Effect of bimagrumab on thigh muscle volume and composition in men with casting-induced atrophy

What Was Tested

Researchers studied Bimagrumab in this randomized controlled trial publication.

Patients experiencing disuse atrophy report acute loss of skeletal muscle mass which subsequently leads to loss of strength and physical capacity.

This study aimed to explore the clinical potential of bimagrumab, a human monoclonal antibody targeting the activin type II receptor, for the recovery of skeletal muscle volume from disuse atrophy using an experimental model of lower extremity immobilization.

Who Took Part

By PubMed's age tags, the people studied were teenagers, young adults and adults, both men and women.

In this double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, healthy young men (n = 24; mean age, 24.1 years) were placed in a full-length cast of one of the lower extremities for 2 weeks to induce disuse atrophy.

How the Study Was Run

In design terms this was a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study.

Because people in this Bimagrumab study were split into groups at random, differences between the groups are less likely to reflect who happened to join each one.

Neither the participants nor the staff measuring them knew who was on Bimagrumab, so expectations could not easily colour the readings.

Some participants received a placebo instead of Bimagrumab, giving a reference point.

The methods mention a period of 2 weeks.

Changes in thigh muscle volume (TMV) and inter-muscular adipose tissue (IMAT) and subcutaneous adipose tissue (SCAT) of the thigh, maximum voluntary knee extension strength, and safety were assessed throughout the 12 week study.

What Was Measured

Topics PubMed links to this paper include Antibodies, Blocking, Antibodies, Monoclonal, Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized, Body Composition, Casts, Surgical, Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Muscle Strength.

Author keywords: Activin type II receptor, Bimagrumab, Disuse atrophy, Inter-muscular adipose tissue and Thigh muscle volume.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study of Bimagrumab over 2 weeks.

Its findings take up roughly 7 sentences of the abstract and are left out here on purpose; the source paper is the place to read them.

The publication is from 2017 (Journal of cachexia, sarcopenia and muscle), a journal based in Germany.

More context: the Bimagrumab compound page, all human trials.