A randomized clinical trial investigating the efficacy of targeted nutrition as adjunct to exercise training in COPD

Background Evidence regarding the efficacy of nutritional supplementation to enhance exercise training responses in COPD patients with low muscle mass is limited. The objective was to study if nutritional supplementation targeting muscle derangements enhances outcome of exercise training in COPD patients with low muscle mass. Methods Eighty‐one COPD patients with low muscle mass, admitted to out‐patient pulmonary rehabilitation, randomly received oral nutritional supplementation, enriched with leucine, vitamin D, and omega‐3 fatty acids (NUTRITION) or PLACEBO as adjunct to 4 months supervised high intensity exercise training. Results The study population (51% males, aged 43–80) showed moderate airflow limitation, low diffusion capacity, normal protein intake, low plasma vitamin D, and docosahexaenoic acid. Intention‐to‐treat analysis revealed significant differences after 4 months favouring NUTRITION for body mass (mean difference ± SEM) (+1.5 ± 0.6 kg, P = 0.01), plasma vitamin D (+24%, P = 0.004), eicosapentaenoic acid (+91%,P