Clinical Research Directory

The Effects of Glucagon on Hepatic Metabolism in People With Type 2 Diabetes After Caloric Restriction

Caloric restriction (and RYGB) improves insulin action and lowers fasting glucose, glucagon and EGP, without changes in postprandial EGP and glucagon concentrations. Caloric restriction also improves hepatic steatosis and lowers fasting AA. These changes may represent restoration of glucagon's hepatic actions. This experiment will determine whether caloric restriction improves glucagon's actions on hepatic amino acid, carbohydrate and lipid metabolism in T2DM in comparison to a baseline experiment performed separately in people with T2DM.

Continued Access to the Endogenex System for Participants in the ReCET Pivotal Study

This study is designed to collect real-world data on the safety and performance of the Endogenex System in the cohort of participants who were originally randomized to the sham control arm of the ReCET Study.

Understanding and Addressing Risks of Low Socioeconomic Status and Diabetes for Heart Failure

This study aims to determine whether a 6-month multilevel intervention involving problem-solving training, exercise training and support from community health workers is more effective in improving outcomes for individuals with low socioeconomic status, type 2 diabetes, obesity, and early cardiac dysfunction than receiving education and access to a community exercise facility.

The Effects of Glucagon on Hepatic Metabolism

Whether impaired postprandial glucagon suppression in prediabetes and T2DM is an attempt to overcome resistance to glucagon's actions on hepatic AA catabolism, a defect in α-cell function, or a combination of both are important, unanswered questions. NAFLD is associated with T2DM risk and impaired insulin action. Unfortunately, it is unclear if glucagon resistance is caused by obesity, hepatic steatosis or both. The experiments outlined will determine if glucagon's actions on hepatic amino acid catabolism and EGP interact with hepatic lipid metabolism in lean and obese subjects with and without T2DM (and with varying degrees of hepatic steatosis).

Effects of High-Intensity Interval Training and Quinoa Supplementation in Women With Type 2 Diabetes

This study evaluated the effects of eight weeks of high-intensity interval training (HIIT), daily quinoa consumption, and their combination on inflammatory markers and blood glucose control in women aged 50-65 years with type 2 diabetes. Participants were randomly assigned to four groups: HIIT, quinoa consumption, combined HIIT and quinoa consumption, or control. The quinoa groups consumed 25 g of cooked quinoa daily for eight weeks. Blood markers and body measurements were assessed before and after the intervention.

Evaluation of Fuling Yunhua Granules and Dihuang Baoyuan Granules in Drug Naive Type 2 Diabetes Patients

The goal of this investigator-initiated clinical trial is to investigate the efficacy and safety of sequential therapy of Fuling Yunhua Granules (prescription A) and Dihuang Baoyuan Granule (prescription B) in the treatment of type 2 diabetes patients with poor glycemic control after diet and exercise intervention.

A Randomized Controlled Trial of Diabetes Screening Immediately Postpartum (DIP) and Follow Up PP CARE

DIP : To conduct a pragmatic, non-blinded randomized controlled trial (pRCT) of immediate in-patient postpartum OGTT prior to delivery discharge (intervention) versus 4-12 week outpatient postpartum OGTT (current standard care) to improve the frequency of post-partum diabetes screening among individuals with a pregnancy complicated by GDM. Follow up PP CARE: To engage with individuals with a history of GDM through a patient-centered mixed-methods survey and qualitative assessment to evaluate the barriers to and facilitators of Cardiovascular health (CVH) counseling and risk-reduction postpartum at the patient and healthcare system levels inclusive of Social determinants of health (SDOH) and structural factors, as well as patient preferences and perspectives on CVH and wellness interventions

Non-weight Bearing Exercise for Accelerated Healing of Diabetic Foot Ulcers

The goal of this study is to improve the therapeutic management of diabetic foot ulcers (DFU). The main questions to answer are if a program of non-weight bearing exercise helps the DFU heal faster than standard wound care. This randomized clinical trial will determine how blood flow to the ulcer and whole body metabolism may be improved with exercise. Participants will be randomized to either exercise + standard wound care or standard wound care alone and undergo testing for leg blood flow, fitness and measures of metabolism through blood draws. The intervention period is 6-weeks. Eligible participants must have an existing foot ulcer uncomplicated by infection and be medically cleared to exercise.

SGLT2 Inhibition in Addition to Lifestyle Intervention and Risk for Complications in Subtypes of Patients With Prediabetes

More than 50% of patients with type 2 diabetes develop micro- and/or macrovascular complications during the course of the disease. Additionally, many patients at risk for diabetes develop metabolically driven complications including kidney and heart disease. Thus, it is of utmost importance to improve prevention of T2D and with this complications. Remission of prediabetes, i.e. normalization of hyperglycemia by means of lifestyle intervention is one of the most effective ways to prevent the development of T2D and complications. Novel sub-phenotyping analysis identified clusters of risk for diabetes associated with different complications, opening opportunities to new therapeutic approaches, despite and in addition to lifestyle changes. So far, pharmacological therapy is not indicated for patients with prediabetes. Remission of hyperglycemia associated with prediabetes during lifestyle interventions not only prevents T2D but is also linked with reduced albuminuria and lower microvascular and kidney complications. Thus, reaching normoglycemia (i.e. prediabetes remission) is important for reducing the risk of (pre-)diabetes-associated complications including micro- and even macrovascular disease. In patients with T2D, recent data show that dapagliflozin can improve diabetes remission, and thus, likely complications. However, to date no data have assessed whether or not this is also true in patients with hyperglycemia related to prediabetes which, as outlined above, already causes different complications. Subphenotyping of patients with newly onset diabetes suggests that for some individuals, it would be too late to start interventions against dagainst complications at the time of diagnosis of type 2 diabetes. Therefore, individuals at elevated risk to develop T2D and complications should receive preventive measures well before the diagnosis of T2D. This study will provide evidence whether such an early intervention contributes to the remission of hyperglycemia related to prediabetes to protect from associated complications such as renal disease. The studied population will comprise individuals who have hyperglycemia in the range of prediabetes and are thus prone to not only develop T2D, but also early nephropathy but in clinical practice do not receive medical treatment due to the early stage of the disease. These subjects will receive Dapagliflozin 10 mg or Placebo for 6 months. The placebo treatment arm reflects current practice. In order guarantee a benefit the patients in the placebo arm will receive a lifestyle intervention.

Susceptibility to Infectious Diseases in Obesity

The role of intestinal microbiota is becoming ever more important in the context of obesity, type II diabetes (T2D), and infectious disorders as represented by the emerging discipline "therapeutic microbiology". The gut microbiota is strictly interconnected with obesity and T2D playing also an important role in immune system regulation. Obesity and diabetes can lead to chronic inflammation, which results in the secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines like IL-6, IL-1, and TNF-alpha, causing immune system alteration which predisposes patients with obesity and T2D to chronic infections. Therefore, the principal aim of the study is to investigate changes in gut microbiota composition between patients with chronic infections or not, so as to attribute to specific phyla the formation of the infections in these patients.

Promoting Alternatives to Sulfonylureas to Improve Patient Safety in Type 2 Diabetes

Sulfonylurea medications are unsafe for older patients with diabetes. They are associated not only with hypoglycemia, but also with falls and increased cardiovascular risk. Yet they continue to be prescribed frequently. Indeed, older adults with type 2 diabetes, who are especially prone to adverse effects, are more likely to be prescribed sulfonylureas than younger patients. This is unfortunate since over the past several years, newer, safer, and more effective classes of medications (GLP-1 agonists and SGLT2-inhibitors) have emerged. The investigators acknowledge that sulfonylureas are inexpensive and that their low cost is a driver of continued use. However, the investigators believe patients and providers should have discussions about the risks of sulfonylureas and safer and more effective alternatives, to make diabetes care safer overall in ambulatory settings. Our research is designed to promote such discussions. The investigators will first identify patients taking sulfonylureas regularly. Next, using recommendations from AHRQ and the Canadian Deprescribing Network, the investigators will empower patients to discuss their medications with their providers through a simple question prompt sheet. Patients will be divided into an intervention group which receives explicit prompting questions, and a control group that receives a general brochure on diabetes medications. Health care providers will receive education about newer diabetes medications through case-based discussions and academic detailing. Finally the investigators will measure key outcomes including the proportion of patients who have discussions about sulfonylureas and alternatives, rates of discontinuation, and measures of control of diabetes and associated cardiovascular risks. The investigators will also evaluate the experiences of patients and providers qualitatively through brief, semi-structured interviews. Should our multi-faceted, patient-oriented intervention prove effective in promoting discussions of sulfonylureas and alternatives, and also discontinuation of sulfonylureas and switching to newer alternatives, the investigators will incorporate our prompting questions into routine care for patients taking sulfonylureas. Our intervention can be easily disseminated to other settings and therefore has considerable potential to improve safety among patients with type 2 diabetes nationwide.

The PIVOT Trial: Project on EHR-Integrated Lifestyle Interventions for Adults Aged Fifty and Older

This is a multisite clinical trial of healthy lifestyle programs for middle-to-older-aged adults (50 -74 years) to improve their weight and, therefore, reduce risk for chronic disease. This study will investigate whether a proven, self-directed video-based lifestyle program can be significantly enhanced with the assistance of a coach via videoconference or phone to help people as they adopt healthy eating and exercise behaviors. Additionally, the study will examine what factors might explain why some people achieve better outcomes than others. Understanding this can help to tailor the program to an individual for personalized care in the future. Importantly, this study aims to demonstrate how readily a digital lifestyle program, with or without remote coaching, can be seamlessly delivered to patients at home via the patient portal of their electronic health record. This practical use of existing telehealth tools could be a feasible and effective means to offer behavioral treatments during routine medical care.

