Acipimox to improve muscle function
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Acipimox to improve muscle function and sarcopenia – a feasibility study
IRAS ID
293565
Contact name
Miles Witham
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Eudract number
2021-000993-28
ISRCTN Number
ISRCTN87404878
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 11 months, 31 days
Research summary
Sarcopenia is the loss of muscle size and strength that accompanies ageing. It is a major risk factor for falls, need for care, hospital admission, prolonged hospital stay, and earlier death. There are currently no approved drug treatments for this common and important clinical condition. Recent research suggests that levels of NAD, a molecule vital to energy generation, are low in muscles of people with sarcopenia. Boosting NAD levels may therefore provide a way to improve muscle function.
This feasibility study will test whether acipimox, a medicine already used to reduce cholesterol levels, can boost NAD levels in muscle in older people with muscle weakness. We will recruit 16 participants aged 65 and over (8 men and 8 women), all of whom have muscle weakness and slow walking speed. Each participant will attend two visits at the start of the study, then take acipimox 250mg two or three times a day for two weeks, and then attend two further visits.
We will measure muscle strength and walking speed, take a blood sample, take a muscle biopsy (a small sample of muscle from the outside of the thigh), measure how active the participant is over a week using a wrist-worn activity tracker, and perform an MRI scan of the lower leg before and after exercise to test how well the leg muscle recovers from exercise. These tests will be spread across the two visits at the start, and then repeated at the two visits at the end.
The results from this study will tell us whether acipimox can increase NAD levels in muscle, whether we can also detect these changes through blood tests and MRI scans, and which participants are most likely to benefit from acipimox. The results will help us to design a future, larger, randomised controlled trial of acipimox.
REC name
North East - Tyne & Wear South Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
21/NE/0100
Date of REC Opinion
28 Jun 2021
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion