Study terminated by study partners

This study aims to characterize the neurological basis of obesity and response to surgical and medical treatment by inducing adult pluripotent stem cells into neuronal cells from subjects that have demonstrated extreme response to bariatric surgery or pharmacological treatment for obesity.

The investigators will consent subjects who have achieved extreme response to either bariatric surgery or pharmacologic treatment for obesity and harvest fibroblasts from skin biopsies, which will be reprogrammed to induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC). These iPSC's will then be differentiated into neural progenitor cells, neurons, astrocytes, and microglia to identify genetic and epigenetic pathways altered in disease-specific neural progenitor cells of the brain.

Inclusion Criteria:

• History of obesity
• Treatment with bariatric surgery
• Treatment with anti obesity medications
• Greater than 70% excess weight loss at least 6 months after surgery
• Greater than 15% weight loss on anti obesity medications

Exclusion Criteria:

• Active cancer, not including non-melanoma skin cancer
• Active eating disorder
• Use of anti obesity medications in subjects with a history of bariatric surgery
• Active complication of the upper GI tract in patients with a history of bariatric surgery

Subjects with obesity who are considered super responders to bariatric surgery or anti obesity pharmacotherapy.

This is not an intervention trial