Behavioral Chronotype: Impact on Sleep and Metabolism

November 13, 2025 updated by: University of Chicago
The purpose of this study is to examine how the timing of eating changes how the body makes and uses energy (metabolism). This study will also examine if metabolism changes with age.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Active, not recruiting

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

The timing of food intake and caloric distribution across the 24hr day are emerging as contributing factors to weight gain. The idea that not only what you eat, but when you eat can contribute to weight gain has garnered interest from both the scientific community and the public. In fact, the distribution of caloric intake over the 24hr day has been recently recognized as a potential source of "circadian misalignment" which can result in adverse health outcomes, including overeating, impaired glucose tolerance, insulin sensitivity, and cardiovascular disease risk. This study will provide proof-of-concept evidence on the impact of misalignment on glucose metabolism and blood pressure regulation. This study will focus on overweight individuals who are at high risk of obesity but are still on a trajectory that can potentially be reversed by lifestyle changes. Following a careful assessment of the subject's habitual sleep and meal timing and caloric distribution under real life conditions, a short laboratory study will determine 24hr profiles of hormones involved in circadian timing, food intake and cardiovascular risk in a session that will mimic habitual sleep/wake and caloric distribution. Participants will then be randomized to one of three groups in which caloric distribution across the day will either be equally distributed between 3 meals, or heavily weighted to the morning or heavily weighted to the evening. During a 6-day semi-ambulatory in patient intervention, combining laboratory and ambulatory procedures, study procedures will assess the effect of experimentally changing caloric distribution across the day, advancing versus delaying the dietary chronotype. After 7 days of this caloric distribution intervention, we will then repeat the short laboratory session to assess whether the intervention of caloric distribution altered any of the measured profiles. The outcome measures will be the timing of the dim light melatonin onset (DLMO), blood pressure dipping, and insulin sensitivity. The proposed work will provide unambiguous evidence related to the efficacy of a novel lifestyle intervention - that could be more acceptable than dietary restriction or exercise - to reduce the risk of T2DM and CVD in adults at risk due to age and degree of adiposity. Moreover, our project will examine both middle-aged adults and older adults. The younger age group is of interest because of a lesser burden of illness and of an opportunity to alter the trajectory of aging at an earlier stage. The older age group is expected to have more severe circadian disturbances at baseline, with the potential of a larger effect on CM risk. The combined examination of metabolic risk and CVD risk in the context of circadian function is also novel.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
200

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact

The name and contact information for the person who can answer enrollment questions for a clinical study. Each location where the study is being conducted may also have a specific contact, who may be better able to answer those questions.

Study Contact Backup

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Illinois
      • Chicago, Illinois, United States, 60637
        • University of Chicago

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

30 years to 75 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Healthy overweight and obese (25 kg/m2 ≤BMI< 40 kg/m2) men and women
  • aged 30-75 years
  • self-report sleeping at least 6.5-hrs/night but no more than 9-hrs/night, between 21:00 and 09:00
  • signed informed consent

Exclusion Criteria:

  • participation in a medically managed weight loss program within the past year
  • undergone bariatric surgery
  • dietary restrictions
  • Subjects will not have undergone surgery, donated a unit of blood, worked night shifts or crossed any time zones, or participated in another clinical study within a month prior to the study.
  • pregnancy in women
  • lactating women
  • Female subjects must not be actively going through menopause.
  • prisoners
  • inability to consent
  • members of the study team
  • Females with a hemoglobin < 11.5g/dL, and males with a hemoglobin < 13.5 g/dl will be excluded from the study.
  • presence of a sleep disorder such as moderate or severe sleep apnea (AHI≥15), a Circadian Rhythm Sleep Disorder (DSM-V criteria for advance sleep phase syndrome, delayed sleep phase syndrome, non 24-h sleep disorder, irregular sleep disorder and shift-work related sleep disorder),
  • a diagnosis of diabetes based on history or screening tests
  • other forms of endocrine dysfunction including PCOS;
  • a history of cognitive or other neurological disorders;
  • a history of major psychiatric disorder based on DSM-V criteria,
  • the presence of unstable or serious medical conditions,
  • any GI disease that requires dietary adjustment;
  • current, or use within the past month of melatonin, psychoactive, hypnotic, stimulant or pain medications (except occasionally); beta blockers; habitual smoking (6 or more cigarettes per week); caffeine consumption of greater than 500 mg per day

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Prevention
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Active Comparator: Extended Overnight Fast
The extended overnight fast group will have scheduled meal times for the entire 6 day semi ambulatory and in lab session. Subjects will consume approximately 33% of their daily calories at breakfast, lunch and dinner, respectively. This is a model for fasting dietary chronotype.
Behavioral: Extended Overnight Fast
Provide subjects a regimented amount of calories at each meal.
Experimental: Early Total Caloric Intake
The Early Total Caloric Intake study group will have scheduled meal times for the entire 6 day semi ambulatory and in lab session and will consume 60% of their daily calories during breakfast. The remaining 40% of daily calories will be consumed during lunch and dinner. This is a model for early dietary chronotype.
Behavioral: Early Total Caloric Intake
Provide subjects a regimented amount of calories at each meal.
Experimental: Late Total Caloric Intake
The Late Total Caloric Intake study group will have scheduled meal times for the entire 6 day semi ambulatory and in lab session and will consume 40% of daily calories during breakfast and lunch. The remaining 60% of daily calories will be consumed during dinner. This is a model for late dietary chronotype.
Behavioral: Late Total Caloric Intake
Provide subjects a regimented amount of calories at each meal.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
MI-IS
Time Frame: 15 days
The primary outcome measure is the Matsuda Index of Insulin Sensitivity.
15 days

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
University of Chicago

Collaborators

Collaborators

An organization other than the sponsor that provides support for a clinical study. This support may include activities related to funding, design, implementation, data analysis, or reporting.
Northwestern University
National Institute on Aging (NIA)

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Principal Investigator: Eve Van Cauter, PhD, University of Chicago

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
February 2, 2018

Primary Completion (Actual)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
March 13, 2023

Study Completion (Estimated)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
January 1, 2027

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
August 23, 2018

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
August 23, 2018

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
August 27, 2018

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimated)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
November 14, 2025

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
November 13, 2025

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
November 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • IRB17-1768
  • P01AG011412 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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Sponsors and Collaborators

Medical Conditions

Drug Interventions

Conditions

Rare Diseases

Drug Interventions

Dietary Supplements

Sponsor/Collaborators

Locations

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