Effects of lactotripeptide ingestion and physical activity intervention on the fatigue status of middle-aged and older adults: a randomized controlled trial

• Published in: Scientific reports Vol. 13; no. 1; p. 15736
• Main Authors: Yoshioka, Masaki, Kaneko, Tomoko, Yoneko, Karen, Matsui, Masahiro, Mori, Shoya, Nishitani, Natsumi, Wenxing, Qin, Ouchi, Kei, Yasuda, Risa, Namatame, Hayate, Sato, Tomohito, Park, Jiyeon, Nakata, Yoshio, Maeda, Seiji, Kosaki, Keisei
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 21.09.2023; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 692/308; 692/700; Clinical trials; Exercise; Fatigue; Humanities and Social Sciences; Ingestion; Intervention; Middle age; Mood; multidisciplinary; Older people; Physical activity; Placebos; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Tablets
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-41669-2

This randomized controlled trial aimed to investigate the effects of eight weeks of lactotripeptide (LTP) ingestion, physical activity (PA) intervention, and combined intervention on the fatigue status of middle-aged and older adults. A total of 78 middle-aged and older adults (63 ± 8 years of age) were randomly assigned to four groups: placebo, LTP, placebo with PA intervention (placebo + PA), and LTP with PA intervention (LTP + PA). All participants ingested the placebo or LTP tablets daily (three tablets/day). The placebo + PA and LTP + PA groups participated in a weekly supervised exercise class and were instructed to increase their moderate- to vigorous-intensity PA at home. The visual analog scale, Brief Fatigue Inventory, Profile of Mood States second edition (POMS2), and Beck Depression Inventory second edition (BDI-II) were administered before and after the intervention. No significant interactions or main effects were observed between LTP ingestion and PA intervention on any of the fatigue scales. The main-effect analyses revealed that the PA intervention improved the total mood disturbance score of the POMS2 ( F  = 5.22, P  = 0.03) and BDI-II score ( F  = 4.81, P  = 0.03). After the post hoc paired comparisons, the total mood disturbance and BDI-II scores improved more with the combined intervention than with the PA intervention alone (percentage difference between the effect of combined intervention and PA intervention alone was 3.7% for total mood disturbance score and 13.7% for BDI-II score). The present study suggests that eight weeks of LTP ingestion and PA intervention did not have a significant effect on fatigue status. However, the PA intervention improved mood status and depressive symptoms, and these effects were enhanced by LTP ingestion.