Diabetes Dateline
Spring/Summer 2008

NIDDK Seeks Teens and Young Adults for Type 2 Diabetes Study

Can allowing insulin-producing beta cells to rest for a couple of weeks improve their ability to make insulin in the long run? The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) is recruiting teens and young adults with type 2 diabetes for a study that aims to find out.

Results from two recent studies in older adults newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes indicated that an intensive, 2-week insulin treatment might break the cycle of beta cell exhaustion caused by a constant, unsuccessful attempt to compensate for existing insulin resistance and result in significant long-term improvement in beta cell function. At 12-month follow-up, study results reported about half of the studies’ participants maintained normal levels of blood glucose, also called blood sugar, without the need for hypoglycemic agents.

“We can’t predict the outcome of this clinical trial in children based on studies done in adults since we know very little about the natural history of type 2 diabetes in youngsters,” said Kristina Rother, M.D., M.H.Sc., a staff clinician in the NIDDK’s Clinical Endocrinology Branch, which is why the Institute is undertaking the Type 2 Diabetes Study for Young People. “This short, intense, 2-week intervention will provide a tune-up for beta cells—it’s a strategy to improve beta cell function over time.”

The study is recruiting participants between the ages of 12 and 25 who are overweight and have been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes within 2 years prior to enrolling in the study. Participants may be any race or gender. After the initial 2-week treatment, participants will return to the National Institutes of Health for follow-up every 3 months for 1 year.

The study needs to recruit 50 participants, according to Rother, who said the NIDDK is taking steps to make the study as practical for participants and their families as possible. “At the very least, patients, as well as their family members, will learn a lot about diabetes and many related health topics from participating in this study.”

Study participants will be assigned to one of two groups. One group will take metformin and follow a specific, prescribed diet for 2 weeks. The other group will also take metformin and adhere to the same diet but additionally will receive insulin through an insulin pump and oral diazoxide—a medication that inhibits insulin secretion—for 2 weeks.

For more information about the trial and how to participate, contact Rebecca Brown, M.D., lead associate investigator, at 301–594–0609, 301–402–8573 (fax), brownrebecca@mail.nih.gov.

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NIH Publication No. 08–4562
August 2008