Integration of a Trained Language Model to Improve Glycemic Control With the My Heart Counts Smartphone App

Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is one of the most common and fastest growing diseases, affecting 1 in 8 adults (nearly 800 million) worldwide by 2045. Sedentary behavior and increased adiposity are major risk factors for T2D. Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in those with T2D, while diabetic microvascular disease, causing kidney disease, neuropathy, and retinopathy, contributes to T2D morbidity. Physical activity is one of the most potent therapies in preventing/treating T2D and its complications. Mean daily steps is a proxy for physical activity, with even modest improvements in step count (i.e., +500 steps) associated with decreased T2D and mortality. However, adherence to regular physical activity remains low in T2D patients, with short-term decreases in daily step count associated with impaired glycemic control and T2D recurrence. The investigators have developed an artificial intelligence (AI) language model (similar to ChatGPT), which can automatically generate coaching prompts to encourage physical activity by incorporating an individual's stage of change. The investigators will extend our research using the My Heart Counts (MHC) smartphone app to 1) validate the efficacy of the AI-generated prompts in patients with T2D and 2) perform a longer-term randomized crossover trial using the language model as a social accountability chatbot - encouraging participants to maintain their physical activity changes over months. The investigators hypothesize that my AI-assisted coaching prompts will significantly increase 1) mean daily step count by 500 steps in 1,000 adults recruited nationwide over a 7-day period, and 2) improve HbA1c and weight via long-term behavior change over a 24-week intervention period.

Safety and Effectiveness of Endoscopic Intestinal Re-Cellularization Therapy in Individuals With Type II Diabetes

This study is designed to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of endoscopic intestinal re-cellularization therapy in individuals with type 2 diabetes (T2D) inadequately controlled on non-insulin glucose-lowering medications.

A Post-Marketing Safety Study of Dorzagliatin in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes

The primary objective of this study is to evaluate the long-term safety of Dorzagliatin in a larger population of type 2 diabetes mellitus patients by collecting the post-marketing clinical safety data of Dorzagliatin.

Real Time Continuous Glucose Monitoring System in T2DM With Pregnacy

The prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in women of childbearing age is increasing rapidly, and low glucose compliance leads to an increased risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes for mothers and infants during pregnancy in women with T2DM. Real-time continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) is an important tool for glucose monitoring and patient education, as it can continuously record blood glucose throughout the day and provide real-time feedback on high and low blood glucose levels. This is a multicenter, open-label, randomized controlled clinical study to investigate the efficacy, safety, and maternal and infant pregnancy outcomes of using real-time CGM monitoring compared with conventional self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) on the basis of multidisciplinary management in pregnant women with T2DM. One hundred and twenty pregnant women with T2DM in early pregnancy who were enrolled in intensive insulin therapy were randomly divided into the real-time CGM group and the conventional SMBG group. The real-time CGM intervention group wore real-time CGM for more than 50% of the pregnancy in addition to regular SMBG; the control group only performed regular SMBG. Both groups wore Medtronic iPro 2 for 3 days in early, mid and late pregnancy, and the time in the target range of blood glucose (TIR) was recorded in a blinded manner. Primary outcome: differences in TIR between the two groups of pregnant women in early, mid, and late pregnancy. Secondary outcomes included differences in glycated hemoglobin, hypoglycemia, insulin dose before delivery, pregnancy weight gain, and maternal and infant pregnancy outcomes.

Successfully Achieving and Maintaining Euglycemia During Pregnancy for Type 2 Diabetes Through Technology and Coaching

The ACHIEVE RCT will measure the effect of the intervention (mHealth app with CGM, provider dashboard, and care team coaching) compared to current standard care (prenatal visits, self-monitored blood glucose, and certified diabetes care and education specialist) on achieving glycemic control (hemoglobin A1c \<6.5% in the third trimester). We hypothesize a 25% absolute increase in the proportion of participants in the intervention group who will meet the target hemoglobin A1c \<6.5% in the third trimester compared to the standard care group

Use of taVNS for Painful Diabetic Neuropathy: 12-Week Randomized, Sham-Controlled Trial

