Research Network Tackles Diabetic Foot Complications.

Six U.S. research institutions are launching the first-ever multicenter network to study diabetic foot ulcers, a common and burdensome complication of diabetes and the leading cause of bwer limb amputations in the U.S. The Diabetic Foot Consortium (DFC)--funded by the National Institutes of Health--aims to lay the foundation for a clinical trial network to test how to improve diabetic wound healing and prevent amputations among the 27,000,000 American adults with diabetes. DFC is supported by the NIH's National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK).

"People with diabetic foot ulcers have to manage careful at-home foot care over a long time to avoid infection until the wound heals," says Teresa Jones, NIDDK's project scientist for the consortium. "This consortium will address a major research gap in finding ways to effectively treat diabetic foot ulcers and to prevent the risk of complicated infections and potential amputation."

The first studies will focus on finding biological clues, called biomarkers, in people with diabetic foot ulcers that can guide treatment and predict how the ulcer will heal and the likelihood of an ulcer returning. For example, the first study of the DFC, led by the Indiana University School of Medicine, will test whether body fluid leaking through the skin on a newly healed ulcer can predict how likely an ulcer might return. A second study, led by the University of Miami, will test whether the presence of or a change in specific cellular proteins in tissue samples from an ulcer can predict the likelihood of healing in the next 12 weeks.

Up to 34% of people with diabetes will develop a foot ulcer in their lifetime, and half of foot ulcers become infected. Each year, about 100,000 Americans with diabetes will lose part of their lower limb because a foot ulcer becomes infected or does not heal.

Each clinical research site in the DFC will recruit up to 70 participants per study who are undergoing foot ulcer treatment or follow-up care...