Yakult for stronger muscles? study tests probiotic against sarcopenia

Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.

Sarcopenia without treatment Inclusion Criteria: 1. Age between 65 and 85 years 2. No use of hormonal replacement therapy (women) 3. No hospital admissions within the last 3 months 4. Sarcopenia criteria: (1) Muscle mass: measured by using InbodyS10 and standardized by height, shown by skeletal muscle index \[SMI=appendicular muscle mass (kg)/height (m2)\]. Low muscle mass was defined as: * Men: SMI \<7.0 kg/m2 * Women: SMI \<5.4 kg/m2 (2) Handgrip strength: measured by electronic hand grip dynamometer. Low handgrip strength was defined as: * Men: \<28 kg * Women: \<18 kg (3) Limb strength: measured by Time for 5 times for chair stand method. Low limb strength was defined as: * Time for 5 times for chair stand: ≧12s Sarcopenia was defined by (1), (2) or (3) Sarcopenia plus Lactobacillus casei strain Shirota (LcS) Inclusion Criteria: 1. Age between 65 and 85 years 2. No use of hormonal replacement therapy (women) 3. No hospital admissions within the last 3 months 4. Sarcopenia criteria: (1) Muscle mass: measured by using InbodyS10 and standardized by height, shown by skeletal muscle index \[SMI=appendicular muscle mass (kg)/height (m2)\]. Low muscle mass was defined as: * Men: SMI \<7.0 kg/m2 * Women: SMI \<5.4 kg/m2 (2) Handgrip strength: measured by electronic hand grip dynamometer. Low handgrip strength was defined as: * Men: \<28 kg * Women: \<18 kg (3) Limb strength: measured by Time for 5 times for chair stand method. Low limb strength was defined as: * Time for 5 times for chair stand: ≧12s Sarcopenia was defined by (1), (2) or (3) Exclusion Criteria of Three groups: 1. Active cancer: currently receiving cancer treatment or have received cancer treatment within the last 3 months 2. Weight change ≥ 5% or weight change ≥ 5 kg within the past 3 months 3. BMI \> 35 kg/m2 4. Disease requiring chronic use of prescription corticosteroids 5. History of ischemic or hemorrhage stroke 6. Unstable or uncontrollable hypertension (\>180/110 mmHg) 7. Doing hemodialysis or peritoneal dialysis within the last 3 months 8. Participation in a structured physical exercise training program within the past 2 year; previous use of creatinine supplementation; use of drugs that can affect bone metabolism (e.g., glucocorticoids, bisphosphonates, vitamin D or calcium). 9. Antibiotics were used in the past 3 months. 10. Products of probiotic were used in the past 2 weeks. 11. Living abroad for one month in the past 3 months 12. Hyperthyroidism without medication therapy 13. Allergic to milk