Ongoing projects
HISTORI
PhD Students: Ashok Ganeshalingam and Nicolai Gundtoft Andersen
Status for 2024
Randomized Controlled Trial on Semaglutide in Schizophrenic Patients with Prediabetes
Collaborators:
- Dr. Ashok A. Ganeshalingam (PhD student) Nicolai Gundtoft Uhrenholt (PhD student)
- Professor Niels Bilenberg (Psychiatry)
- Professor Sidse Arnfred (Psychiatry)
- Professor Peter Gæde (Endocrinology)
- Professor Jan Frystyk (Principal Investigator)
Funding: Novo Nordisk Foundation (DKK 8.5 million+), SDCO, SDCS and Slagelsepuljen
This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial investigates the metabolic effects of semaglutide in patients with schizophrenia and prediabetes. A total of 154 participants were randomized to either semaglutide or placebo and underwent 30 weeks of treatment. The last patient last visit (LPLV) was completed in May 2024.
Progress and Upcoming Publications:
- The first publication is expected to be submitted in spring 2025.
- No results have been published yet, but data analysis is ongoing.
- Secondary analyses focusing on cardiovascular and metabolic endpoints will be conducted in Q2–Q3 2025.
- A one-year follow-up dataset, collected post-treatment, has recently been completed and will be analyzed in Q4 2025.
This study represents a significant step in understanding how GLP-1 receptor agonists can mitigate antipsychotic-induced metabolic dysfunction and may provide new insights into the management of prediabetes in patients with schizophrenia.
Deciphering the role of adipose tissue in breast cancer: a putative role of PAPP-A and IGF-2
The IGF system plays a role in cancer development and constitutes a link between cancer and obesity. We are currently collecting mammary adipose and cancer tissue samples from women with breast cancer undergoing surgery at the Department of Plastic Surgery, OUH. We envisage that members of this system are secreted from the adipose tissues adjacent to breast cancer cells and can promote cancer growth through the activation of local receptors.
In a parallel study, we have analyzed PAPP-A levels in samples from over 3,000 breast cancer patients collected at Aarhus University Hospital. We are examining how PAPP-A correlates with patient outcomes, including mortality and recurrence, while considering BMI and type 2 diabetes status.
Both projects are conducted in collaboration with Dr. Signe Borgquist at Department of Oncology, Aarhus University Hospital, and are part of the ObeCaRe network focused on obesity and cancer.
Members and collaborators:
- Professor Jan Frystyk
- Postdoc Rikke Hjortebjerg
- Postdoc Abeer Al-Qasem
- Professor Signe Borgquist (Oncology, Aarhus University Hospital)
- Associate Professor Ann Rosendahl (Oncology and Pathology Lund University)
- Consultant Anne Marie Bak Jylling (Department of Pathology, OUH)
- Consultant Katrine Lydolph Søe (Plastic Surgery, OUH)
Funding: The Danish Cancer Society and Novo Nordisk Foundation, in total approx. DKK 4 mill.