Nutritional and Contractile Regulation of Muscle Growth

• Status: Completed
• Trial end date: 2015-03-01
• Target enrollment: 0
• Participant gender: All

Summary

Muscle wasting, which involves the loss of muscle tissue, is common in many conditions, such as cancer, AIDS, trauma, kidney failure, bone fracture, and sepsis. It is also prevalent among the elderly and in people who experience periods of physical inactivity and weightlessness. Muscle wasting can lead to overall weakness, immobility, physical dependence, and a greater risk of death when exposed to infection, surgery, or trauma. There is a need to develop scientifically based treatments that prevent muscle wasting. As one step towards such a goal, this study will examine the physiological and cellular mechanisms that regulate skeletal muscle growth.

• Phase: Phase 1
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers?: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Details

• Lead Sponsor: The University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston
• Collaborator: National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS)
• Treatments: Everolimus; Nitroprusside; Sirolimus

Criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

• 18 to 35 years of age for the young groups

• 60 to 85 years of age for the older groups

• In the follicular phase for the young women participants

• Ability to sign consent form, as based on a score of greater than 25 on the 30-item Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE)

• Stable body weight for at least 1 year

Exclusion Criteria:

• Physical dependence or frailty, as determined by impairment in any of the activities of daily living (ADLs), history of more than two falls per year, or significant weight loss in the past year

• Exercise training that consists of more than two weekly sessions of moderate to high intensity aerobic or resistance exercise

• Significant heart, liver, kidney, blood, or respiratory disease

• Peripheral vascular disease

• Diabetes mellitus or other untreated endocrine disease

• Active cancer

• History of cancer for participants who may be randomly assigned to rapamycin)

• Acute infectious disease or history of chronic infections (e.g., tuberculosis, hepatitis, HIV, herpes)

• Treatment with anabolic steroids or corticosteroids within 6 months of study entry

• Alcohol or drug abuse

• Tobacco use (smoking or chewing)

• Malnutrition (e.g., body mass index [BMI] less than 20 kg/m2, hypoalbuminemia, and/or hypotransferrinemia)

• Obesity (BMI greater than 30 kg/m2)

• Lower than normal hemoglobin levels