# Amplifying muscle and metabolic recovery in aging using metformin and leucine

> **NIH NIH R03** · UTAH STATE HIGHER EDUCATION SYSTEM--UNIVERSITY OF UTAH · 2020 · $76,250

## Abstract

Lay Abstract
Older adults are prone to periods of muscle disuse (surgery, illness, injury) resulting in muscle atrophy, weakness
and insulin resistance. Moreover, muscle and metabolic recovery following a disuse event is impaired in older
adults thereby placing this vulnerable population at risk for falls, fractures, hospitalizations and development of
metabolic disorders such as type 2 diabetes mellitus. A unique process that may impair muscle regrowth and
glucose homeostasis during recovery from physical inactivity is inflammation-mediated accumulation of the lipid
intermediate, ceramide, and reduced mitochondrial function (defined as H2O2 emission and decline in
mitochondrial biogenesis). Metformin, a widely used treatment in adults with T2D, has multi-organ effects
including skeletal muscle, and is currently being explored as a remedy to offset age-related diseases.
Interestingly, metabolic disruption and lipid accumulation is reversed in conditions of obesity when metformin is
combined with the branched-chain amino acid, leucine, (a known stimulant of muscle protein synthesis) but it is
not known if this therapeutic combination can amplify muscle and metabolic recovery following disuse in aging.
Therefore, the goal of this project is to re-purpose metformin and combine it with leucine to enhance muscle size
and glucose regulation in old mice during recovery from disuse (i.e., hindlimb unloading). This information will
be critical in the development new therapeutics to timely and fully reverse muscle atrophy, weakness and
metabolic decline in older adults following disuse.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9999432
- **Project number:** 5R03AG064216-02
- **Recipient organization:** UTAH STATE HIGHER EDUCATION SYSTEM--UNIVERSITY OF UTAH
- **Principal Investigator:** Micah J Drummond
- **Activity code:** R03 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $76,250
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-09-01 → 2022-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9999432

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9999432, Amplifying muscle and metabolic recovery in aging using metformin and leucine (5R03AG064216-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9999432. Licensed CC0.

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