Effects of β-hydroxy-β-methylbutyrate supplementation on muscle mass and strength in onabotulinumtoxin type-A-injected and contralateral quadriceps femoris in rabbits.
Rafael Fortuna, Andrew Sawatsky, John C Fuller and 1 others
PMID 34430979WHAT IT FOUND
In rabbits, HMB did not preserve strength or mass in botulinum toxin-injected quadriceps.
It helped preserve contractile material in the injected muscle and maintained strength in the opposite leg.
Key findings
01HMB did not prevent strength or mass loss in the botulinum toxin-injected quadriceps.
02HMB helped maintain strength in the opposite non-injected leg.
03HMB-fed injected muscles had more contractile material than toxin-only injected muscles.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they found
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
This was a rabbit experiment, not a human clinical trial, so it does not show what would happen in patients receiving botulinum toxin. The paper reports 21 rabbits divided into 3 groups but does not give the number in each analysed group. The HMB diet was intended to deliver 120 mg/kg/day, but toxin-injected rabbits ate less food, and in weeks 2 and 3 they received 80 ± 17 and 86 ± 22 mg/kg/day. Strength was measured by stimulating the femoral nerve, which may have missed any direct muscle effect of HMB because botulinum toxin can block nerve activation. The paper tested only one HMB dose and did not test human muscle spasticity, cerebral palsy, or stroke.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the opposite-leg strength finding or the contractile material finding as proof that HMB helps patients after botulinum toxin. The primary injected-muscle strength and mass outcomes were null, the study was in rabbits, and human use is only suggested.