Immunonutrition for Diabetic Foot Ulcers

Diabetes-induced peripheral neuropathy can lead to the development of diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs), which can have a devastating effect on patients' lives and can lead to life threatening infection, amputations, and even death. Conventional treatment of DFUs are time consuming, burdensome, costly, and often do not treat the root cause of the problem. Even with proper care, ulcers can take a significantly longer time to heal in diabetic patients due to the altered physiology which does not allow for the proper nutrients and healing factors to mobilize to the site of injury, leaving these ulcers with a poor chance of healing and at high risk for infection and possible amputation. Supplemental immunonutrition therapy may offer a viable, low cost, rapidly scalable, and widely available approach to enhance the body's ability to heal itself. This prospective, randomized pilot study will evaluate the effect of a 6-week daily oral course of a specific combination of immunonutrients, L-Arginine, Omega-3 fatty acids, and Vitamin C, on wound healing in diabetic patients with chronic lower extremity ulcers compared to traditional standard of care. The deliverables of this clinical project will serve to advance a cost-effective added strategy to address a significant unmet clinical need in treatment for the diabetic patient population. Study outcomes will lay the foundation for a multi-site clinical trial to establish the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of this strategy across the health care system.