Chronic Muscle Disuse in the Elderly

November 15, 2016 updated by: Michael J. Toth, Ph.D., University of Vermont

Muscle Disuse and Contractile Dysfunction in the Elderly

The purpose of this study is to define the effects of chronic disuse on skeletal muscle structure and function in elderly individuals at the cellular and molecular level by examining elderly characterized by chronic muscle disuse (patients with knee osteoarthritis) and healthy elderly no evidence of knee osteoarthritis and normal physical activity levels.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Skeletal muscle disuse is an important contributing factor to physical disability. Disuse is more frequent in the elderly and they are more susceptible to its debilitating effects because of their diminished physiological reserve. Despite these facts, the mechanisms whereby disuse promotes skeletal muscle contractile dysfunction in this population remain largely undetermined. Therefore, the investigators will systematically test for modifications of single skeletal muscle fiber structure and function that underlie contractile dysfunction. Elderly individuals characterized by chronic muscle disuse (patients with knee osteoarthritis) will be compared to carefully-matched controls with no clinical evidence of knee osteoarthritis and normal activity levels. Thereafter, elderly with chronic disuse will undergo an exercise intervention to remediate muscle disuse. The investigators hypothesize that muscle disuse impairs contractile function, in part, through alterations in myosin kinetics, myofilament protein content and the mechanical properties of the myofilament lattice and that exercise rehabilitation will counteract these deficits. The investigators will specifically examine the effect of disuse on mechanical, kinetic and structural properties and molecular composition of single muscle fibers in cases and controls, as well as determine how increasing muscle use in elderly with chronic disuse via exercise training affects muscle fiber mechanical, kinetic and structural properties and molecular composition. These translational studies will provide the first comprehensive evaluation of the cellular and molecular mechanisms through which muscle disuse alters skeletal muscle structure and contractile function in elderly humans. This knowledge can assist in the development and refinement of preventative and corrective therapies for disability by tailoring these approaches to address specific molecular defects.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

35

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Vermont
      • Burlington, Vermont, United States, 05405
        • University of Vermont and State Agricultural College

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

60 years to 80 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

KNEE OSTEOARTHRITIS PATIENTS

Inclusion Criteria:

  • 60-80 yrs of age
  • physician-diagnosed, symptomatic knee osteoarthritis
  • ambulatory and able to perform lower extremity resistance exercise

Exclusion Criteria:

  • rheumatoid arthritis or other autoimmune disease
  • chronic heart, lung, kidney or liver disease or hypertension
  • diabetes
  • history of stroke
  • other neurological or musculoskeletal disease

HEALTHY CONTROLS

Criteria are identical to those for knee osteoarthritis patients above, but controls will have no clinical or radiographic evidence of osteoarthritis and will have normal activity physical activity levels.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Basic Science
  • Allocation: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Other: Resistance exercise training
Exercise is being used as an experimental tool to determine if remediation of muscle disuse counteracts cellular/molecular defects in muscle structure/function.
Behavioral: Resistance exercise training
Lower extremity resistance exercise training 3x/wk

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Single muscle fiber structure/function
Time Frame: Baseline
Baseline
Single muscle fiber structure/function
Time Frame: 3.5 months (post-training)
3.5 months (post-training)

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

University of Vermont

Collaborators

National Institute on Aging (NIA)

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Michael J. Toth, Ph.D., University of Vermont and State Agricultural College

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

October 1, 2010

Primary Completion (Actual)

June 1, 2016

Study Completion (Actual)

June 1, 2016

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

August 25, 2010

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

August 26, 2010

First Posted (Estimate)

August 27, 2010

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

November 16, 2016

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

November 15, 2016

Last Verified

November 1, 2016

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 033547
  • R01AG033547 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

Clinical Trials on Osteoarthritis

Clinical Trials on Resistance exercise training

Search Similar Trials

Sponsors and Collaborators

Medical Conditions

Drug Interventions

CROs by country

CROs in Israel

Conditions

Rare Diseases

Drug Interventions

Dietary Supplements

Sponsor/Collaborators

Locations

Subscribe