Liver Positron Emission Tomography (PET) Study of Non Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

Fatty Liver Clinical Trial

— Liver  

Official title:

An Interdisciplinary Approach to the Study of Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT00949403
• Other study ID #: 09-0621
• Status: Completed
• Phase: Early Phase 1
• Start date: July 2010
• Est. completion date: January 19, 2011

Study information

• Verified date: June 2020
• Source: Washington University School of Medicine
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

The purpose of this study is to evaluate how the liver receives and uses fats for energy. This will help the investigators further understand the physical and chemical processes responsible for Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) in overweight females with or without NAFLD who are scheduled to undergo gastric bypass surgery.

Description:

This study involves a multidisciplinary approach that will address the metabolic mechanisms responsible for Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) in humans. Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has become an important public health problem in many industrialized countries because of its high prevalence, potential progression to severe liver disease, and association with cardiometabolic abnormalities, including diabetes, the metabolic syndrome, dilated cardiomyopathy, and coronary heart disease. Although obesity is an important risk factor for NAFLD many obese persons have minimal or no steatosis. The mechanism responsible for the pathogenesis of steatosis is not known, but must involve one or more of the following:

1. Increased hepatic fatty acid (FA) delivery

2. Decreased hepatic FA oxidation

3. Increased de novo lipogenesis (DNL)

4. Inadequate hepatic triglyceride secretion

We hypothesize that alterations in all of these metabolic processes are involved in the pathogenesis of NAFLD. However, a comprehensive evaluation of these factors in individual cohorts of subjects has never been performed, and the ability to measure hepatic FA oxidation in vivo in human subjects has not been available.

The following Specific Aims will be evaluated in obese women with and without NAFLD, who are scheduled for bariatric surgery:

1. Determine hepatic FA uptake and oxidation by using novel PET techniques in combination with measurements of DNL using stable isotope tracers and by assessing liver tissue FA oxidative capacity by evaluating gene expression of FA oxidative enzymes and mitochondrial content.

2. Determine hepatic fatty acid delivery by using stable isotope tracers to assess the rate of free FA (FFA) release into plasma and cellular biology methods to determine the expression and protein content of the major tissue FA transporter (CD36).

3. Determine hepatic very-low-density lipoprotein TG (VLDL-TG) secretion rate by using stable isotope tracers.

4. Determine liver histology and factors involved in inflammation and fibrosis by using routine staining and immunohistochemistry.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 9
• Est. completion date: January 19, 2011
• Est. primary completion date: January 2011
• Accepts healthy volunteers: No
• Gender: Female
• Age group: 18 Years to 45 Years

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• Obese females with a BMI of greater then or equal to 45.

• Age range between 18-45 years.

• Patients undergoing bariatric surgery at Barnes-Jewish Hospital-St.Louis,MO.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Any prior history or evidence of liver disease other than Non-Alcoholic Fatty liver Disease, severe hypertriglyceridemia and diabetes mellitis.

• Consumed greater then or equal to 20 grams of alcohol per day.

• Taking medications that are known to cause hepatic steatosis & liver damage.

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Fatty Liver
• Liver Diseases
• Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

Intervention

Drug:
• Radio pharmaceuticals C-11 Acetate, and C-11 Palmitate
injection of C-11 Palmitate and C-11 Acetate during PET/CT to determine Liver metabolism

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
United States	Washington University	Saint Louis	Missouri
United States	Washington University School of Medicine	Saint Louis	Missouri

Sponsors (2)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
Washington University School of Medicine	Barnes-Jewish Hospital

Country where clinical trial is conducted

United States, 

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Hepatic Fatty Acid Oxidation	Liver fatty acid oxidation as determined by 1-11C-palmitate PET imaging.	3 hours