Abdominal Obesity, Cardiovascular Inflammation, and Effects of Growth Hormone Releasing Hormone Analogue
Status:
Withdrawn
Trial end date:
2014-01-01
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
Obesity is strongly associated with risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Data increasingly
suggest that visceral adipose tissue (VAT) accumulation -- or increased abdominal fat -- is
particularly deleterious to cardiovascular health, but further study is needed to test this
idea. Increased abdominal fat may also be associated with lower secretion of a hormone called
growth hormone (GH), which helps the body burn fat. The current study aims to carefully
characterize relationships between abdominal fat and CVD. In addition, by using a medication
called growth hormone releasing hormone, which is a strategy to reduce abdominal fat, the
investigators will test the hypothesis that abdominal fat contributes uniquely to increased
arterial inflammation.
In the first part of this study, the investigators will investigate both lean (healthy
weight) individuals and individuals with increased abdominal fat. The investigators will
study their body composition, cardiovascular risk measures, insulin sensitivity, and growth
hormone dynamics, with the hypothesis that abdominal fat, independent of general obesity,
will be strongly associated with arterial wall thickening and atherosclerotic inflammation.
The investigators will assess arterial wall thickness, plaque morphology, and atherosclerotic
inflammation, and the investigators will determine associations between these variables and
regional fat accumulation, with particular attention to abdominal fat.
The second, treatment part of the study will be only for individuals with increased abdominal
fat who are found to have low growth hormone secretion. In that part of the study, the
investigators will test the effects of a growth hormone releasing hormone (GHRH) analogue to
reduce abdominal fat and, consequently, reduce arterial inflammation. The investigators
hypothesize that abdominal fat reduction, independent of changes in growth hormone, will
reduce arterial inflammation and arterial wall thickness.