About the Authors

María D. Girón

mgiron@ugr.es

‡ These authors contributed equally to this work.

Affiliation Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology II, University of Granada, Granada, Spain

Jose D. Vílchez

Affiliation Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology II, University of Granada, Granada, Spain

Sathyavageeswaran Shreeram

‡ These authors contributed equally to this work.

Affiliation Abbott Nutrition R&D, Singapore, Singapore

Rafael Salto

Affiliation Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology II, University of Granada, Granada, Spain

Manuel Manzano

Affiliation Abbott Nutrition R&D, Granada, Spain

Elena Cabrera

Affiliation Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology II, University of Granada, Granada, Spain

Nefertiti Campos

Affiliation Abbott Nutrition R&D, Granada, Spain

Neile K. Edens

Affiliation Abbott Nutrition R&D, Columbus, Ohio, United States of America

Ricardo Rueda

Affiliation Abbott Nutrition R&D, Granada, Spain

Jose M. López-Pedrosa

Affiliation Abbott Nutrition R&D, Granada, Spain

Competing Interests

This study was funded by Abbott Nutrition R&D, the employer of SS, MM, NC, NKE, RR and JMLP. SS, MM, NKE, RR and JMLP are inventors on patents licensed to Abbott Laboratories related to HMB methods of use. This does not alter the authors' adherence to all the PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials, as detailed online in the guide for authors.

Author Contributions

Conceived and designed the experiments: MDG RS SS NKE MM JMLP. Performed the experiments: MDG JDV RS EC SS. Analyzed the data: MDG RS SS NKE MM NC RR JMLP. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: MDG JDV RS EC SS. Wrote the paper: MDG RS SS MM NC JMLP.