# Nutritional Stimulation of Muscle Protein Synthesis and Metabolic Rate After Bariatric Surgery

> **NIH NIH R44** · AMINO COMPANY LLC, THE · 2020 · $806,481

## Abstract

7. Project Summary/Abstract
Bariatric surgery has become a common treatment for severe obesity. While this results in the desired loss of
fat mass, muscle mass is also lost with implications for post-surgical health benefits. It is our overarching
premise that consumption of our essential amino acid (EAA)-based nutritional formulation following bariatric
surgery will preserve muscle mass by stimulating muscle protein synthesis. As a result, the energy utilization
associated with the combination of maintained muscle mass and stimulated muscle protein synthesis will
counter the decrease in metabolic rate that normally occurs in a weight-reduced state. Maintenance of a higher
energy expenditure by EAA consumption will accelerate loss of body fat, as well as help maintain weight loss.
We further propose that consumption of our EAA-based formulation will reduce muscle lipid accumulation (in
the form of both intramyocelluar lipids and intramuscular fat), which will translate to greater improvements in
glucose homeostasis and muscle protein metabolism.
The following aims will test specific hypotheses related to our scientific premise:
Aim 1. Supplementation of the normal diet following bariatric surgery with our proprietary EAA-based
formulation twice per day for 6 months will maintain muscle mass and reduce fat mass more than
supplementation of the diet with an isonitrogenous amount of whey protein. Muscle mass will be directly
measured using a novel tracer-dilution technique using 2H3-creatine. Fat mass and lean body mass will be
measured by DEXA.
Aim 2. Muscle protein fractional synthetic rate (FSR) and total muscle protein synthesis (muscle mass x FSR)
will decline less from pre-surgery values in participants consuming our EAA-based formulation as compared to
whey protein. Muscle protein FSR will be measured by the novel “virtual biopsy” method, which provides an
integrated value over two weeks.
Aim 3. The pre-surgery rate of total energy expenditure (TEE) will be better maintained in individuals
consuming our EAA-based formulation as opposed to whey protein. TEE will be measured over 14-day
intervals using the doubly-labeled water technique before and 6-months following surgery.
Aim 4. Six months after bariatric surgery both intracellular and intramuscular lipids measured by magnetic
resonance spectroscopy and magnetic resonance imaging (MRS/MRI) will be reduced from the pre-surgery
levels to a greater extent in participants consuming our EAA-based formulation than whey protein. We
anticipate that a greater reduction in these muscle lipid parameters will be related to greater improvement in
insulin sensitivity in terms of glucose homeostasis and also in terms of muscle protein synthesis.
Positive results of this study will support the value of our EAA-based composition to aid in preservation of
muscle mass while facilitating fat loss and improving the likelihood of weight stabilization following bariatric
surgery.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10005845
- **Project number:** 1R44DK125151-01
- **Recipient organization:** AMINO COMPANY LLC, THE
- **Principal Investigator:** ROBERT R WOLFE
- **Activity code:** R44 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $806,481
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-06-01 → 2023-02-28

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10005845

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10005845, Nutritional Stimulation of Muscle Protein Synthesis and Metabolic Rate After Bariatric Surgery (1R44DK125151-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10005845. Licensed CC0.

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