Effect of Nutrient Delivery Pattern on Biological Rhythms in Human Skeletal Muscle
Condition: Circadian Rhythms; Feeding Patterns
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      Recent work has established biological rhythms in human skeletal muscle. It remains unknown
      how the timing and pattern of meals influences these rhythms. Therefore, this study sets out
      to establish how frequent (CONSTANT) vs infrequent (BOLUS) feeding patterns influence
      established biological rhythms in skeletal muscle.
    

Detailed description: 
      Human metabolism is regulated on a daily basis via a circadian timing system that coordinates
      metabolic responses between various tissues. Skeletal muscle is a major site for the
      oxidation or storage of key metabolites, with recent studies at Bath and Surrey demonstrating
      biological rhythms in this tissue over a 24-h cycle. It is well established that dysregulated
      metabolism in skeletal muscle contributes to poor metabolic health and that poor diet is a
      causal factor in this deterioration. Diet can be characterised by three nutritional
      considerations: how much is eaten (i.e. quantity/dose), what is eaten (i.e. type) and when it
      is eaten (i.e. timing). Whilst most dietary approaches and most scientific studies have
      focused on the first two factors, there is convincing evidence that human health is also
      dictated by the pattern of nutrient delivery; this includes the frequency and regularity of
      daily eating occasions, along with their timing both in absolute terms (i.e. time-of-day) and
      relative to when other inter-related daily events occur - or usually occur (e.g. light
      exposure, sleep, exercise, etc.).

      It remains unknown whether the interaction of such factors may affect the biological rhythms
      previously documented in human skeletal muscle. In particular, from a basic science
      perspective, the fundamental contrast between frequent versus infrequent feeding warrants
      investigation. To this end, 16-24 healthy adults will be randomly allocated to receive their
      individual daily energy requirements delivered via naso-gastric infusion either continuously
      over 24 hours (n=8-12; CONSTANT) or as two bolus infusions at the start (0800 h) and
      mid-point (2000 h) of the monitoring period (n=8-12; BOLUS). Serial skeletal muscle (vastus
      lateralis) biopsies will be sampled every 4 hours over a controlled 24-h sleep-wake cycle.
    

Intervention name(s): Constant; Bolus
Intervention type(s): Other; Other
Intervention description(s): Participants will be provided with their daily energy requirements in a continuous drip across the day (1 ml/minute).; Participants will be provided with their daily energy requirements in two bolus feeds. One at 08:00-08:15 and one at 20:00-20:15
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Intervention model description: Participants will be randomised to one of two parallel trial arms: constant feed or bolus feed
Masking: Single (Participant)
Primary purpose: Basic Science
Keywords: Feeding Patterns; Skeletal Muscle; Metabolism; Circadian Rhythms; Diurnal Rhythms