Obesity Clinical Trials

The purpose of this research is to determine how exercise affects fat (adipose) tissue and how changes to adipose tissue that occur during and after exercise might improve health in aging and obesity. Read Less

The goal of this observation study is to assess whether endoscopic ultrasound shear wave elastography (EUS-SWE) may be a useful tool for liver fibrosis screening in patients with elevated body mass index and non alcoholic fatty liver disease as compared to other non-invasive screening modalities, which have traditionally had less accurate results in this population. The main questions it aims to answer are: * Determine accuracy of EUS-SWE for liver fibrosis screening compared to other non-invasive scoring systems, such as the FIB-4 score and Fibroscan in patients with elevated body mass index * Establish optimal stiffness (kPa) cutoffs for liver fibrosis grading for EUS-SWE for this patient population in reference to the gold standard liver biopsy, as no standard cutoffs currently exist. Participants will undergo routine endoscopic ultrasound as part of their standard clinical care and indication. Participants are consented for the procedure and undergoing the shear wave elastography. In addition to their standard ultrasound test, it takes on average an extra 2-3 minutes to perform the shear wave elastography. The procedure itself adds no additional risk to the patient and does not expose them to radiation. Read Less

The purpose of this study is to determine whether inspiratory muscle strength training reduces blood pressure in adults with obesity. Read Less

This study plans to learn if the EvoEndo Endoscopy system can be used to evaluate, provide and follow up care for upper gastrointestinal tract diseases in the bariatric population. The smallest current scope available for such a technique is an adult transnasal endoscope with a larger diameter, a pulmonary bronchoscope or Ear Nose and Throat (ENT) laryngoscope. This study is evaluating a newly Food and Drug Administration (FDA) cleared ultra-slim, single-use, endoscope specifically designed for transnasal endoscopy to evaluate its use in adult upper tract gastrointestinal diseases. If such a technique is successful it could improve the safety, cost, and access of endoscopic care for patients in need of an endoscopic evaluation for a bariatric medical condition. Read Less

The goal of this project is to understand why bariatric surgery is such an effective treatment for obesity with a focus on brain mechanisms. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) neuropeptide, hormone and protein levels will be measured as a surrogate for changes in brain activity in participants before and after bariatric surgery as compared with participants before and after diet-induced weight loss. The investigators are studying neuropeptides and hormones that are know to be involved with the regulation of appetite and body weight to determine if some of the changes that are expected to occur after diet-induced weight loss do not occur after bariatric surgery. In addition, proteomic analysis will be used to uncover new protein biomarkers that are unique to surgical weight loss. The results of these studies will help explain why bariatric surgery is so effective in achieving long-term weight loss. Understanding how the central nervous system responds to bariatric surgery could help the development of alternative nonsurgical therapies for obesity and its metabolic complications. Read Less

Gastric myotomy has been performed for several years as a means of addressing chronic stenosis after sleeve gastrectomy and treating gastroparesis. The Pylorus Sparing Antral Myotomy (PSAM) technique has the opposite effect by leaving the pylorus intact and extending the myotomy proximally to the distal gastric body. PSAM was initially combined with ESG and shown to delay gastric emptying and provide greater weight loss without impacting tolerability (GCSI score) or the safety profile of the procedure (2 DDW GEM abstracts). PSAM has not been evaluated alone, without concomitant ESG. Since delayed gastric emptying alone is known to promote weight loss, it is thought that PSAM alone (without ESG) may provide similar efficacy, while reducing procedure time and adverse events. There have been no clinical studies that investigate the efficacy of PSAM independent of ESG. This pilot study aims to address this lack of information by evaluating the safety, tolerability, and short-term efficacy of PSAM, in addition to exploring its impact on gastric physiology. This will also provide data that may be used in designing a larger clinical trial. Read Less

Obesity is a global health concern that is associated with high blood pressure and an increased risk for developing cardiovascular disease. The purpose of this study is to find out if the investigational drug angiotensin-(1-7) can improve cardiovascular health in people with obesity and high blood pressure. Read Less

The goal of this observational study is to learn if surgical weight loss can improve chronic widespread pain in people living with higher BMI who self-identify as Hispanic/Latino ethnicity or non-Hispanic Black based on the United States census racial categories. The main questions the study aims to answer are: 1. Do pain at rest (primary outcome) and movement-evoked pain (secondary outcome) improve after bariatric surgery? 2. Do pain processing and joint function change after bariatric surgery? 3. Are pain processing and joint function associated with clinically significant pain change after surgical weight loss? Researchers will compare pain and function before and 6 months after bariatric surgery in a single cohort. Read Less

The development of type II diabetes (T2D) is strongly associated with obesity and both are well-established risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Knowing that vascular dysfunction is an early event in the development of cardiovascular disease in obese diabetic (OB-T2D) patients, The investigators set their long-term goal to define molecular mechanisms of vascular dysfunction and corrective strategies that target these mechanisms such as physical activity and weight loss. The investigators recently discovered that human adipose tissues release extracellular vesicles (adiposomes) that are efficiently captured by endothelial cells. Adiposomes are known to carry bioactive cargos such as proteins and micro RNAs; however, their lipid content has not been studied nor has their ability to transfer their lipid cargo to endothelial cells. In the current application, the investigators propose to investigate the role of adiposomes in communicating the unhealthy milieu, mainly dysregulated lipids, to endothelial cells in OB-T2D subjects. On top of these lipid species that the investigators propose to be carried by adiposomes are glycosphingolipids (GSLs). These lipids originate from the glycosylation of ceramides, a chemical process that is upregulated in the presence of inflammation and high glucose levels. Preliminary findings showed that in endothelial cells, GSL-rich adiposomes disturb plasma membrane structure and subsequently induce endothelial dysfunction. Moreover, the investigators found that preconditioning endothelial cells with high shear stress (which is an exercise mimetic) protected endothelial cells from the detrimental effects induced by adiposomes. Therefore, the central hypothesis is that adipose tissues in OB-T2D patients release GSL-loaded adiposomes that induce vascular endothelial dysfunction. The researchers propose that exercise and weight loss interventions (bariatric surgery) will restore adipose tissue homeostasis, reduce GSL-loaded adiposomes, and subsequently alleviate vascular risk in OB-T2D patients. The investigators will test the hypotheses by pursuing the following aims: aim 1: Investigate the role of GSL-rich adiposomes in the pathogenesis of endothelial dysfunction in OB-T2D adults; aim 2: Test the effectiveness of exercise training in reducing adiposome-mediated effects on vascular function; and aim 3: Examine changes in adiposome/caveolae axis following metabolic surgery and their association with vascular function. Read Less

The investigator hypothesizes that treatment with the ß3 agonist mirabegron results in improved glucose metabolism, including a reversal of prediabetes in obese, insulin-resistant human research participants, and this is further improved by combination therapy with tadalafil. The investigator will comprehensively analyze glucose homeostasis in prediabetic patients treated for 14 weeks with mirabegron, tadalafil or both drugs as compared to a placebo. Read Less

This is an ongoing, prospective cohort study of children and young adults who are evaluated in the Reversing the Negative Effects of Weight on the Heart (ReNEW) Clinic at Johns Hopkins University. Demographic and clinical data of patients who agree to participate are obtained via chart review and entered into a longitudinal clinic registry. Read Less

These studies will define the abnormalities in the adipocyte proteins that are involved in the failure of insulin to suppress lipolysis normally in humans with upper body obesity and will help discover the mechanism by which pioglitazone, a medication used to treat type 2 diabetes and improve insulin resistance, improves insulin-regulation of adipocyte fatty acid metabolism. Read Less