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Clinical trialNCT03366168RecruitingObservational

Taste Bud-Derived Stem Cells in Humans

SponsorNational Institute on Aging (NIA)Enrollment250Diabetes
View the registry record on ClinicalTrials.gov

Summary

The lay summary the sponsor registered on ClinicalTrials.gov.

Background: Stem cells are found in body tissues. They can regenerate into more of the same cells or become other types of cell. Researchers want to use stem cells from taste buds to try to make cells that secrete insulin. Taste buds are found mostly on the tip and sides of the tongue. Researchers also want to study if the number of taste buds and stem cells decrease as people age. They will remove small pieces of tongue tissue (about the size of a pen tip). The taste buds will grow back. It is hoped that studying taste bud stem cells can lead to new diabetes treatments. Objectives: To see if stem cells from taste buds can be isolated in humans. Eligibility: Healthy adults at least 18 years old Design: Participants will be screened with: * Medical history * Physical exam * Blood and urine tests * Tongue photograph and mouth inspection. Food coloring will be applied to the tongue. Participants will have 1 study visit. They will not eat or drink anything 8 hours before. * They will give blood and urine samples. * They will have a tongue biopsy. Vital signs will be checked. The inside of the mouth will be examined. The tongue may be cleaned. The tongue will be numbed. Five small pieces of tissue will be taken with a small scissor. Any bleeding will be blotted with cotton and should stop in minutes. * Participants will be monitored for about 30 minutes. They will get a snack or meal. * They will be told how to take care of the tongue for the rest of the day. Participants will be called a week later to see how the

Investigators

The overall officials registered on this study. Names that resolve to a findmyKOL profile link to it; the rest are shown as registered.

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Sites

1 registered facility, with the per-site recruitment status where the registry publishes one. ClinicalTrials.gov does not publish per-site enrollment counts.

United States
  • National Institute of Aging, Clinical Research Unit

    Baltimore, Maryland, United States

    Recruiting

Site investigator names are published by ClinicalTrials.gov only while a study recruits, so completed studies list sites without them.

Drugs studied

No drug or biological interventions are in our data for this study. It may test a procedure, device or behavioral intervention, or the intervention list isn't in our current snapshot. See the registry record ↗. Why? →

Registration & key dates

Registry attributes as recorded on the ClinicalTrials.gov study record.

Start
18 Dec 2017
Primary completion
31 Dec 2026
Completion
31 Dec 2026
Last update posted
7 Aug 2026
Registered enrollment
250
Registry id
NCT03366168

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov, via the CTTI AACT database, data as of 24 Aug 2026. Registry facts are shown as registered by the study sponsor; findmyKOL does not interpret them.