Study Status: Recruiting
Recruit Status: Recruiting
Study Type: Interventional
Official Title: Body Composition and Metabolic Manifestations of Insulin Resistance in Adolescents With Polycystic Ovary Syndrome: Ectopic Fat Deposition and Metabolic Markers: Intervention and Follow-up Portion
Brief Summary:
This project, "A double-blind placebo-controlled randomized clinical trial assessing the efficacy of metformin for hepatic fat in adolescents and young adults with polycystic ovary syndrome", proposes exploring the use of novel and noninvasive methodologies in an at-risk adolescent and young adult population with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) who may gain long-term health benefits from early detection and treatment of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). PCOS is a common condition that frequently presents in adolescence and young adulthood and is defined by elevated androgens (male hormones) in the blood leading to 1. hirsutism and acne and 2. menstrual abnormalities or amenorrhea. Affected individuals are at increased risk of developing insulin resistance (a precursor of diabetes), NAFLD and lipid (cholesterol) abnormalities.These features are all associated with the metabolic syndrome, a rising major public health concern. Recently, an association between PCOS and NAFLD has been noted but has only been superficially studied in the adolescent and young adult population. The susceptibility of certain PCOS patients to developing NAFLD is theorized to be due to having underlying insulin resistance, elevated androgen levels, and a genetic predisposition. Metformin is an insulin sensitizing medication widely used to treat type 2 diabetes mellitus that may have beneficial effects on insulin resistance-related conditions including PCOS and NAFLD. Although widely used in PCOS, its effect on NAFLD in this group has not been previously studied.
The primary aims of this proposal are: 1) To determine whether PCOS with liver fat >/=4.8% treated with metformin for six months will have a decline in percentage liver fat compared to a placebo group. 2) To measure the association of the PNPLA3 I148M allele with NAFLD in PCOS at baseline (n=40). 2b) To measure the ass