CClinicalTrials.gg
CompletedNCT00375089Updated Sep 22, 2014

Characteristics of Prader-Willi Syndrome and Early-onset Morbid Obesity

An observational study in Prader-Willi Syndrome and Obesity, sponsored by University of Florida. Completed at 4 sites in United States. Open to participants aged Up to 60 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2014-09-22.

Sponsored by University of Florida · Observational

Study type
Observational
Model
Cohort
Time perspective
Prospective
Enrollment
392
Ages
Up to 60 Years
Sex
All
01

Study summary

Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) is a rare genetic disorder that affects about 1 in 14,000 people in the United States. As the most commonly identified genetic cause of obesity, PWS is often confused with Early-onset Morbid Obesity (EMO). Individuals with EMO show some signs of PWS, but clinically do not have PWS. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the clinical features and genetic basis of PWS and EMO, and to determine how these conditions affect a person throughout a lifetime.

Read the detailed description

PWS is a complex neurobehavioral syndrome. Clinical features include obesity, increased appetite, low muscle tone, cognitive impairment, distinct behavioral features, hypogonadism, and neonatal failure-to-thrive. It is the most commonly recognized genetic cause of obesity; however, many obese children do not in fact have PWS. These individuals are therefore diagnosed with EMO, a condition that shares features with PWS. The development of new advances and strategies for treating PWS and EMO requires a thorough understanding of the conditions at both the clinical and molecular levels. One goal of this study is to collect long-term data on individuals with PWS and EMO in order to gain a better understanding of the natural progression of the conditions, from the neonatal period well into adulthood. Specific to PWS, this study will establish a genotype-phenotype correlation among the different sub-types and will evaluate the effects of growth hormone treatment on disease progression. Lastly, the study will compare PWS with EMO in terms of clinical features and genetic basis.

Participation in this natural history study will entail an initial evaluation, followed by yearly study visits until the age of 3 and then every 2 years thereafter. Each study visit will last between 3 and 4 hours, and will include a physical exam (including a DEXA scan to determine body composition), psychological testing, an interview with the study physician, and an evaluation of the participant's diet history. In addition, blood tests will be completed for genetic testing and photos will be taken to evaluate disease progression. Cognitive and behavioral assessments will also be conducted and will last between 10 and 30 minutes.

02

Conditions studied

  • Prader-Willi Syndrome
  • Obesity

Keywords

  • Early-onset Morbid Obesity
03

In context

Prader-Willi Syndrome

138 studies on the registry are indexed under Prader-Willi Syndrome; 24 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 392 is above the median of 52 across 34 observational studies indexed under Prader-Willi Syndrome.

Browse Prader-Willi Syndrome studies →

Lead sponsor

University of Florida is the lead sponsor of 1,254 studies on the registry; 201 are open to participants now.

Of its 170 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 136 (80%) have results posted.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
Up to 60 Years
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No
Sampling method
Non-probability sample

Study population

Individuals with Prader-Willi syndrome and Early-onset Morbid Obesity

Inclusion criteria

  • Individuals enrolling in the Prader-Willi syndrome group will have a confirmed diagnosis of Prader-Willi syndrome, as confirmed by molecular and cytogenetic testing
  • Individuals enrolling in the Early-onset Morbid Obesity group will have a documented medical history of their weight exceeding 150% of the ideal body weight or a body mass index greater than 97% before the age of 4 years; they will also be under the age of 30 years.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Known genetic, chromosomal, or hormonal cause of cognitive impairment other than Prader-Willi syndrome
05

Study design

Observational model
Cohort
Time perspective
Prospective
Enrollment
392 participants (actual)
Biospecimen retention
Samples with dna

Groups and cohorts

  • Group 1

    Individuals with Prader-Willi syndrome.

    Other: Group 1

  • Group 2

    Individuals with Early-onset Morbid Obesity

    Other: Group 2

Interventions

  • OtherGroup 1

    Individuals with Prader-Willi syndrome. Monitoring every 6 months.

    Also known as: Prader-Willi syndrome, PWS

  • OtherGroup 2

    Individuals with Early-onset Morbid Obesity.

    Also known as: PWS

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Phenotypic assessments of participants

    phenotypic assessments will include cognitive level, behavioral analysis, physical features including body measurements and composition, co-morbidities (skin picking, psychiatric history, seizures, autistic behavior) medications required, and further comparison with the underlying molecular diagnosis.

    Time frame: until end of study

Secondary outcomes

  1. longitudinal pattern of progression

    assessment of cognition, behavior and body composition. In addition the age that growth hormone treatment began in the PWS participants will be correlated with physical features, body composition, cognition, behavior, developmental milestones, pubertal issues, and the onset of nutritional phases.

