Glucocorticoid Inflammation Paradox in Human Skeletal Muscle

Aging Clinical Trial

Official title: Glucocorticoid Inflammation Paradox in Human Skeletal Muscle

Status Withdrawn

Clinical Trial Summary

In this project, we propose to investigate the metabolic consequences of glucocorticoid therapy, given orally as a 6 day Medrol Dose pack, on human skeletal muscle as measured by western blotting and PCR and skeletal muscle mitochondrial capacity as measured by High-Resolution Respirometry in healthy individuals. Medrol is an FDA approved drug with many clinical indications.

Clinical Trial Description

Healthy male and female individuals ages 60 - 80 (n=10) will be studied before and after 6 days of treatment with self-administered daily oral methylprednisolone.

Subjects will report to the Texas A&M Human Clinical Research Facility (HCRF) for testing before (day 0) and after (day 6) methylprednisolone intervention. Each visit will consist of determination of lean and fat mass using DEXA and a single muscle biopsy. Blood will be collected (up to 15ml) at screening, baseline and the conclusion of the study to measure metabolites and hormones. Phone calls will be made to subjects mid-week (day 3) during the study period to ensure compliance and continued consent.

This will be an unblinded study. All participants will receive methylprednisolone treatment.

Therapeutic Interventions. Methylprednisolone (Medrol®) dose pack. Methylprednisolone is a glucocorticoid. Glucocorticoids are adrenocortical steroids, both naturally occurring and synthetic, which are readily absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract. Therapeutic methylprednisolone is approved for clinical use for a variety of disorders. Medrol®, the agent to be used in this study, is manufactured by Pfizer.

Medrol® is supplied as white tablets, of 4mg each. The tablets come in a commercially produced blister pack with instructions for each day of the 6 day dosing on the packaging. Subjects will receive a standard 6-day, graded dosing regimen of methylprednisolone (24mg, 20mg, 16mg, 12mg, 8mg, and 4 mg on days 1 through 6 respectively, Table 1 above). This methylprednisolone dosing regimen is commonly prescribed for the treatment of inflammation associated with a number of pathologies, including arthritic, respiratory, and neoplastic diseases. The Medrol® pack has clear instructions on how to administer the tablets and participants will be given additional instruction to ensure understanding for proper self-administration. ;

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Aging
• Inflammation

• NCT number: NCT03529929
• Study type: Interventional
• Source: Texas A&M University
• Status: Withdrawn
• Phase: Phase 3
• Start date: June 1, 2019
• Completion date: December 1, 2020