EXPLORE CKD
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Exploring the mechanisms of muscle wasting in CKD
IRAS ID
187619
Contact name
Alice C Smith
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
5 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Patients with Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) suffer with muscle wasting which is an important clinical problem as it is strongly associated with morbidity and mortality and can begin very early in the disease process. It inevitably leads to an impaired quality of life and an extremely sedentary lifestyle - which is also detrimental to health since we know that regular physical exercise has many benefits on metabolic and cardiorespiratory health. However, there has been little research on this topic and we do not fully understand what causes patients to loose muscle mass. What little work has been done was performed using an animal model of CKD, which while it offers a good opportunity to study muscle wasting, does not replicate what we see in human CKD patients. The aim of this study is to grow small muscle taken from the leg of CKD patients and matched controls in the laboratory to try to find out what is different in the muscle of CKD patients and what may be the cause of their muscle loss. We also want to know if exercise could be of any therapeutic benefit. We know already that exercise can help reduce cardiovascular risk and improve quality of life, but we do not yet know if it can be used to overcome muscle wasting. To investigate this we will experimentally stretch the muscle that we have grown, which simulates exercise, and see if there are any positive effects. Eligible patients will be those with CKD stages 3b-5 together with matched controls and the research will be carried out at Leicester General Hospital and the University of Leicester lasting about 3 years. Participants will undergo a one-off muscle biopsy from the thigh, a blood test and asked to provide a urine sample and complete a questionnaie.
REC name
East Midlands - Leicester South Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
15/EM/0467
Date of REC Opinion
28 Nov 2015
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion