Development of a Non-invasive Assessment of Skeletal Muscle Loss in Cancer Patients

The University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston17 enrolled

Overview

The long-term objective of this research is to develop a non-invasive approach for early assessment of which patients are at high risk for future development of skeletal muscle atrophy. The investigators hypothesize that the rate constant for the terminal portion of the isotope decay curve following ingestion of a single oral dose of deuterated-3-methylhistidine (D-3MH) provides an accurate measure of this increased risk and that this rate constant can be measured non-invasively from timed spot urine samples. In addition, the investigators hypothesize that ingestion of a meat-containing meal will stimulate synthesis of skeletal muscle proteins to a greater extent than a non-meat-containing meal.

Study Type

OBSERVATIONAL

Enrollment

Conditions

Cachexia

Eligibility

Sex: MALEMin age: 30 YearsMax age: 85 YearsHealthy volunteers:

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion Criteria: * male * 30-85 years * Body Mass Index (BMI) \<30 kg/m2 Exclusion Criteria: * Uncontrolled hypertension * Glomerular filtration rate less than 60 mL/min/1.73 m2 * History of recurrent gastrointestinal bleeding * Unable or unwilling to provide informed consent * Ongoing anti-coagulant therapy

Locations (1)

University of Texas Medical Branch

Galveston, Texas, United States

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Assessment of the slope of terminal D-3MH/3MH decay curve post-dosing.

Assess the slope of the terminal D-3MH/3MH decay curve for the post-dosing time period as calculated using plasma or urine samples and after a meat-containing or meat-free test meal.

Time frame: Post-dosing 12 to 22 hours