This 12-week, randomized, double-blind, sham-controlled, parallel-group trial will evaluate the analgesic and mechanistic effects of home-based transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) in adults with painful diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN). To increase the likelihood of detecting a biological signal, enrollment is biomarker-enriched for low-grade systemic inflammation and autonomic imbalance (e.g., elevated high-sensitivity C-reactive protein/interleukin-6 or reduced heart-rate variability \\\[HRV\]). Participants are randomized 1:1 to active taVNS (ear-clip stimulation, twice daily) or an indistinguishable sham device for 12 weeks; background diabetes and pain therapies are kept stable where possible. Adherence and daily pain ratings are captured via a smartphone application. The primary outcome is change in average daily pain intensity (11-point Numeric Rating Scale) from baseline to Weeks 10-12. Secondary outcomes assess proposed mechanisms of action and include HRV indices, inflammatory biomarkers (interleukin-6, tumor necrosis factor-α, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein), serum neurofilament light (sNfL) measured from finger-prick dried-spot samples, and corneal confocal microscopy (CCM) metrics of small-fiber integrity (corneal nerve fiber length/density). Additional outcomes include sleep interference, DN4 score, Patient Global Impression of Change, responder rate (≥2-point pain reduction), and safety. The study is multicenter in Pakistan and is designed to test whether taVNS reduces painful symptoms and favorably shifts objective autonomic, inflammatory, and nerve-injury biomarkers, providing scalable evidence relevant to low- and middle-income settings.

The Impact of Geriatric Assessment on the Treatment Plan of Elderly Patients With T2DM

Introduction: With the aging of the world population and the increasing incidence of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) with age, the number of elderly individuals living with diabetes has been considerably rising. It is known that uncontrolled T2DM negatively impacts various health outcomes, including geriatric outcomes such as sarcopenia, frailty, immobility, incontinence, and infections. Current medical literature fails to establish appropriate glycemic targets for different elderly profiles. Although guidelines emphasize the need to individualize targets, there is no concise tool to identify which individuals benefit from each therapeutic approach. Data suggest that frailty is the best predictor of negative outcomes in elderly patients living with T2DM. The Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS) and the 10-minute Targeted Geriatric Assessment (TaGA-10) are validated tools for prognosis in elderly patients and for identifying frail elderly individuals. Methods: Randomized controlled trial. Elderly individuals diagnosed with T2DM at a tertiary care outpatient clinic will be included. All enrolled patients will undergo geriatric assessment using CFS, TaGA-10, and Charlson Comorbidity Index. Patients will be randomized into usual care and intervention groups, and the intervention involves providing the geriatric assessment to the care team to support their decisions. The adequacy of the therapeutic approach will be measured in one week by reviewing the consult record or interviewing the physician. The clinical impact on the frequency of hypoglycemia, falls, infections, hospitalizations, and mortality will be evaluated at 3 and 6 months by telephone interviews. Discussion: Current guidelines recommend using age, comorbidities, cognitive, and functional status to individualize therapeutic targets in elderly patients with T2DM; however, it is possible that these variables alone may not be sufficient to classify all elderly individuals in their complexity adequately. A tool with such power and easy to use in clinical practice is necessary.

CGM Experience, Preferences & Blood Glucose Parameters

This is an open-label, prospective, multicenter observational study designed to evaluate the perceived benefits, device experience, preference, and glucose-related parameters associated with the Instara-1 Continuous Glucose Monitoring device. The study will include patients with diabetes and healthcare professionals. Patients will use Instara- 1 and will be followed up to assess device experience, glucose parameters, and diabetes-related quality of life. Healthcare professionals will evaluate device experience and preference, including comparison with FreeStyle Libre 2.

Feasibility and Adherence to a Technology-assisted Home-based Strength Training Program in Adults With Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus and Mild Cognitive Impairment

This is a single-arm feasibility study employing a pre-post design with a 12-week intervention period. The study utilizes a telehealth-assisted home-based resistance exercise program, with a structured progression from supervised to unsupervised sessions over 12 weeks.

The Bennett Kids PowerUP Project

The study proposes a randomized pilot and feasibility study of a lifestyle modification program to promote healthy diet and activity in rural-dwelling children to reduce Type 2 Diabetes risks. Intervention participants will receive 6 months of programming to include: * 16 activity packs; * 9 health coach sessions; * unlimited access to a resource toolbox. Control participants will receive 6 activity packs promoting science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) learning and 6 check-in calls to support retention.

NAD Augmentation in Diabetes Kidney Disease

A phase 2a trial randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel group trial to determine whether NMN administration improves DKD, as indicated by a significantly greater reduction in UACR compared with placebo administration. Eligible participants will be randomized to receive either 1000 mg NMN or placebo twice daily.

The CARING Study: Creating and Restoring Health Through Nutrition Guidance

The CARING study assesses the health benefits of nutrition education for Blue Cross Blue Shield subscribers, as well as potential healthcare cost savings to subscribers and the insurance company.