Obesity Clinical Trials

Brown fat is a type of fat, found in both children and adults, which can produce heat and regulate the body's metabolism and energy use. White fat is the more common type of fat which is used to store extra calories. Understanding more about differences between brown and white fat may allow us to develop new approaches to improve the body's metabolism. Read Less

Maintenance of protein homeostasis is impaired in skeletal muscle of humans with obesity. A hallmark of this defect is distorted expression of isoforms of the myosin heavy chain (MHC) protein, and this defect is linked to obesity-associated adverse health outcomes. By employing exercise and increase in plasma amino acids as investigational tools the investigators intend to modulate the metabolism of muscle MHC isoforms in order to unravel the biological mechanisms that sustain distorted MHC protein metabolism in muscle of humans with obesity. Read Less

The purpose of this study is to determine the prevalence of impaired glucose (carbohydrate) tolerance in lean children with a family history of diabetes and in overweight/obese children with or without a family history of diabetes mellitus. Read Less

Impaired endothelial function is observed in disease states related to obesity, such as atherosclerosis, coronary artery disease, and diabetes. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and resultant oxidative stress contribute to the development of these obesity-related diseases. The enzyme NADPH-oxidase is a major source of oxidative stress within the vasculature, and has been linked with the Metabolic Syndrome. In the investigator's previously funded studies, the investigators demonstrated for the first time that: 1) in vivo ROS were elevated in skeletal muscle of obese as compared to lean or overweight human subjects, 2) perfusion of the NADPH-oxidase inhibitor apocynin locally into muscle normalized ROS levels and reversed local microvascular endothelial dysfunction in the obese individuals, and 3) aerobic exercise training was effective at attenuating in vivo hydrogen peroxide production and reversing microvascular endothelial dysfunction in the obese individuals. The investigators will investigate in this R15 renewal application the mechanism of exercise training-induced alterations in ROS production and action on endothelial dysfunction in obesity using our newly developed microdialysis methodology of monitoring ROS production, in combination with analysis of muscle biopsy samples obtained before and after our previously tested 8-week intervention of aerobic interval exercise training. The objectives of this study are to determine the impact of in vivo NADPH oxidase activity on endothelial function in obese individuals, and to determine the mechanism of training-induced improvements in endothelial function. The investigator's unique microdialysis methodology will allow monitoring of microvascular/endothelial function and ROS generation, as well as the administration of pharmacological agents directly into muscle. The central hypothesis is that it is upregulation of both mitochondrial ROS and NADPH oxidase-derived ROS that results in endothelial dysfunction in obesity, and that exercise training down-regulates mitochondrial-derived ROS, and NADPH oxidase 4, thereby improving endothelial function. The aims of this proposal are to: 1) determine the contributions of mitochondrial ROS and specific NADPH oxidase isoforms to the NADPH oxidase dependent endothelial dysfunction in skeletal muscle of obese individuals; 2) determine the mechanism of ROS reduction and improved endothelial function resulting from an 8-week aerobic interval training program. Read Less

The goals of this research study are to: 1) understand why some people with obesity are protected from developing conditions such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease while others are more likely to develop obesity-related conditions; 2) assess the effect of small extracellular vesicles (sEVs also called exosomes), obtained from human participants, on metabolic function in cultured cells and in mice. Read Less

This is a single site, single-blinded parallel randomized control trial that investigates a multi-level intervention to improve postpartum blood pressure in women with hypertensive disorder pregnancy. The investigators will recruit women diagnosed with a hypertensive disorder of pregnancy, identified between 3rd trimester and 2 weeks post-delivery. The investigators will randomize participants to receive usual care home blood pressure monitoring for 6 weeks versus an intervention of usual care + blood pressure and weight monitoring + a doula trained in heart health. This trial will be conducted in partnership with a local community-based organization, Healthy Start Inc. Read Less

Children who have previously participated in the study "MI Energy" will be invited to participate in "SUPER kids". Investigators want to better understand differences in nutrient use (e.g., fatty acid and carbohydrate) during rest and exercise in children of varying body types and activity levels. Read Less

The study team will study the efficacy of a high intensity medical weight loss intervention paired with a digital platform to create weight loss and induce remission of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) compared to a diabetes self-management education intervention. The digital platform provides the capability to tailor the treatment plan, provide automated support, and alert providers when a participant may need more support from the clinical team. If shown to be efficacious, this research could be highly impactful, causing us to rethink our approach to care for those with T2DM and shift the paradigm for millions of individuals in the United States. Furthermore, this approach will demonstrate the feasibility of helping people engage in metabolic treatment strategies in a way that is scalable leveraging digital and mobile solutions that extend the patient-provider relationship, shift care from episodic approaches to more of an on-going model that extends into the life of the patient, while also integrated within the healthcare system workflows. Read Less

Participants will be randomized into one of two different experimental groups: 1) Exercise group and 2) No exercise (control group). Subject participation in the study will involve a series of metabolic tests before and after participants undergo a 10% weight loss program (with or without exercise training depending on group randomization). After completing this weight loss portion of the study, participants will then be required to adhere to a high calorie diet program to regain half of the weight the participant lost - followed by the same series of metabolic tests. Read Less

The investigator proposes an 18 month, feasibility pilot study, randomizing obese and diabetic individuals with pure uric acid nephrolithiasis (UAN) or mixed calcium oxalate (CO) UAN to either phentermine/topiramate or a pragmatic control group who will remain on their standard medication regimen (citrate salts, allopurinol, diet, etc.). Read Less

The purpose of this study to understand better how this anti-obesity medication works to assist individuals to lose weight and maintain weight loss. This study may lead to the development of other related medications for assisting people with the disease of obesity. Read Less

Overweight/obese otherwise healthy volunteers will be recruited from the Old Order Amish population in Lancaster County, PA. Lancaster County, PA. Pharmacodynamic responses to GLP1R agonist will be assessed by conducting frequently sampled intravenous glucose tolerance tests (FSIGT) both before and after semaglutide for six weeks. The proposal proposes two specific aims: Specific Aim #1. To identify genetic variants associated with effects of a GLP1R agonist to enhance glucose-stimulated first phase insulin secretion in the two FSIGTs (before and after administration of drug). Specific Aim #2. To identify genetic variants associated with the effect of a GLP1R agonist to accelerate the rate of glucose disappearance as assessed in the two FSIGTs (before and after administration of drug). Genotyping will be conducted using a high-density array with comprehensive coverage of DNA sequence variants. In addition, the analysis will leverage a global imputation panel generated from 1,025 Amish individuals. Read Less