Digestive Disease

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a common complication of obesity which can progress to deadly complications like end-stage liver disease and hepatocellular carcinoma. In the wake of the obesity epidemic, NAFLD is becoming the main etiology of liver transplantation in the US. Currently, there are no FDA approved pharmacological treatments for NAFLD. Weight loss through lifestyle modifications, pharmacotherapy and bariatric surgery can be effective strategies for the management of NAFLD. Even though substantial weight loss and improvement in NAFLD can be achieved with bariatric surgery, only a small proportion of patients with obesity undergo surgery. Very-low calorie diets (VLCD) are replacement meals manufactured to substitute natural foods and limited total intake of 800-960 kcal in divided meals. Very low-calorie diets can produce substantial weight loss of 10% over 2 to 3 months. We hypothesize that VLCD reduce liver steatosis and, fibrosis measured non-invasively with transient elastography. Our main aim is #1 to assess the effect of VLCD on liver fatty infiltration and fibrosis. We also have three exploratory aims exploring novel pathogenic factors that mediate the improvement of NAFLD by VLCD: #2 assess the effect of VLCD on micro RNAs (miRs) associated with pathophysiology of NAFLD: #3 assess the effect of VLCD on changes of salivary and fecal microbiome in the setting of NAFLD: #4 to determine the effect of VLCD on platelet function. This pilot project will produce preliminary data for the development of a larger grant application to study the efficacy of VLCD in the management of NAFLD. Furthermore, it will potentially identify factors that mediate improvement of NAFLD after VLCD. We will treat 10 subjects with obesity and NAFLD for 8 weeks with VLCD or lower calorie diet (control group) and obtain transient elastography before and after the interventions along with other measurements of interest. Our project may have significant impact by establishing VLCD as a clinically effective option for the improvement of liver steatosis and fibrosis in patients with obesity and NAFLD ineligible or without access to bariatric surgery.

The investigators will enroll a total of 628 patients under 18 years of age with ARP or CP. Included in the total are the 357patients in the INSPPIRE 1 database who are planned to be reenrolled under this protocol over the next 4 years. Patient questionnaires and physician surveys will be applied at the time of enrollment and annually thereafter as long as possible. At the first study visit after turning 18 years of age, the patient will sign the informed consent to continue in the study. Specifically, the investigators will define the demographics of the pediatric ARP and CP cohort, describe risk factors, presence of family history of acute and chronic pancreatitis, diabetes and pancreatic cancer and assess disease burden and sequelae.

The study is a 2-arm, multicenter, 1:1 randomized, placebo controlled clinical trial.

All subjects will receive close monitoring for development of AGT or T1DM. Subjects will receive Abatacept or placebo and close monitoring for development of AGT or T1DM. To assess the safety, efficacy, and mode of action of Abatacept to prevent AGT and T1DM.

The primary objective is to determine whether intervention with Abatacept will prevent or delay the development of AGT in at-risk autoantibody positive non-diabetic relatives of patients with T1DM.

Secondary outcomes include: the effect of Abatacept on the incidence of T1DM; analyses of C-peptide and other measures from the OGTT; safety and tolerability; and mechanistic outcomes.