The goal of this clinical trial is to understand how the blood sugar-lowering hormone insulin works in healthy adults versus those who are at risk for type 2 diabetes. The study will use a drug called alpelisib, which interferes with insulin's actions in the body, to answer the study's main question: does the liver continue to respond to insulin's stimulation of fat production even when it loses the ability to stop making glucose (sugar) in response to insulin. Researchers will compare the impact of single doses of both alpelisib and placebo (inert non-drug) in random order (like flipping a coin) in study participants. Participants will be asked to stay twice overnight in the hospital, take single doses of alpelisib and placebo (one or the other on each of the two hospital stays), and receive intravenous (into the vein) infusions of non-radioactive "tracer" molecules that allow researchers to measure the production of glucose (sugar) and fats by the liver. Measurements will be done both overnight, while participants are asleep and fasting (not eating or drinking other than water) and while consuming a standardized diet of nutritional beverages during the following day. The objective is to evaluate the effect of lowering insulin levels, while maintaining constant mild hyperglycemia, on plasma glucose and lipid levels.
Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) is an under-appreciated complication of lipid dysmetabolism in type 2 diabetes (T2DM). Although it appears that insulin resistance (IR) is a mechanism common to both, the mechanisms linking IR to unhealthy fat accumulation in liver remains unclear. "Pure" IR would be expected to disinhibit hepatic glucose production while dampening hepatic triglyceride (TG) biosynthesis, but the excessive hepatic de novo lipogenesis (DNL) of IR-associated MASLD suggests that hepatic IR is "selective." However, the concept of IR selectivity is controversial, and because of clinical heterogeneity, lead-time discrepancies, co-morbidities, and medication effects, parsing out this pathophysiologic conundrum in humans is challenging. The investigators plan to test whether the multifactorial IR in patients at risk of T2DM/MASLD is selective by determining if inducing a discrete, "pure" form of IR, via pharmacologic inhibition of phosphoinositide-3-kinase (PI3K) with alpelisib, versus placebo, attenuates excessive DNL. Investigators will also study this question in healthy, insulin-sensitive (IS) volunteers. Participants in this randomized crossover trial will be admitted twice to the inpatient clinical research unit. During each admission, they will take a dose of either alpelisib or placebo (in randomized order) in the evening and receive infusions of \[13C\] sodium acetate and \[2H\] D-glucose to measure DNL and endogenous glucose production (EGP), respectively, during an overnight fast. DNL measurement will then continue during the following day during 8 hours of standardized mixed-meal feedings. Blood will be drawn at defined intervals for determining levels of glucose, insulin, lipids including triglycerides and free fatty acids, and tracer/tracee enrichments for the stable-isotope tracers. There will be a 2-8-week hiatus for drug washout between the two inpatient study admissions.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
BASIC_SCIENCE
Masking
DOUBLE
Enrollment
32
All participants will ingest one dose of alpelisib 300 mg (2 x 150-mg overencapsulated tablets) on one of two study admissions.
All participants will ingest one dose of placebo (2 overencapuslated doses of microcrystalline cellulose) on one of two study admissions.
All participants will receive continuous infusions of \[1-13C\] sodium acetate for up to 23 hours on both study visits in order to quantify de novo lipogenesis (DNL). (non-experimental)
All participants will receive continuous infusions of \[6,6-2H2\] D-glucose for up to 15 hours on both study visits in order to quantify de novo lipogenesis (DNL). (non-experimental)
All participants will ingest standardized mixed meals of Nestlé BOOST Plus on Study Day 1 and then smaller portions hourly x 8 hours on Study Day 2 of each study visit. (non-experimental)
Columbia University Irving Medical Center
New York, New York, United States
RECRUITINGHepatic de novo lipogenesis (DNL) (absolute value)
Percent incorporation of newly synthesized fatty acids into plasma or VLDL TG. During both inpatient (overnight) study visits, starting after investigational agent dose. units: %
Time frame: Up to 24 hours after dosing
Hepatic de novo lipogenesis (DNL) (relative value)
Percent incorporation of newly synthesized fatty acids into plasma or VLDL TG. During both inpatient (overnight) study visits, starting after investigational agent dose. unit: fold difference and/or ∆% versus other group
Time frame: Up to 24 hours after dosing
Endogenous glucose production (EGP) (absolute value)
Calculated from D2G tracer enrichment by the Steele equations. During both inpatient (overnight) study visits, starting after investigational agent dose. units: mg/kg/min
Time frame: Up to 15 hours after dosing
Endogenous glucose production (EGP) (relative value)
Calculated from D2G tracer enrichment by the Steele equations. During both inpatient (overnight) study visits, starting after investigational agent dose. units: fold difference and/or ∆% versus other group
Time frame: Up to 15 hours after dosing
Serum insulin level
Serum insulin levels in response to placebo vs alpelisib following an overnight fast and then hourly during refeeding. During Study Day 2 of both study visits, starting after investigational agent dose. units: µIU/mL
Time frame: Approximately 11-19 hours after dosing
Plasma glucose level
Plasma glucose levels in response to placebo vs alpelisib following an overnight fast and then hourly during refeeding. During Study Day 2 of both study visits, starting after investigational agent dose. units: mg/dL
Time frame: Approximately 11-19 hours after dosing
Triglycerides level
(Serum or plasma) triglyceride levels in response to placebo vs alpelisib following an overnight fast and then hourly during refeeding. During Study Day 2 of both study visits, starting after investigational agent dose. units: mg/dL
Time frame: Approximately 11-19 hours after dosing
Free fatty acids level
(Serum or plasma) triglyceride levels in response to placebo vs alpelisib following an overnight fast and then periodically during refeeding. During Study Day 2 of both study visits, starting after investigational agent dose. units: mmol/L
Time frame: Approximately 11-19 hours after dosing
Glucose kinetics: rate of appearance (absolute value)
Calculated from D2G tracer enrichment by the Steele equations. During both inpatient (overnight) study visits, starting after investigational agent dose. units: mg/kg/min
Time frame: Up to 15 hours after dosing
Glucose kinetics: rate of appearance (relative value)
Calculated from D2G tracer enrichment by the Steele equations. During both inpatient (overnight) study visits, starting after investigational agent dose. units: fold difference and/or ∆% versus other group
Time frame: Up to 15 hours after dosing
Glucose kinetics: rate of disappearance (absolute value)
Calculated from D2G tracer enrichment by the Steele equations. During both inpatient (overnight) study visits, starting after investigational agent dose. units: mg/kg/min
Time frame: Up to 15 hours after dosing
Glucose kinetics: rate of disappearance (relative value)
Calculated from D2G tracer enrichment by the Steele equations. During both inpatient (overnight) study visits, starting after investigational agent dose. units: fold difference and/or ∆% versus other group
Time frame: Up to 15 hours after dosing
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