Acute effect of leucine supplementation on recovery: A meta-analysis

A current approach is to use leucine supplementation to improve post-exercise adverse events in humans. This meta-analysis aims to examine the acute effect of leucine supplementation on muscle damage, muscle soreness and strength values during the post-exercise recovery period. The review was conducted in accordance with PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines. The literature search was conducted including Web of Science, Academic Search Ultimate, PubMed and Scopus electronic databases. Main results between leucine and placebo supplementation: muscle damage (p = 0.95), strength (p = 0.28) and muscle soreness (p = 0.66) at 24 hours post-exercise; muscle damage (p= 0.29), strength (p= 0.83) and muscle soreness (p=) 48 hours after exercise; showed that there was no statistically significant difference in muscle damage (p = 0.52), strength (p = 0.44) and muscle soreness (p = 0.83) 72 hours after exercise. In conclusion, this meta-analysis suggests that leucine supplementation has no effect in the acute phase on muscle damage, strength, and muscle pain during the recovery period.