Active clinical trials for "Metabolic Syndrome"

This study is being done to gain knowledge on how effective different approaches of providing a diagnosis and varying educational tools that include DVDs and multimedia or printed instruction sheets on your readiness to increase the subject's level of exercise, lose more weight, eat a healthier diet; and to assess the subject's awareness of their risk of heart disease and their readiness to participate in a comprehensive lifestyle modification program.

A prolonged elevation of plasma free fatty acids (FFA) impairs glucose stimulated insulin secretion. The concept of fatty acid impairment of glucose stimulated insulin secretion (lipotoxicity) has now been well accepted. Increased free fatty acid flux from adipose tissue to non-adipose tissue, resulting from abnormalities of fat metabolism, participates in and amplifies many of the metabolic derangements that are characteristic of insulin resistance syndrome and type 2 diabetes. Lipotoxicity is also likely to play an important role in the progression from normal glucose tolerance to fasting hyperglycemia and conversion to frank type 2 diabetes in insulin resistant individuals. This area of research is now focused on determining the mechanisms whereby FFAs impair b-cell function. There is some evidence to suggest that lipotoxicity could be mediated through induction of reactive oxygen species (ROS). N-acetylcysteine (NAC) is a known potent antioxidant and has been used experimentally in a number of medical conditions in humans for its protective antioxidant effects. The investigators now plan to administer NAC orally to humans for 48 hours to examine the effects of antioxidant therapy in ameliorating the deleterious effects of FFAs on pancreatic beta cell function. NAC is currently approved for the treatment of acetaminophen overdose and is also used as a mucolytic agent. The investigators are now using NAC as an antioxidant to determine whether it protects the pancreatic beta cell against the toxic effects of FFAs, as outlined in the detailed study protocol. This is a proof-of-principle study and is not designed to develop n-acetylcysteine for therapeutic use.

The purpose of our study is to use a flaxseed-based nutritional supplement in combination with exercise training (walking) for improving cholesterol levels. We hypothesize that exercise training will improve cholesterol profile and that adding supplementation with a flaxseed nutritional supplement will further improve cholesterol profile.

This project investigates the effect of regular consumption of commercially available processed white beans (5 cups per week) on food intake, body weight, blood pressure, satiety hormones and glycemic response over a 4-week period. We have chosen to provide participants with canned white beans, the most accessible and frequently consumed bean in North America. They are inexpensive, a good source of high quality nutrients and ready to eat. Based upon published literature and short-term studies conducted in our laboratory, we hypothesize that regular consumption of commercially available canned beans will increase satiety and improve the control of food intake, body weight, blood glucose and blood lipids.

Prevention and treatment strategies for diabetes use exercise as the cornerstone. Even though endurance training and strength training both improve insulin resistance, strength training may be better suited for persons at risk for type 2 diabetes. We will expand our pilot studies of muscle adaptation induced by resistance exercise training to determine the biochemical mechanisms that will cause people with the Metabolic Syndrome to secure major benefit from intense strength training.

Background: During the 1990s, the prevalence of the metabolic syndrome in the Netherlands ranged from 3% in women of 20-39 yrs to at least 33% in men 55 yrs and older and it is expected to increasing. Prevention is therefore warranted. In this respect the amount and type of fat in the diet deserves attention. Recently, an intervention study reported that a diet high in mono-unsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) such as from olive oil, increased insulin sensitivity in healthy subjects. However, additional beneficial effects can be expected from the Mediterranean diet as a whole. Hypothesis: Replacing saturated fatty acids (SFA) by mono-unsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) will improve hyperinsulinemia and dyslipidemia, and a typical Mediterranean diet will even have more pronounced effects. Study objectives: To investigate the impact of the Mediterranean diet, and especially the intake of MUFA, on markers of the metabolic syndrome in high-risk subjects. Methods: The controlled dietary intervention will include 60 subjects aged 40-65 years with moderate abdominal obesity. After a run-in diet for 2 weeks they will be assigned randomly to receive one of the three diets for a period of 8 weeks. Measurements of serum insulin concentration and other parameters will be carried out at weeks 2 and 10. Expected results: Our study will provide information on the role of MUFA and the expected beneficial impact of other factors of the Mediterranean type of diet on the metabolic syndrome.

The purpose of this study is determine whether different antiretroviral therapy (ART) changes the effects on body fat and predict the weight change in Black and Hispanic females.

Obesity represents one of the most important public health challenges for the societies. Although excess energy intake and physical inactivity are major causes of obesity and cardiometabolic disorders, emerging evidence has linked persistent organic pollutants (POPs) with the global epidemic of type 2 diabetes. However, the potential impacts of POPs on obesity and cardiometabolic risk in humans remain poorly known. On the other side systematic reviews and meta-analyses conducted in recent years strongly support a protective association between eating nuts and CVD. The investigators will conduct a randomized controlled clinical trial in adults. The main research questions are: a. Does consumption of fatty fish increase levels of POPs in overweight and obese adult norwegian men and women compared to a control group not consuming fatty fish? b. Does consumption of fatty fish affect markers of cardiometabolic risks (blood pressure, lipids, glucose and CRP) in overweight and obese adult norwegian men and women compared to a control group not consuming fatty fish? c. Does consumption of nuts improve markers of cardiometabolic risks in overweight and obese adult Norwegian men and women compared:1. to a control group not consuming nuts or fatty fish and 2. to a group consuming fatty fish. Clinical significance of study: If an increase in POP levels is seen, and correlates with cardiometabolic risks, this may indicate the need to look further at a causal relation between POPs and cardiometabolic disease and risk factors particularly type 2 diabetes. If eating nuts improves CVD risk factors compared to not eating nuts, or to eating fatty fish, this could be important dietary information for populations at high risk of CVD.

The experimental model is a semi-acute, over-night, study where the purpose is to evaluate food factors related to colonially derived regulation and satiety in healthy subjects.

After an energy-rich meal the blood levels of glucose and lipids undergo a marked temporary increase, triggering a wave of oxidative stress due to the appearance of excess free radicals in adipose and muscle tissues. Elevated postprandial hypertriglyceridemia has been associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. Hence, postprandial changes in different circulating biomarkers are potential predictors of cardiometabolic risk. In addition to the possibility of evaluating acute variations in metabolic risk markers in response to different types of fat, the metabolic challenge approach may serve as a challenge-meal background in order to reveal possible beneficial effects of specific food ingredients. In this study, circulating cardiometabolic disease-related biomarkers, including endotoxemia, will be assessed postprandially in search for beneficial actions of particular functional food ingredients consumed in combination with a high-fat meal.