Obesity Clinical Trials

Weight gain is disproportionately high among young adults compared to other age groups and of particular concern in the military, which is comprised largely of young adults, as obesity has emerged as a threat to national security. Despite the critical need to address weight gain in young military personnel who can face discharge for failing to meet weight standards, there is currently no evidence-based programs available to them. This study aims to adapt an evidence-based weight gain prevention intervention for delivery in a young adult, active-duty military population using mobile technology to prevent weight gain over 2 years . Read Less

This study aims to determine the relationship between lipid kinetics changes and blood immunosuppressive cells by metabolic surgery in two patient cohorts. Read Less

This study will test whether EMBER, a self-help tool to increase weight loss treatment engagement, helps veterans engage in Veterans Health Administration (VHA) weight management programs. Participants will be randomly assigned to receive EMBER or a list of weight management programs (the control group). They will answer questions about health beliefs and behaviors and share information from their medical record at the start of the study, 2-months after the start of the study, and 6-months after the start of the study. Participants will receive compensation for each of these contacts. Participants will also receive a reminder call 10 days after they enroll in the study. All study contacts will be over the phone. The main hypothesis is that people who receive EMBER will be more likely to use VHA weight management programs than people in the control group. Read Less

The purpose of this study is to understand and determine whether Palmitoleic acid (POA), monounsaturated omega-7 fatty acid (exists in regular diet), improves insulin sensitivity and decreases liver fat accumulation in humans. Unlike others, the study will use POA as a dietary supplement, rather than complex oils, which contain a significant amount of saturated fat palmitic acid. Palmitic acid has known harmful effects on the body. Hence, eliminating palmitic acid from supplementation of POA might increase its benefits. This trial stems from the preclinical discoveries that POA acting as a fat hormone, has beneficial effects on the liver, muscle, vessels, and fat tissue. Supporting this, higher POA levels in humans have been shown to be correlated with a reduced risk of developing type-2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases such as heart attacks. In animals, it has been observed that POA improves sugar metabolism in a number of mechanisms related to the liver and muscle. Based on these findings, the design of this study is a double-blind placebo-controlled trial that tests the effects of POA on insulin sensitivity of overweight and obese adult individuals with pre-diabetes. Read Less

The proposed research aims to reduce obesity-related health disparities by promoting healthy lifestyle behaviors among African Americans (AAs), given the high disease burdens associated with low physical activity, insufficient sleep, and obesity. There will be two phases to the proposed research. Phase 1 (Aim 1) will encompass formative research and community engagement activities, and Phase 2 (Aim 2a and 2b) will be a randomized clinical trial. The primary goal of Aim 1 is to conduct in-depth qualitative interviews in order to: (1) better understand sleep-related social contextual factors, knowledge, behaviors, and beliefs, and (2) discuss and receive feedback on an existing sleep intervention design and materials. The primary goal of Aim 2 is to explore the feasibility, satisfaction, and preliminary efficacy of a sleep intervention to increase sleep and physical activity (PA) among sedentary and short sleeping (≤6 hrs/night) African American adults with overweight/obesity, compared to a contact control group. (Aim 2a) An additional exploratory (Aim 2b) examines changes in cancer-relevant biomarkers between those who received the intervention vs the control condition (n = 20). Data will be collected from a sample of 20 participants (10 per condition) who volunteer to have their blood drawn pre- and post-intervention. There are two phases of the study, and information gained during Phase 1 (Aim 1) will be used to inform Phase 2 (Aim 2). Thus, additional modifications to the protocol will be submitted prior to engagement in Phase 2. Read Less

All participants will undergo baseline biopsies of subcutaneous abdominal adipose tissue for cellular/molecular profiling via snRNA-seq and metabolic/physiological assessments (insulin sensitivity, glucose tolerance, and β-cell function). Older obese participants will be randomized into three arms: lifestyle intervention (n=24), senolytics (n=24), or placebo (n=24). Read Less

Patients receiving acyclovir as standard of care will be enrolled into this study. The currently recommended dosing strategy at our institution for obese patients is to receive intravenous acyclovir dosed per an adjusted body weight [IBW + 0.4(TBW-IBW)]. They will have blood drawn once prior to the first dose of acyclovir and 10 times thereafter, over a total time period of 12 hours. These patients will already be hospitalized for other reasons, and will not be required to make additional trips to the hospital. A total of approximately 4-5 tablespoons of blood will be drawn for this study. Ten obese patients and 10 matched control (non-obese) patients will be enrolled. Read Less

This study will provide nutrition counseling via FaceTime on an iPad to persons with traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) who are overweight or obese and are at least one-year post-injury. Nutrition counseling may help participants to develop eating behaviors that match the participants' needs and help improve heart health. The purpose of this project is to decrease the risk of complications like obesity, high cholesterol, or diabetes, and explore associations between bowel and bladder function and nutrition. This study will require 3 in person visits that are about 3 months apart. The total length of the study is about 6 months and includes 3 months of telenutrition counseling. Read Less

This optimization trial will examine three tracking (or "self-monitoring") strategies for weight loss -- tracking dietary intake, steps, and/or body weight -- all delivered through digital health tools. The purpose of the study is to evaluate the combination of these strategies that maximizes 6-month weight loss in the context of a standalone digital health intervention for adults with overweight or obesity. The investigators will recruit 176 total participants to the trial. Recruitment will occur through remote channels. Interested individuals will be directed to an online screening questionnaire; those who are eligible will then be invited to attend an initial remote session with study personnel to ensure interest and eligibility in the study. The weight loss intervention will last 6 months, and all participants will receive a "core" treatment consisting of goal setting, behavioral lessons, action plans, and tailored feedback - all of which will be delivered remotely. Depending on which group participants are assigned to in the study, some individuals will be asked to track their dietary intake, their steps, and/or their body weight via digital tools. All study tasks will occur remotely, thus, participants never need to come in-person for any intervention or assessment tasks. The investigators will use the Multiphase Optimization Strategy (MOST) framework to identify the most effective combination of self-monitoring strategies. The factorial design will allow the research team to determine the unique and combined impact of each self-monitoring component on weight change. The primary outcome is weight change from baseline to 6 months. The research team will also assess self-monitoring engagement over 6 months and its association with weight change. To complement the main trial, the research team will also randomize half of participants to receive an interactive orientation video, in order to assess its impact on trial retention at 6 months. Overall, the information gathered from this trial will enable the construction of an optimized digital health intervention for weight loss that can be delivered remotely, which, if found to be effective, could have high potential for scalability. Read Less

This study aims at identifying the neurohormonal biomarkers that characterize individuals at risk of greater metabolic adaptation to weight loss, a disproportionate decline in resting metabolic rate during and after weight loss. Read Less

Children living in food-insecure homes, defined as at some time during the last year their household not having enough food, money, or resources to feed the family experience low intake of fresh fruits and vegetables (FV), and a trajectory for increased risk of obesity and chronic diseases in adulthood. In Hawai'i, a higher proportion of Native Hawaiian (NH) and other Pacific Islander (OPI) children live in food-insecure households when compared with the state average (30% and 50%, respectively vs. 18%) and NHOPI adults suffer disproportionately from chronic disease. Produce prescription programs, provide vouchers to individuals to purchase fresh FV, are promising strategies to improve diet quality and reduce chronic disease risk among food insecure populations. The long-term objective of this research is to reduce nutrition-related health disparities via clinical-community based programming. The Keiki (child) Produce Prescription (KPRx) program was developed and implemented by enlisting University and community researchers and health care providers at the Waianae Coast Comprehensive Health Center (WCCHC). The current study builds on the community-academic partnership to achieve the following specific aim, to measure effectiveness of the KPRx on FV intake, gut microbiome composition, and health related biomarkers in 100 parent-child dyads in the context of household food insecurity from a predominantly NHOPI community in Hawai'i. A community based participatory research approach to carry out a randomized controlled trial that measures the effect of the KPRx on child diet and microbiome, and parent/caregiver diet and health-related biomarkers on 100 parent-child dyads in the context of household food insecurity will be conducted. The community-informed research study will provide data to inform local and state healthcare and nutrition assistance programming policies aimed at reducing food insecurity and health disparities among NHOPI and minority populations. Read Less

The overall objective of the study is to examine the effect of an 8-hour time-restricted eating intervention on lipid levels and body composition in peri- and recently postmenopausal women with untreated dyslipidemia. Read Less