X-ray diffraction imaging of cachectic human muscle

Cachexia is an uncurbable syndrome associated to many chronic diseases, such as cancer, characterized by severe muscle wasting and impaired muscle function, which ultimately affects survival and patients’ quality of life. The latter is due to unknown mechanisms beyond the well documented disruption of the contractile myofibers. In this framework, we propose to use X-ray micro diffraction (μXRD) to observe quantitative and qualitative alterations of the muscle fibres structure and organization in cachexia as compared to controls.