MICROCHIP
Research type
Research Study
Full title
An observational study investigating the impact of bariatric surgery on MICROvascular and macrovasCular Health complications In People with obesity
IRAS ID
224336
Contact name
James Crane
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 2 months, 1 days
Research summary
Obesity makes the body insensitive to the hormone insulin, which results in type 2 diabetes. In turn, diabetes can cause numerous complications leading to ill health and early death, including diabetic kidney disease. Weight loss is key to the management of type 2 diabetes but is very difficult to achieve and sustain using diet and exercise, and there are few pharmaceutical options. Weight loss (bariatric) surgery, however, leads to dramatic weight loss that is usually sustained over the long term. It also has an immediate and profound effect on diabetes, such that most patients enter remission from diabetes after surgery.
Diabetic kidney damage is not always reliably detected using current tests of urine protein. There are new tests of specific molecules in the blood and urine that may have advantages for detecting kidney disease in patients with obesity and diabetes. Additionally, it is not always easy to pick out the patients who will benefit most from bariatric surgery, meaning that this expensive and limited resource may not be being used to maximum effect.
This study will assess a range of emerging tests for diabetic kidney disease in patients undergoing bariatric surgery at the hospitals of King’s Health Partners. Patients with type 2 diabetes who have kidney damage identified on the current standard tests will be compared to those with diabetes but no identified kidney damage and a control group of non-diabetics with normal kidneys. Tests will be carried out before surgery and at two time points after surgery – 3 months and 12 months. We will assess the ability of these new tests to identify kidney damage in diabetic patients, and the effect of bariatric surgery on these. This will help useful to doctors seeking to target bariatric surgery to those patients most likely to benefit from it in future.REC name
London - Westminster Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
17/LO/1353
Date of REC Opinion
12 Sep 2017
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion