Ongoing efforts at therapeutic development for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) are aimed at genetic and pharmacologic strategies to mitigate muscle damage and loss of strength. However there is also an important and largely overlooked need to improve general mental and physical quality of life of DMD patients. It is estimated that between 20% to 80% of DMD patients use vitamins or nutritional supplements, but there is very little research on their efficacy. This may relate in part to poor bioavailability (the extent and rate at which active ingredients are absorbed and utilized by the body). This exploratory trial will investigate the preliminary efficacy of VM100, a nutritional supplement in boys with DMD. VM100 contains a combination of 10 ingredients specially formulated into a drink to increase absorption and bioavailability, and developed to support pathophysiology of DMD (inflammation, mitochondrial impairment, oxidative stress) in both skeletal muscle and brain.
This study is predominantly home-based, where patients will take VM100 in the form of a drink, twice a day. Patients and their parent or caregiver will be asked to fill out a daily survey of supplement compliance, as well as questionnaires and an interview 5 times over the course of the study. These questionnaires will assess the impact of VM100 on quality of life for boys with DMD, with a focus on mental, cognitive, mood and social behavior-related measures, as well as physical symptoms such as endurance and general fatigue. Two blood draws will be obtained (before and 6 weeks after taking VM100) to assess impact on proinflammatory cytokines and markers of muscle damage. Pilot data generated from this study will be used to support a more robust, placebo-controlled trial including objective outcome measures and assessing potential of VM100 to synergize with other therapeutics.
