HMB-ICU (V1 31Aug17)
Research type
Research Study
Full title
A Study to Investigate the Effect of β-Hydroxy-β-Methylbutyrate (HMB) on Skeletal Muscle Wasting in Early Critical Illness.
IRAS ID
214667
Contact name
Nick Hart
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust
Eudract number
2016-003557-15
Duration of Study in the UK
3 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Patients commonly develop weakness after being on the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). This weakness can last for a long time, sometimes years, and it makes it harder to return to normal life after hospital. Previous ICU patients have told us that it’s important to find a treatment which helps improve weakness and physical function.
We know that patients lose a lot of muscle while on an ICU which contributes to the weakness. We think that a nutrition supplement called β-hydroxy-β-methylbutyrate (HMB) may be useful to prevent muscle loss and weakness in patients who are on the ICU for longer than 1 week. We would like to compare muscle loss in patients who receive HMB with those who do not. The patients in the group not receiving HMB will receive a placebo.
To measure muscle loss we will use ultrasound to look at the size of the thigh muscle (the rectus femoris). In addition, to determine how much protein is being broken down and built up, we will take muscle biopsies (samples of tissue) from the thigh and also perform studies using ‘specially labeled’ over the first week of ICU stay.
To measure strength and function we will ask the patients to perform certain exercises at various time points. Finally, we will ask the patients to complete a questionnaire about their quality of life at 3-months and 1-year after they are discharged from the hospital. This will help us to understand more about the impact of muscle loss from a stay in the ICU and whether HMB has worked.
We hope that the results of this study will be used to decide elements of a larger study using HMB to see if muscle loss can be reduced in ICU patients and improve their long-term outcomes and reduce the weakness they experience.REC name
London - Riverside Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
17/LO/1635
Date of REC Opinion
31 Oct 2017
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion