R01DK125794

Role of Mitochondrial Dysfunction in the Response to Exercise in Patients with Advanced Kidney Disease - Project Summary

End-stage renal disease (ESRD), the final stage of chronic kidney disease (CKD), requires renal replacement therapy such as hemodialysis. Every year, more than 100,000 individuals start hemodialysis. Patients undergoing hemodialysis are at increased risk of frailty and sarcopenia.

Frailty is a multisystem impairment associated with vulnerability to stressors. It is characterized by the presence of unintentional weight loss, self-reported exhaustion or fatigue, measured muscle weakness, slow walking speed, and low physical activity. Sarcopenia, defined as a reduction of muscle mass and/or muscle strength, is one of the components of the frailty phenotype.

In the general population, physical exercise prevents the loss of muscle mass and improves frailty status. However, in patients with ESRD, exercise is not as effective as in the general population. Mitochondria are essential for proper muscle function, and recent studies suggest that mitochondrial dysfunction contributes to the reduction in muscle mass. We and others have found that mitochondrial abnormalities and decreased mitochondrial content are present in patients with ESRD.

The number of mitochondria depends on the balance between biogenesis (generation of new mitochondria) and mitophagy (degradation of mitochondria). Physical exercise improves mitochondrial function and increases the mitochondrial number in skeletal muscle in the general population. But the benefits of exercise on mitochondrial function in patients with ESRD have not been studied.

In this study, we will evaluate the overarching hypothesis that mitochondrial dysfunction hinders the beneficial effects of exercise in patients with ESRD. Thus, in Specific Aim 1, we will test the hypothesis that coenzyme Q10, a mitochondrial-targeted therapy, improves muscle adaptation to exercise training in patients with ESRD.

For this aim, patients with ESRD will be enrolled in a 12-week exercise program or in an observational group. Patients will also receive either coenzyme Q10 supplementation or placebo. As a result, patients will be assigned to four different groups: exercise plus placebo, exercise plus coenzyme Q10, observational plus placebo, observational plus coenzyme Q10. This study design will allow us to evaluate the individual effect of the interventions and the additive effect of the interventions. We anticipate that the combination of exercise and coenzyme Q10 will have an additive effect in improving mitochondrial function and physical performance in patients with ESRD.

In Specific Aim 2, we will test the hypothesis that the combination of exercise training and coenzyme Q10 improves mitochondrial function in patients with ESRD by increasing mitochondrial respiration and content, and improving mitochondrial dynamics (i.e., remodeling through fission and fusion). Therefore, we will measure mitochondrial respiration and markers of mitochondrial biogenesis and dynamics in muscle biopsies within a sub-group of patients from Specific Aim 1.

Results from these studies could affect millions of people with ESRD by improving physical function and their quality of life.

Vanderbilt University Medical Center

(1) TO PROMOTE EXTRAMURAL BASIC AND CLINICAL BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH THAT IMPROVES THE UNDERSTANDING OF THE MECHANISMS UNDERLYING DISEASE AND LEADS TO IMPROVED PREVENTIONS, DIAGNOSIS, AND TREATMENT OF DIABETES, DIGESTIVE, AND KIDNEY DISEASES. PROGRAMMATIC AREAS WITHIN THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF DIABETES AND DIGESTIVE AND KIDNEY DISEASES INCLUDE DIABETES, DIGESTIVE, ENDOCRINE, HEMATOLOGIC, LIVER, METABOLIC, NEPHROLOGIC, NUTRITION, OBESITY, AND UROLOGIC DISEASES. SPECIFIC PROGRAMS AREAS OF INTEREST INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING: (A) FOR DIABETES, ENDOCRINE, AND METABOLIC DISEASES AREAS: FUNDAMENTAL AND CLINICAL STUDIES INCLUDING THE ETIOLOGY, PATHOGENESIS, PREVENTION, DIAGNOSIS, TREATMENT AND CURE OF DIABETES MELLITUS AND ITS COMPLICATIONS, NORMAL AND ABNORMAL FUNCTION OF THE PITUITARY, THYROID, PARATHYROID, ADRENAL, AND OTHER HORMONE SECRETING GLANDS, HORMONAL REGULATION OF BONE, ADIPOSE TISSUE, AND LIVER, ON FUNDAMENTAL ASPECTS OF SIGNAL TRANSDUCTION, INCLUDING THE ACTION OF HORMONES, COREGULATORS, AND CHROMATIN REMODELING PROTEINS, HORMONE BIOSYNTHESIS, SECRETION, METABOLISM, AND BINDING, AND ON HORMONAL REGULATION OF GENE EXPRESSION AND THE ROLE(S) OF SELECTIVE RECEPTOR MODULATORS AS PARTIAL AGONISTS OR ANTAGONISTS OF HORMONE ACTION, AND FUNDAMENTAL STUDIES RELEVANT TO METABOLIC DISORDERS INCLUDING MEMBRANE STRUCTURE, FUNCTION, AND TRANSPORT PHENOMENA AND ENZYME BIOSYNTHESIS, AND BASIC AND CLINICAL STUDIES ON THE ETIOLOGY, PATHOGENESIS, PREVENTION, AND TREATMENT OF INHERITED METABOLIC DISORDERS (SUCH AS CYSTIC FIBROSIS). (B) FOR DIGESTIVE DISEASE AND NUTRITION AREAS: GENETICS AND GENOMICS OF THE GI TRACT AND ITS DISEASES, GENETICS AND GENOMICS OF LIVER/PANCREAS AND DISEASES, GENETICS AND GENOMICS OF NUTRITION, GENETICS AND GENOMICS OF OBESITY, BARIATRIC SURGERY, CLINICAL NUTRITION RESEARCH, CLINICAL OBESITY RESEARCH, COMPLICATIONS OF CHRONIC LIVER DISEASE, FATTY LIVER DISEASE, GENETIC LIVER DISEASE, HIV AND LIVER, CELL INJURY, REPAIR, FIBROSIS AND INFLAMMATION IN THE LIVER, LIVER CANCER, LIVER TRANSPLANTATION, PEDIATRIC LIVER DISEASE, VIRAL HEPATITIS AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES, GASTROINTESTINAL AND NUTRITION EFFECTS OF AIDS, GASTROINTESTINAL MUCOSAL AND IMMUNOLOGY, GASTROINTESTINAL MOTILITY, BASIC NEUROGASTROENTEROLOGY, GASTROINTESTINAL DEVELOPMENT, GASTROINTESTINAL EPITHELIAL BIOLOGY, GASTROINTESTINAL INFLAMMATION, DIGESTIVE DISEASES EPIDEMIOLOGY AND DATA SYSTEMS, NUTRITIONAL EPIDEMIOLOGY AND DATA SYSTEMS, AUTOIMMUNE LIVER DISEASE, BILE, BILIRUBIN AND CHOLESTASIS, BIOENGINEERING AND BIOTECHNOLOGY RELATED TO DIGESTIVE DISEASES, LIVER, NUTRITION AND OBESITY, CELL AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY OF THE LIVER, DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY AND REGENERATION, DRUG-INDUCED LIVER DISEASE, GALLBLADDER DISEASE AND BILIARY DISEASES, EXOCRINE PANCREAS BIOLOGY AND DISEASES, GASTROINTESTINAL NEUROENDOCRINOLOGY, GASTROINTESTINAL TRANSPORT AND ABSORPTION, NUTRIENT METABOLISM, PEDIATRIC CLINICAL OBESITY, CLINICAL TRIALS IN DIGESTIVE DISEASES, LIVER CLINICAL TRIALS, OBESITY PREVENTION AND TREATMENT, AND OBESITY AND EATING DISORDERS. (C) FOR KIDNEY, UROLOGIC AND HEMATOLOGIC DISEASES AREAS: STUDIES OF THE DEVELOPMENT, PHYSIOLOGY, AND CELL BIOLOGY OF THE KIDNEY, PATHOPHYSIOLOGY OF THE KIDNEY, GENETICS