Current Clinical Studies
96-CH-0101: Population Differences in the Insulin Sensitivity, Resting Energy Expenditure, and Body Composition of Overweight Children and Children of Overweight Parents. This natural history project studies metabolic, psychosocial, and genetic factors that may be important for childhood obesity in 450 African American and Caucasian prepubertal children who are being followed for 15 years, into adulthood.
98-CH-0111: Safety and efficacy of orlistat (Xenical™, Hoffmann LaRoche) in African American and Caucasian children and adolescents with obesity-related comorbid conditions. Orlistat is a medication that, in adult studies, has decreased body weight. It also appears to have favorable effects on obesity-related comorbid conditions like hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, and impaired glucose tolerance. We have completed a study of the safety and efficacy of orlistat for reducing obesity-related comorbidities using a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial in 200 adolescents.
00-CH-0134: Effects of Metformin on body weight, energy intake, and energy expenditure of overweight children. Metformin, a medication that suppresses hepatic glucose production, appears to stabilize or decrease body weight in overweight children, but how metformin causes weight loss is unknown. We have completed a study of examining how metformin affects body weight, energy intake and energy expenditure using a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial in 100 children.
06-CH-0038: Body Heat Content and Dissipation in Obese and Normal Weight Adults. Overweight adults have difficulty sustaining high intensity exercise, in part because of rapid heat generation. This project studies how heat is dissipated in obese and non-overweight adults at rest and during exercise.
07-CH-0126: Pilot Study of the Metabolic Effects of Betahistine Hydrochloride in Overweight Women. Several studies in animals suggest that histaminergic receptors in the central nervous system appear to influence food intake. This project studies whether betahistine, a histamine 3 receptor and histamine 1 receptor agonist, can decrease food intake acutely in humans.
08-CH-0085: Eating Behavior in Adolescents. This natural history project studies actual food intake in the laboratory setting in children who describe particular eating styles (such as binge eating) and examines the genetic links between eating styles, food intake, and genetic polymorphisms.
08-CH-0139: Preventing Excessive Weight Gain in Adolescent Girls at High Risk for Adult Obesity. It remains unclear how best to help adolescents at-risk for adult obesity avoid weight gain. This project studies the efficacy of interpersonal therapy as a strategy to help girls manage their weight.
08-CH-0213: Obesity in the WAGR syndrome and other 11p deletion syndromes. WAGR (Wilms tumor, Aniridia, Genitourinary abnormalities and mental Retardation) syndrome is caused by haploinsufficiency for genes on chromosome 11p. Some patients with WAGR have severe, early-onset obesity. In collaboration with the International WAGR syndrome Association we are studying the importance of brain-derived neurotrophic factor, a gene found on 11p, as a cause of the obesity seen in children with WAGR syndrome.