Method for measuring muscle mass
AssigneesIowa State University Research Foundation, Inc., Vanderbilt University
InventorsSteven L. Nissen, John A. Rathmacher, Paul J. Flakoll
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method for determining muscle mass in a human subject useful for monitoring athletic conditioning, weight loss programs, nutritional deficiencies, and disease states which cause muscle wasting is provided comprising administration of a bolus dose of a metabolic marker for 3-methylhistidine, the use of a three-compartment model to describe data from blood samples collected periodically thereafter, and calculation of muscle mass as a function of specific values generated by the model.
Claims20
A method for determining muscle mass in a human subject comprising:
- (a) administering to said subject a known amount of a metabolic marker for 3-methylhistidine;
- (b) periodically removing blood or urine samples from said subject;
- (c) measuring the amount of said marker and of 3-methylhistidine in each such sample;
- (d) generating a three-compartment mathematical model from said measurements comprising numerical values for the fractional transfer rates in and out of said compartments, numerical values for the mass of 3-methylhistidine in each compartment, and numerical values for the mass transfer rates in and out of said compartments;
- (e) calculating muscle mass as a function of the numerical value of at least one of said values and the total body weight of the subject.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.