Original article Effect of whey protein supplementation combined with resistance training on body composition, muscular strength, functional capacity, and plasma-metabolism biomarkers in older women with sarcopenic obesity: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial Hellen C.G. Nabuco a, b, * , Crisieli M. Tomeleri b, c , Rodrigo R. Fernandes b , Paulo Sugihara Junior b , Edilaine F. Cavalcante b , Paolo M. Cunha b , Melissa Antunes b , Jo ~ ao Pedro Nunes b , Danielle Venturini d ,D  ecio S. Barbosa d , Roberto Carlos Burini e , Analiza M. Silva f , Luís B. Sardinha f , Edilson S. Cyrino b a Federal Institute of Science and Technology of Mato Grosso, Highway BR-364, Km 329, Cuiab a, MT 78106-970, Brazil b Metabolism, Nutrition, and Exercise Laboratory, Physical Education and Sport Center, Londrina State University, Highway Celso Garcia Cid, Londrina, Paran a 86057-970, Brazil c Faculty of Physical Education, University of Campinas,  Erico Veríssimo Avenue, Campinas, S~ ao Paulo 13083-970, Brazil d Clinical Analyses Laboratory, Londrina State University, Highway Celso Garcia Cid, Londrina, Paran a 86057-970, Brazil e Exercise and Nutrition Metabolism Center, Department of Public Health, Botucatu School of Medicine, UNESP, Botucatu, S~ ao Paulo 18618-687, Brazil f Exercise and Health Laboratory, CIPER, Faculdade de Motricidade Humana, Universidade de Lisboa, Estrada da Costa, Cruz Quebrada, Dafundo 1499-002, Portugal article info Article history: Received 9 November 2018 Accepted 25 April 2019 Keywords: Sarcopenia Obesity Protein intake IL-6 Lean tissue summary Backgrounds & aims: Obesity and sarcopenia are independent illnesses associated with contemporary dietary and physical activity behaviors, aggravated by aging. Their coexistence is termed sarcopenic obesity (SO). Hence, increasing protein intake and resistance training (RT) are interventions that could counteract these illnesses. The objective of this investigation was to analyze the effects of whey protein (WP) supplementation associated with RT on body composition, muscular strength, functional capacity, and plasma-metabolism biomarkers in older women with SO. Methods: Twenty six sarcopenic (appendicular lean soft tissue ALST < 15.02 kg) obese (body fat mass R 35%) older women were randomly assigned to receive daily, either 35 g of WP (WP group) or placebo (PLA group), combined with supervised RT (8 exercises, 3  8e12 rep, 3 times a week), during a 12-week protocol. Blood samples, blood pressure, dietary intake, functional capacity tests, the one repetition maximum (1RM) test, and body composition were assessed before and after the intervention period. Two-way analysis of variance for repeated measures was applied for comparisons. Results: The WP group presented greater (P < 0.05) increases in ALST (WP ¼ 6.0% vs. PLA ¼ 2.5%) and decreases in (P < 0.05) total (3.3% vs. 0.3%) and trunk fat mass (WP ¼5.1% vs. PLA ¼1.1) and IL-6 (WP ¼34.6% vs. PLA ¼ 9.3%) compared with the PLA group. Both groups demonstrated improved (P < 0.05) scores for muscular strength, waistehip ratio, functional capacity, and other plasma- metabolism biomarkers without significant differences between conditions. Conclusion: Whey protein combined with RT increased ALST, and decreased total and trunk fat mass, improving sarcopenia and decreasing SO in older women, with a limited impact on inflammation. Registered under ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier n  NCT03752359. © 2019 European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. * Corresponding author. Federal Institute of Science and Technology of Mato Grosso, Ant^ onio Ces ario de Figueiredo Street, 460, Cuiab a, Mato Grosso 78032-143, Brazil. E-mail addresses: hellen.nabuco@svc.ifmt.edu.br (H.C.G. Nabuco), crisielitomeleri@gmail.com (C.M. Tomeleri), rodrigo.r.fernandes@gmail.com (R.R. Fernandes), juniornutricao@hotmail.com (P. Sugihara Junior), edilainefungari@gmail.com (E.F. Cavalcante), pcunha88@hotmail.com (P.M. Cunha), melissa.antunes@hotmail.com (M. Antunes), joaonunes.jpn@hotmail.com (J.P. Nunes), danielle.venturini@bol.com.br (D. Venturini), sabbatini2011@hotmail.com (D.S. Barbosa), burini@fmb.unesp.br (R.C. Burini), analiza@fmh.ulisboa.pt (A.M. Silva), lbsardinha55@gmail.com (L.B. Sardinha), edilsoncyrino@gmail.com (E.S. Cyrino). Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Clinical Nutrition ESPEN journal homepage: http://www.clinicalnutritionespen.com https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clnesp.2019.04.007 2405-4577/© 2019 European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Clinical Nutrition ESPEN 32 (2019) 88e95