Immune cells and muscle regeneration post-kidney transplant
Research type
Research Study
Full title
An investigation of the contribution of immune cells to skeletal muscle regeneration in kidney transplant recipients
IRAS ID
194934
Contact name
NASSER AL-SHANTI
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Manchester Metropolitan University
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 0 months, 0 days
Research summary
Skeletal muscle wasting is a very common problem affecting people who have spent time in hospital and those suffering chronic health conditions. It occurs due to disuse (such as bed-rest or immobilisation) and is further aggravated by drugs and surgical procedures. Careful rehabilitation using exercises to strengthen muscle can normally overcome the muscle weakness, but in cases such as organ transplantation, muscular weakness can persist for many months after surgery and reduces the ability of the patient to complete daily tasks and return to a normal, independent lifestyle.
We plan to investigate possible causes of the slow recovery of skeletal muscles in organ recipients, with a particular focus on the immune system in patients using immunosuppressive drugs.
In healthy people, immune cells migrate to damaged muscle and release cytokines and growth factors to orchestrate muscle regeneration by activating satellite cells (muscle-specific stem cells). We hypothesise that the use of immunosuppressive drugs will inhibit immune system secretions (cytokines, growth factors) and thereby negatively impact upon muscle regeneration.
To investigate this, we plan to collect 20 mL whole-blood samples from people aged 40-65 yrs. The single blood sample will be collected between 8-18 months after chronic kidney disease patients had received a transplant. Blood samples will also be collected from age-matched healthy controls (this is the only inclusion of patients in this study, all other procedures are carried out using cell-culture models). The immune cells will be isolated from the whole blood and 'activated' (to mimic their normal response to infection or damaged tissues). The proteins that are released from the immune cells will be collected and added to muscle cell-cultures (laboratory experiments). We expect that the blood samples from healthy people will promote muscle cell growth and those from patients will not.REC name
East of England - Cambridge East Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
16/EE/0083
Date of REC Opinion
1 Mar 2016
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion