Novel Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Preventive Therapies

Over the past two decades, type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) has emerged from relative obscurity to become one of the most serious complications of obesity in Hispanic obese populations, especially among those with a family history of T2DM. Few therapies have demonstrated long term efficacy in combating obesity and risk of T2DM in youth. Given the emerging evidence that glutamine and leucine (building blocks of protein) may affect energy partition and thus diabetes risk, and that the relationship of glutamine and diabetic risk has been further evaluated in one adult observational cohort study but data on leucine are lacking, we plan to conduct a clinical trial to determine the efficacy of glutamine to reduce insulin resistance, a diabetes risk factor. The primary specific aim of the research plan is to conduct a randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled, clinical trial to test the efficacy of 6 months supplements of glutamine in reducing biomarkers for insulin resistance and weight gain among 56 obese Hispanic adolescents age 12-19 years with a BMI at or above the 95th percentile and a family history of T2DM. At the end of the grant period, we will have obtained preliminary data to plan pivotal clinical trials of glutamine coupled with or without lifestyle changes.