pair 1:1 design with one twin allocated to prebiotic and the matched twin to placebo.
- Intervention
- The active regimen was a prebiotic sachet, Darmocare Pre, at 7.5 g/day for 12 weeks, taken once daily and mixed in water or another drink.
- Key limitation
- The active arm was small, with only 36 participants receiving the prebiotic, and follow-up was short at 12 weeks.
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Open PDFOriginal abstract
Studies suggest that inducing gut microbiota changes may alter both muscle physiology and cognitive behaviour. Gut microbiota may play a role in both anabolic resistance of older muscle, and cognition. In this placebo controlled double blinded random…