Leucine and ACEi to treat sarcopenia
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Perindopril and Leucine to improve muscle function in older people
IRAS ID
161699
Contact name
Miles D Witham
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Dundee
Eudract number
2014-003455-61
ISRCTN Number
ISRCTN90094835
Duration of Study in the UK
3 years, 5 months, 31 days
Research summary
Sarcopenia, the loss of muscle that occurs with advancing age, is a major contributor to immobility, falls, nursing home admissions and death. Exercise is the mainstay of attempts to minimise its impact but many older people are unwilling or unable to do adequate exercise.
Two potential medical treatments show promise: leucine, and angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor (ACEi) drugs such as perindopril. Leucine, a natural component of proteins, improves certain body pathways implicated in sarcopenia. Older adults need larger amounts of leucine before they can build up protein in muscles. Increasing leucine intake increases muscle protein build up even when less protein is consumed. Therefore leucine may be the stimulus required to build stronger muscles in older people.
Perindopril is commonly used medicines for managing heart trouble. Our previous research showed that use of perindopril in older people with mobility problems improved their ability to exercise just as much as 6 months of exercise training
would have done.We will study the effect of leucine and perindopril for 1 year with older adults with sarcopenia. We will include 440 people >=70years with sarcopenia from around 15 centres associated with the NHS in the UK. Each person will receive perindopril or placebo, and also leucine or placebo. We will measure changes in physical ability: walking speed, time taken to do 5 chair stands, balance, muscle strength, distance walked in 6 minutes and quality of life. Change in muscle size will be measured using DEXA scans (similar to X-rays).Blood tests will be analysed to find out how the two interventions work and for indicators (biomarkers) to help us target which people are likely to respond best to treatment.
REC name
East of Scotland Research Ethics Service REC 2
REC reference
14/ES/1099
Date of REC Opinion
21 Nov 2014
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion