4 Clinical Trials for Various Conditions
The incidence of kidney stone disease continues to rise globally. Although the treatment of kidney stone disease has dramatically improved in recent years, surgical management remains invasive and expensive. Patients who develop kidney stones are at high risk of recurrence during their lifetime; therefore, prevention of stones should be a primary focus. Low levels of citrate and acidic urine are risk factors for the formation of kidney stones such as calcium oxalate and uric acid, respectively. Calcium oxalate stones are the predominant stone composition in the United States, accounting for over 2/3rds of stones. Citrate is a key inhibitor of calcium oxalate crystal formation and thus increasing it in the urine of a calcium oxalate stone former is quite beneficial. Uric acid stones account for approximately 10 percent of all stone types. These stones form primarily due to an acidic urinary environment which is a prerequisite for crystal formation. Common medications for stone formers include potassium citrate which help to make the urine more alkaline. Although effective, these medications have side effects and may prove to be too expensive (upwards of $450/month). Consuming baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) may prove to be an inexpensive ($0.34/month) equally effective alternative with respect to increasing urinary citrate levels and alkalinizing the urine. Investigators hypothesize that twice a day oral baking soda in a liquid medium (e.g., water, orange juice, soda, etc.) can be an effective, and inexpensive alternative to urocit K with regard to alkalinizing the urine and raising urinary citrate levels.
The investigator proposes an 18 month, feasibility pilot study, randomizing obese and diabetic individuals with pure uric acid nephrolithiasis (UAN) or mixed calcium oxalate (CO) UAN to either phentermine/topiramate or a pragmatic control group who will remain on their standard medication regimen (citrate salts, allopurinol, diet, etc.).
This study has two aims: Aim 1: To determine the presence of accumulation of fat within cells and the functional consequences of this in the kidney by correlating kidney fat content with urine test results. Aim 2: The investigators will evaluate the effect of thiazolidinedione (pioglitazone) on excess fatty acid accumulation in kidney tissue and its correlation with uric acid stone formation in subjects with uric acid stones. Pioglitazone is already U.S. Food \& Drug Administration (FDA)-approved for the treatment of type 2 diabetes, but is not approved by the FDA for treating or preventing or diagnosing stone risk.
The purpose of this study is to determine the efficacy of febuxostat, once daily (QD), compared to allopurinol or placebo in patients with excessive amounts of uric acid in their urine and who have recently had kidney stones.