OF KIDNEY DISORDERS, IMMUNE MECHANISMS OF KIDNEY DISEASE, KIDNEY DISEASE AS A COMPLICATION OF DIABETES, EFFECTS OF DRUGS, NEPHROTOXINS AND ENVIRONMENTAL TOXINS ON THE KIDNEY, MECHANISMS OF KIDNEY INJURY REPAIR, IMPROVED DIAGNOSIS, PREVENTION AND TREATMENT OF CHRONIC KIDNEY DISEASE AND END-STAGE RENAL DISEASE, IMPROVED APPROACHES TO MAINTENANCE DIALYSIS THERAPIES, BASIC STUDIES OF LOWER URINARY TRACT CELL BIOLOGY, DEVELOPMENT, PHYSIOLOGY, AND PATHOPHYSIOLOGY, CLINICAL STUDIES OF BLADDER DYSFUNCTION, INCONTINENCE, PYELONEPHRITIS, INTERSTITIAL CYSTITIS, BENIGN PROSTATIC HYPERPLASIA, UROLITHIASIS, AND VESICOURETERAL REFLUX, DEVELOPMENT OF NOVEL DIAGNOSTIC TOOLS AND IMPROVED THERAPIES, INCLUDING TISSUE ENGINEERING STRATEGIES, FOR UROLOGIC DISORDERS,RESEARCH ON HEMATOPOIETIC CELL DIFFERENTIATION, METABOLISM OF IRON OVERLOAD AND DEFICIENCY, STRUCTURE, BIOSYNTHESIS AND GENETIC REGULATION OF HEMOGLOBIN, AS WELL AS RESEARCH ON THE ETIOLOGY, PATHOGENESIS, AND THERAPEUTIC MODALITIES FOR THE ANEMIA OF INFLAMMATION AND CHRONIC DISEASES. (2) TO ENCOURAGE BASIC AND CLINICAL RESEARCH TRAINING AND CAREER DEVELOPMENT OF SCIENTISTS DURING THE EARLY STAGES OF THEIR CAREERS. THE RUTH L. KIRSCHSTEIN NATIONAL RESEARCH SERVICE AWARD (NRSA) FUNDS BASIC AND CLINICAL RESEARCH TRAINING, SUPPORT FOR CAREER DEVELOPMENT, AND THE TRANSITION FROM POSTDOCTORAL BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH TRAINING TO INDEPENDENT RESEARCH RELATED TO DIABETES, DIGESTIVE, ENDOCRINE, HEMATOLOGIC, LIVER, METABOLIC, NEPHROLOGIC, NUTRITION, OBESITY, AND UROLOGIC DISEASES. (3) TO EXPAND AND IMPROVE THE SMALL BUSINESS INNOVATION RESEARCH (SBIR) PROGRAM. THE SBIR PROGRAM AIMS TO INCREASE AND FACILITATE PRIVATE SECTOR COMMERCIALIZATION OF INNOVATIONS DERIVED FROM FEDERAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, TO ENHANCE SMALL BUSINESS PARTICIPATION IN FEDERAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, AND TO FOSTER AND ENCOURAGE PARTICIPATION OF SOCIALLY AND ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND WOMEN-OWNED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS IN TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION. (4) TO UTILIZE THE SMALL BUSINESS TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER (STTR) PROGRAM. THE STTR PROGRAM INTENDS TO STIMULATE AND FOSTER SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION THROUGH COOPERATIVE RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CARRIED OUT BETWEEN SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS, TO FOSTER TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER BETWEEN SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS, TO INCREASE PRIVATE SECTOR COMMERCIALIZATION OF INNOVATIONS DERIVED FROM FEDERAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, AND TO FOSTER AND ENCOURAGE PARTICIPATION OF SOCIALLY AND ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND WOMEN-OWNED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS IN TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION.

93.847 - Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Diseases Extramural Research

National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) [HHS - NIH]

Nashville, Tennessee 37203 United States

Single Zip Code

Research Project Grant (Parent R01 Clinical Trial Required) (PA-20-183)

Amendment Since initial award the total obligations have increased 371% from $692,926 to $3,263,477.