Body Composition Changes With Albuterol and Caffeine Versus Placebo in Adolescents

Overview

The purpose of this study is to determine whether taking a combination of caffeine and albuterol three times per day will increase muscle and decrease fat in your child's body and to determine how these medications make your child feel. Albuterol is approved by the FDA for the treatment of asthma. It is not approved to increase muscle and decrease body fat in children.

Previous studies done at Pennington Biomedical have demonstrated that the equivalent of oral albuterol 4mg three times a day (tid) with oral caffeine 100mg tid reduces body fat and increases lean tissue in rodents more than the addition of the effect of the two components separately. The combination of albuterol with caffeine changed body composition without changing food intake. An adult male taking albuterol 4 mg orally tid plus caffeine 100mg orally tid increased lean mass by 1.25% and decreased fat mass by 1.2% over a two month period. These effects are expected to be even greater in a growing adolescent. This pilot project will take the first step towards trying to understanding the safety and potential efficacy of this drug combination. The prospect of using inexpensive medications already approved in the pediatric population for the treatment of asthma as a novel treatment for adolescent obesity addresses a medical need that is presently unmet. Food restriction in adolescence is not only difficult to accomplish, but it also raises concerns about growth and development. A medication approved for the treatment of obesity in the adolescent age group that improves body composition by reducing body fat and increasing lean tissue without needing to restrict food intake would be a useful tool for physicians who address the treatment of obesity in adolescents. Albuterol is a medication, approved for ages 6 and older, used for the treatment of asthma and has also been shown to increase muscle strength and lean body mass in children with spinal muscular atrophy and in healthy young men during an exercise training program. A drug approved for the treatment of adolescent obesity that increases lean tissue, decreases fat tissue and can be given in conjunction with lifestyle modifications would be welcomed by both pediatricians who treat these adolescents and by adolescents who are stigmatized by their obesity. A provisional patent has been submitted by Pennington Biomedical Research Center to protect the combination of caffeine and albuterol in a 1:25 ratio for synergistically increasing muscle mass and decreasing fat mass as a potential treatment for obesity in adolescents. This study will be a double-blinded, randomized, placebo-controlled, pilot study in which subjects will be randomized to receive either placebo or a combination of Albuterol 4 mg and Caffeine 100mg three times per day orally for a total of 8 weeks. Each subject will continue on the study intervention for the entire duration of treatment

Conditions

Interventions

Eligibility

Locations (1)

Outcomes