Conditions: Heart Failure
Keywords: Heart Failure Skeletal Muscle Function Metabolism Inflammation Glutamine Fish oil Muscle Function
Allocation: RANDOMIZED | Intervention model: PARALLEL
Enrollment: 31
Healthy volunteers: no

Brief summary:
The aim of this study is to determine whether supplementation of glutamine and fish oil can improve peripheral skeletal muscle function and metabolism in patients with heart failure. The investigators propose a randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled study comparing the combined supplementation of fish oil and glutamine with placebo in patients with stable heart failure. 30 patients with heart failure will be randomized to either receiving 6.5 g fish oil/d and 8 g glutamine/d (n=15) or placebo (n=15) for 90 days. The primary outcome in this study is the change in muscle functional capacity measured as changes in maximum muscle strength and fatigability, peak VO2 and exercise time after supplementation. A secondary outcome is the measurement of systemic and local markers of inflammation.

Detailed description:

Arms:
arm 1: The placebo for fish oil will be safflower oil. For glutamine, soy powder will serve as the placebo. arm 2: 3.285 g of EPA and 3.285 g of Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and L-alanyl-glutamine (8g/d).

Interventions: intervention 1: Glutamine and Fish Oil Supplementation intervention 2: Placebo
Intervention descriptions: intervention 1: This is a prospective, randomized double-blind, placebo-controlled study design. 38 subjects will be randomized to two groups (19 patients in each group), one taking active fish oil and glutamine supplementation and the other taking placebo for 90 days. intervention 2: This is a prospective, randomized double-blind, placebo-controlled study design. 38 subjects will be randomized to two groups (19 patients in each group), one taking active fish oil and glutamine supplementation and the other taking placebo for 90 days.

Protocol document: