Nutritional and Physical Intervention During Bed Rest (Bed-Plant)

Maastricht University Medical Centre (MUMC)

Status: Not yet enrolling

Conditions: Muscle Protein Synthetic Response to Protein

Treatments: Device: Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation (NMES); Dietary Supplement: Nutritionally complete tube feed providing a sole source of nutrition with a plant-dominant protein mix; Dietary Supplement: Nutritionally complete tube feed providing a sole source of nutrition with an animal-based protein mix

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other; Industry

Identifiers

NCT07280819

METC 25-020

Details and patient eligibility

About

Hospitalization often involves long periods of bed rest and reduced nutritional intake, which can lead to skeletal muscle loss and anabolic resistance. These effects slow recovery and increase the risk of complications, long-term disability and healthcare costs. Animal-based proteins are effective at stimulating muscle protein synthesis (MPS) because they contain all essential amino acids and have high bioavailability, but they are less sustainable. Plant-based proteins are more environmentally friendly but may be less effective for MPS due to lower essential amino acid content and lower digestibility. Combining different plant proteins may improve their quality, yet their impact during bed rest is still unclear. Neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) may help counteract anabolic resistance by mimicking exercise, but its long-term effects in bedridden individuals are not well studied.

This prospective, randomized, controlled trial aims to assess the effects of a nutritional intervention (plant-dominant versus dairy-based protein) and a physical stimulus (NMES versus non-NMES) on MPS during 4 days of bed rest in healthy young adults.

Enrollment: 20 estimated patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18 to 35 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Healthy (assessed based on routine medical questionnaire)
• Male and female sexes
• Aged between 18 and 35 years inclusive
• BMI between 18.5 and 30.0 kg/m²

Exclusion criteria

• Vegan diet
• Allergies or intolerance to cow's milk products, fish, soy, and/or pea protein
• Galactosemia
• Smoking on a weekly basis (i.e., every week)
• Diagnosed diabetes mellitus
• Chronic corticosteroid use
• Severe kidney and/or liver failure
• Dialysis
• Bleeding disorders, including anticoagulant and antiplatelet therapy
• Currently pregnant

Trial design

Primary purpose: Basic Science

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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20 participants in 2 patient groups

Plant-dominant proteins

Experimental group

Treatment:

Dietary Supplement: Nutritionally complete tube feed providing a sole source of nutrition with a plant-dominant protein mix

Device: Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation (NMES)

Animal-based proteins

Active Comparator group

Treatment:

Dietary Supplement: Nutritionally complete tube feed providing a sole source of nutrition with an animal-based protein mix

Device: Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation (NMES)