    Time frame: until end of study

07

Study locations

4 sites
  • University of California at Irvine
    Orange, California 92868, United States
  • University of Florida
    Gainesville, Florida 32610-0296, United States
  • Kansas University Medical Center
    Kansas City, Kansas 66160, United States
  • Vanderbilt University Medical Center
    Nashville, Tennessee 37201, United States
08

References and documents

Publications

  • Miller J, Kranzler J, Liu Y, Schmalfuss I, Theriaque DW, Shuster JJ, Hatfield A, Mueller OT, Goldstone AP, Sahoo T, Beaudet AL, Driscoll DJ. Neurocognitive findings in Prader-Willi syndrome and early-onset morbid obesity. J Pediatr. 2006 Aug;149(2):192-8. doi: 10.1016/j.jpeds.2006.04.013. PubMed 16887432 ↗
  • Miller JL, Couch JA, Schmalfuss I, He G, Liu Y, Driscoll DJ. Intracranial abnormalities detected by three-dimensional magnetic resonance imaging in Prader-Willi syndrome. Am J Med Genet A. 2007 Mar 1;143A(5):476-83. doi: 10.1002/ajmg.a.31508. PubMed 17103438 ↗
  • Butler MG. Management of obesity in Prader-Willi syndrome. Nat Clin Pract Endocrinol Metab. 2006 Nov;2(11):592-3. doi: 10.1038/ncpendmet0320. No abstract available. PubMed 17082801 ↗
  • Butler MG, Bittel DC, Kibiryeva N, Talebizadeh Z, Thompson T. Behavioral differences among subjects with Prader-Willi syndrome and type I or type II deletion and maternal disomy. Pediatrics. 2004 Mar;113(3 Pt 1):565-73. doi: 10.1542/peds.113.3.565. PubMed 14993551 ↗
  • Dykens E, Shah B. Psychiatric disorders in Prader-Willi syndrome: epidemiology and management. CNS Drugs. 2003;17(3):167-78. doi: 10.2165/00023210-200317030-00003. PubMed 12617696 ↗
  • Goldstone AP. Prader-Willi syndrome: advances in genetics, pathophysiology and treatment. Trends Endocrinol Metab. 2004 Jan-Feb;15(1):12-20. doi: 10.1016/j.tem.2003.11.003. PubMed 14693421 ↗
  • Miller J, Silverstein J, Shuster J, Driscoll DJ, Wagner M. Short-term effects of growth hormone on sleep abnormalities in Prader-Willi syndrome. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2006 Feb;91(2):413-7. doi: 10.1210/jc.2005-1279. Epub 2005 Nov 29. PubMed 16317059 ↗
  • Shapira NA, Lessig MC, He AG, James GA, Driscoll DJ, Liu Y. Satiety dysfunction in Prader-Willi syndrome demonstrated by fMRI. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 2005 Feb;76(2):260-2. doi: 10.1136/jnnp.2004.039024. PubMed 15654046 ↗
  • Bittel DC, Butler MG. Prader-Willi syndrome: clinical genetics, cytogenetics and molecular biology. Expert Rev Mol Med. 2005 Jul 25;7(14):1-20. doi: 10.1017/S1462399405009531. PubMed 16038620 ↗
  • Holsen LM, Zarcone JR, Brooks WM, Butler MG, Thompson TI, Ahluwalia JS, Nollen NL, Savage CR. Neural mechanisms underlying hyperphagia in Prader-Willi syndrome. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2006 Jun;14(6):1028-37. doi: 10.1038/oby.2006.118. PubMed 16861608 ↗
  • Cassidy SB, Driscoll DJ. Prader-Willi syndrome. Eur J Hum Genet. 2009 Jan;17(1):3-13. doi: 10.1038/ejhg.2008.165. Epub 2008 Sep 10. PubMed 18781185 ↗
09

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Sep 22, 2014, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT00375089
Lead sponsor
University of Florida
Collaborators
Office of Rare Diseases (ORD), Rare Diseases Clinical Research Network, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
Sep 12, 2006
Start date
Sep 2006
Primary completion
Jan 2014
Completion
Jan 2014
Last update
Sep 22, 2014

Study contacts

Arthur Beaudet, MD
study chair · Baylor College of Medicine

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
Yes
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

Not currently enrolling

This study is completed, as verified in Sep 2014. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

Follow this study

Get an email when the registry record changes — status, dates, results — or when someone posts here.

Sign in to follow

Discussion

Questions and observations about this study, from anyone following it. Not medical advice, and not a channel to the study team — their contact details are on the registry record.

Sign in to join the discussion. Reading takes no account; posting does. You choose a display name, and a pseudonym is the default.

Nothing here yet. If you are running this trial, taking part in it, or weighing whether to, this is the place to say so.

Start the discussion