MAGMA study
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Muscle Ageing and Anti-retroviral study
IRAS ID
212276
Contact name
Brendan Payne
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Newcastle-upon-Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Ageing is one of biggest challenges facing modern medicine and society. Unfortunately we still understand relatively little about the ageing process, and why some people appear to age faster than others. We do know that maintaining good muscle strength in older age appears to be very important in staying healthy.
Healthy ageing is now a very important issue for people living with HIV (PLWH). This is because almost half of PLWH in the UK are now aged over 50. Modern HIV treatment is very effective at controlling the HIV virus, and most PLWH can expect a good life expectancy. However some PLWH do seem to experience more of the common diseases of older age, and a greater decline in physical function as they get older.
We believe that the changes in muscle seen during ageing may be happening faster in PLWH. In particular, we are interested in whether PLWH have increased damage in their ‘mitochondria’. These are the tiny ‘batteries’ which produce energy in all our cells, and especially in muscle. Mitochondria play an important role in ageing.
In this project we want to study both HIV positive and HIV negative older people. This is so we can compare the ageing process in these two groups.
People who take part in this study will come for a one day (about 4 hour) study visit. They will perform simple tests of muscle strength. A scan will be performed to measure the amount of muscle in the body. Blood and urine samples will be collected. A small piece of muscle will be taken from the thigh under local anaesthetic (no stitched are required).
We hope this study will help us better understand how physical function can be maintained in older PLWH. In the future this could lead to new treatments to improve long-term health.REC name
North East - Newcastle & North Tyneside 2 Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
17/NE/0015
Date of REC Opinion
7 Mar 2017
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion