The Effects of Butyrate on Children With Obesity

March 29, 2016 updated by: Roberto Berni Canani, Federico II University

Effects of Butyrate on Insulin Resistance in Children Affected by Obesity

Butyrate is a short chain fatty acid (SCFA) produced by bacterial fermentation of undigested starch in the gut. Butyrate carries out different effects at intestinal and extraintestinal level, including: immune regulation with anti-inflammatory effect at intestinal and systemic level and modulation of gut microbiota. Many of these effects result from an epigenetic mechanism. Shown in an animal model of obesity induced by a high fat diet (HFD), that butyrate can exercise very effective protective action against obesity through the stimulation of intestinal satiety hormones. Shown always in murine model of obesity induced by HFD, that butyrate is effective in preventing and treating obesity and insulin resistance. After 5 weeks of treatment with butyrate was observed a reduction of 10.2% of body weight, 30% of fasting glucose and 50% insulin resistance.

In an animal model of metabolic syndrome with NAFLD researchers have recently demonstrated that the administration of butyrate is able to significantly reduce insulin resistance, liver damage, dyslipidaemia through a modulation of the inflammatory process.

Pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic studies in humans show that the oral administration of butyrate is safe and well tolerated. The peak serum levels occurs 4-6 hours after oral administration.

All of these data makes plausible a possible positive effect on insulin resistance in the obese child.

Study Overview

Status

Unknown

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Anticipated)

40

Phase

  • Phase 2
  • Phase 3

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Italy
      • Naples, Italy, 80131
        • Recruiting
        • University of Naples Federico II
        • Contact:
          • Roberto Berni Canani, MD, PhD
          • Phone Number: +390817462680

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

5 years to 13 years (Child)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Obesity (BMI >95° percentile)
  • HOmeostasis Model Assessment (HOMA-IR) > 4 (obtained by calculating the product of fasting plasma insulin expressed in microunits/mL and fasting plasma glucose expressed in mmol/L divided by 22.5)

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Age <10 or >15 years
  • BMI <95° centile
  • HOMA-IR <4
  • Patients under pharmacological treatment for obesity (metformin) or taking vitamin E, pre-, pro- or synbiotics
  • Simultaneous presence of other chronic diseases unrelated to obesity (cancer, immunodeficiency, cystic fibrosis, allergies, celiac disease, autoimmune diseases, neuropsychiatric disorders, type 1 diabetes, inflammatory bowel diseases, malformations of urinary or gastrointestinal or respiratory tract, chronic lung diseases, genetic and metabolic diseases, chronic hematological diseases)
  • History of surgery for the treatment of obesity
  • Any medical condition that may interfere with participation in this study
  • Participation in other clinical trials still in progress

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Double

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Hypocaloric diet plus butyrate
Dietary supplement: Butyrate
Butyrate
Placebo Comparator: Hypocaloric diet plus placebo
Other: Placebo
Placebo

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Reduction of insulin resistance
Time Frame: After 6 months of treatment
After 6 months of treatment

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Reduction of body weight
Time Frame: After 6 months of treatment
After 6 months of treatment

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Federico II University

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

March 1, 2016

Primary Completion (Anticipated)

January 1, 2018

Study Completion (Anticipated)

March 1, 2018

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

March 23, 2016

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 28, 2016

First Posted (Estimate)

March 29, 2016

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

March 30, 2016

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 29, 2016

Last Verified

March 1, 2016

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 29/14

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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