NCT02308228

Metformin to Augment Strength Training Effective Response in Seniors (MASTERS)

Novel Actions of Metformin to Augment Resistance Training Adaptations in Older Adults

• Status: Completed
• Phase: EARLY_Phase 1
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 109 (actual)
• Sponsor: Philip Kern · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 65 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

The purpose of this study is to determine whether a commonly prescribed drug, metformin, can enhance the benefits seen during resistance exercise such as increased muscle mass and strength.

Detailed description

Muscle mass and strength are critical determinants not only of a person's quality of life and functional independence, but also metabolic health, as muscle is the organ primarily responsible for insulin-mediated glucose uptake. The elderly suffer obligatory losses of muscle mass and strength, exacerbated by illness and physical inactivity. Progressive resistance exercise training (PRT) is the most effective intervention identified to improve muscular strength, and combat the muscle atrophy of aging (sarcopenia); however, overall the muscle response to PRT is blunted in the elderly and variability of response increased, with some individuals actually losing muscle mass. The Bamman and Peterson labs have independently been studying the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying the "non-responder" phenotype, with the goal of identifying novel intervention strategies to promote mass and strength gains to improve function. We hypothesize that the abundance of anti-inflammatory, alternatively activated M2 macrophages in muscle predicts response to PRT in the elderly; those with the highest number of M2 macrophages and lowest inflammatory gene expression prior to the start of training gained the most mass. Further, we determined that metformin treatment increased M2 macrophage abundance, and decreased inflammatory cytokine gene expression. These provocative findings have led us to our central hypothesis that adjuvant metformin may improve the responses to PRT in the elderly by altering the muscle tissue inflammatory environment, thereby enhancing mechanisms that drive PRT-induced myofiber hypertrophy.

Conditions

• Aging

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Progressive Resistance Training	Participants will complete 14 weeks (42 sessions, 3x/week) of progressive resistance training which will consist of 8 constant load movements to train all major muscle groups bilaterally.
DRUG	Metformin	Participants will be randomized to receive metformin in conjunction with their strength training program.

Timeline

• Start date: 2015-01-14
• Primary completion: 2017-12-14
• Completion: 2018-06-28
• First posted: 2014-12-04
• Last updated: 2019-09-17
• Results posted: 2019-09-17

Locations

2 sites across 1 country: United States

Regulatory

• FDA-regulated drug study