What this means
Heart rehab patients took a whey protein and vitamin D drink for two weeks, and some inflammation markers dropped. The study was small and exploratory, so it cannot show that the supplement caused these changes.
Plain-English summary written by an AI model from the abstract. The original is below.
- Who it was tested in
- 27 cardiac rehabilitation patients in a randomized trial
- Kind of research
- A clinical trial in people
The science
- Original title
- An Exploratory Randomized Clinical Trial to Assess the Effects of Vitamin D and Leucine-Enriched Whey Protein Supplementation on Inflammaging and Gut Eubacterial Biomass in Cardiac Rehabilitation Patients.
- Authors
- Gheri CF, Luisi MLE, Lucarini L et al.
- Journal
- Biomolecules
- Published
- Oct 27, 2026
- Study type
- Clinical trial · in humans
- PMID
- 42939738 ↗
Abstract
Whey protein (WP) supplementation could affect low-grade inflammation (inflammaging) and gut microbiome dysbiosis, both of which play key roles in non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Twenty-seven cardiac rehabilitation patients were randomly allocated to two groups: the case group (CA) (n = 14) received 80 g/die vitamin D and leucine-enriched WP supplement, combined with a standard hospital diet, while the control group (CO, n = 13) received the standard hospital diet alone. Blood and stool samples were collected at baseline (T0) and after two weeks (T1). At T1, serum levels of interleukin 6 (IL-6) and C-reactive protein (CRP) significantly decreased in the CA group. Ferritin levels significantly decreased within both groups and between the two groups. No significant differences were observed for IL-1β, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), or IL-10. A clear difference in the bacterial intestinal microbiome composition between the case group at T1 (CAT1) and at T0 (CAT0), and control group at T0 (COT0) and at T1 (COT1), was observed. The eubacterial rpoB copy number, which was quantified by qPCR, significantly increased between CAT0 and CAT1, in contrast to the Lactobacillus spp. rpoB copy number. Our exploratory results showed that vitamin D and leucine-enriched WP supplementation could have a potential effect on chronic inflammation and gut microbiota composition in cardiac rehabilitation patients.
Gheri CF, Luisi MLE, Lucarini L et al. An Exploratory Randomized Clinical Trial to Assess the Effects of Vitamin D and Leucine-Enriched Whey Protein Supplementation on Inflammaging and Gut Eubacterial Biomass in Cardiac Rehabilitation Patients. Biomolecules. 2026. doi:10.3390/biom16101484. PMID: 42939738. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42939738/
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