NCT03243812: DREPAMUSCLE

Muscle Function and Its Biological and Physiological Determinants in Sickle Cell Disease

Completed NA Last updated 19 December 2025

What this trial tests

NA trial testing Blood sampling in Sickle Cell Disease in 77 participants. Completed in 13 December 2019.

Timeline

15 September 2017

Primary endpoint
13 December 2019

13 December 2019

Quick facts

Lead sponsor	Hospices Civils de Lyon
Phase	NA
Status	Completed
Study type	INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation	non randomized
Design	parallel
Masking	none
Primary purpose	basic science
Enrollment	77
Start date	15 September 2017
Primary completion	13 December 2019
Estimated completion	13 December 2019
Sites	1 location across France

Drugs / interventions tested

• Blood sampling — full drug profile →
• Maximum Voluntary Contraction (MVC) test force
• Localized muscle endurance test
• Self-paced six-minute walk test

Conditions studied

• Sickle Cell Disease — all drugs for Sickle Cell Disease →

Sponsor

Hospices Civils de Lyon — full company profile →

Who can join

Adults 15 to 60, any sex, with Sickle Cell Disease. Patients with the condition only — healthy volunteers not accepted.

Sponsor's own description

Background : Sickle cell patients have profound remodeling of their muscle microcirculation networks with signs of amyotrophy. However, the consequences of these muscle alterations on the functional status of muscles are unknown. In addition, whether the poor physical fitness of sickle cell patients can be attributed, at least partly, to an hypothetical muscle dysfunction has never been tested.

Purpose : this study will compare the muscle function of legs between sickle cell patients (SS and SC genotypes) and healthy individuals (AA genotype) before, during and after a short localized muscle endurance exercise.

Abstract : Very recently, a study reported large differences between the muscle microcirculation networks of sickle cell patients compared to healthy individuals with decreased capillary density and higher proportion of large capillaries in the former population. In addition, the same study showed signs of amyotrophy in sickle cell patients. However, the muscle function of sickle cell patients has not been investigated and one may suggest that muscle dysfunction could participate in the decrease of physical fitness, in association with the hematological and hemorheological disorders, already reported in this population. The hypothesis is that muscle fatigue during a short localized muscle endurance exercise should be higher in sickle cell patients compared to healthy individuals, due to a greater recruitment of glycolytic fibers and a faster decrease of muscle oxygenation during exercise.

Publications & conference data

2 peer-reviewed publications reference this trial (live from Europe PMC):

1. Is Skeletal Muscle Dysfunction a Limiting Factor of Exercise Functional Capacity in Patients with Sickle Cell Disease?
   Gouraud E, Connes P, Gauthier-Vasserot A, Faes C, et al · · 2021 · cited 4× · PMID 34067352 · DOI 10.3390/jcm10112250
2. Sublingual Microcirculation Specificity of Sickle Cell Patients: Morphology of the Microvascular Bed, Blood Rheology, and Local Hemodynamics.
   Sant S, Gouraud E, Boisson C, Nader E, et al · · 2023 · cited 3× · PMID 36835032 · DOI 10.3390/ijms24043621