Differences in Extracellular Vesicles From Adipose Tissue of Individuals With Obesity. (EVO)

September 8, 2025 updated by: prof. dr. Kenneth Verboven, Hasselt University

The Adipose Tissue and Sex-specific Role of Adipose-derived Extracellular Vesicles in Obesity-related Skeletal Muscle Insulin Resistance.

Our society is characterized by a strong increase in the prevalence of obesity, which often causes the development of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases such as type 2 diabetes. The way(s) obesity is responsible for these diseases, is still insufficiently understood. This study therefore examines the content of human fat tissue storage location- and cell type-specific extracellular vesicles (EVs) in lean and obese individuals, and the possible connection with sex, insulin sensitivity, and the blood-brain barrier.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
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

This study focuses on unraveling the fundamental differences in communication via extracellular vesicles (EVs) derived from fat cells and immune cells in terms of fat tissue storage location and sex among individuals with and without obesity. The study hypothesizes that the differences in EV profiles, originating from corresponding in vitro differentiated hMADS and ex vivo isolated adult fat cells and immune cells, among individuals with and without obesity can be related to sex and/or fat tissue storage location. Additionally, the effect of the isolated EVs on the blood-brain barrier function is also investigated.

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.
Observational

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.
150

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

  • Belgium
    • Limburg
      • Genk, Limburg, Belgium, 3600
        • Recruiting
        • Ziekenhuis Oost-Limburg
        • Contact:
        • Sub-Investigator:
          • Daphne Lintsen, MSc

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

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Sampling Method

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Individuals with or without obesity presenting at the bariatric surgery or abdominal surgery department, respectively.

Description

Individuals with obesity - Inclusion Criteria:

  • Caucasian adults with obesity that have a body mass index (BMI) of at least 35 kg/m^2 and are scheduled for their first bariatric surgery.
  • Final male/female ratio of this study is 1:1
  • Minimal knowledge of Dutch to read and understand the informed consent.

Individuals with obesity - Exclusion Criteria:

  • Smoking and/or drug abuse
  • Cardiovascular diseases (including but not limited to implanted aids like a pacemaker or defibrillator)
  • Lung and/or kidney diseases
  • Brain and/or nerve diseases
  • Malignant diseases (e.g. cancer)

Individuals without obesity (lean) - inclusion criteria

  • Caucasian adults with obesity that have a body mass index (BMI) of between 18 and 24.9 kg/m^2 and are scheduled for abdominal surgery
  • Female only
  • Minimal knowledge of Dutch to read and understand the informed consent.

Individuals without obesity (lean) - exclusion criteria

  • Smoking and/or drug abuse
  • Cardiovascular diseases (including but not limited to implanted aids like a pacemaker or defibrillator)
  • Lung and/or kidney diseases
  • Brain and/or nerve diseases
  • Endocrine diseases like type 2 diabetes
  • Malignant diseases (e.g. cancer)

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

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort

Group / Cohort

A group or subgroup of participants in an observational study that is assessed for biomedical or health outcomes.
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.
EVO participants with obesity
From each patient, two adipose tissue biopsies will be taken during bariatric surgery; one from the subcutaneous and one from the visceral adipose tissue.
Other: Adipose tissue biopsy
From each patient, two biopsies will be taken during surgery; one from the subcutaneous and one from the visceral adipose tissue.
Other: Blood sampling
From each patient, two venous blood samples (citrate, LiHe and EDTA plasma) will be taken before surgery.
Other: Questionnaire
Before bariatric surgery, every patient will fill out questions about general health (physical activity, sedentary behavior, sleeping pattern, ...), physical condition before surgery (nausea, food intake, ...), etc.
Other: Patient phenotyping
Length and weight will be measured to calculate body mass index (BMI). Waist and hip circumference will be assessed, as well as blood pressure (both systolic and diastolic) and heart rate at rest. Body composition will be determined using a bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) in the hospital. Medication use and comorbidities (that are allowed within the in-/exclusion criteria) will also be derived from the patient's medical files with patient's permission.
EVO participants without obesity
From each lean patient, two adipose tissue biopsies will be taken during abdominal surgery; one from the subcutaneous and one from the visceral adipose tissue.
Other: Adipose tissue biopsy
From each patient, two biopsies will be taken during surgery; one from the subcutaneous and one from the visceral adipose tissue.
Other: Blood sampling
From each patient, two venous blood samples (citrate, LiHe and EDTA plasma) will be taken before surgery.
Other: Questionnaire
Before bariatric surgery, every patient will fill out questions about general health (physical activity, sedentary behavior, sleeping pattern, ...), physical condition before surgery (nausea, food intake, ...), etc.
Other: Patient phenotyping
Length and weight will be measured to calculate body mass index (BMI). Waist and hip circumference will be assessed, as well as blood pressure (both systolic and diastolic) and heart rate at rest. Body composition will be determined using a bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) in the hospital. Medication use and comorbidities (that are allowed within the in-/exclusion criteria) will also be derived from the patient's medical files with patient's permission.

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
General characterization of adipocyte- or adipose tissue-derived extracellular vesicles
Time Frame: Baseline
Concentration, size, surface markers, content and morphology of extracellular vesicles derived from isolated mature adipocytes, isolated adipose tissue stem cells or isolated from complete adipose tissue explants derived from both the subcutaneous as the visceral adipose tissue biopsies will be investigated.
Baseline
General characterization of adipose tissue- and blood immune cells
Time Frame: Baseline
Immune cells isolated from adipose tissue and blood will be characterized by flow cytometry.
Baseline

Other Outcome Measures

Other Outcome Measures

For clinical trials, a planned measurement described in the protocol that is used to determine the effect of an intervention/treatment on participants. For observational studies, a measurement or observation that is used to describe patterns of diseases or traits, or associations with exposures, risk factors, or treatment. Types of outcome measures include primary outcome measure and secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Correlations between possible influencing patient factors (derived by a questionnaire) and extracellular vesicle characteristics
Time Frame: Baseline
Questions about general health (physical activity, sedentary behavior, sleeping pattern, ...), physical condition before surgery (nausea, food intake, ...), etc. This information will be used to make correlations with extracellular vesicles characteristics.
Baseline
Correlations between possible influencing patient factors (derived by patient phenotyping) and extracellular vesicle characteristics
Time Frame: Baseline
Length and weight will be measured to calculate body mass index (BMI). Waist and hip circumference will be assessed, as well as blood pressure (both systolic and diastolic) and heart rate at rest. Body composition will be determined using a bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA). Medicine use and comorbidities (that are allowed within the in-/exclusion criteria) will also be derived from the patient's medical files with patient's permission. This information will be used to make correlations with extracellular vesicles characteristics.
Baseline

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.
Hasselt University

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.
Ziekenhuis Oost-Limburg
Research Foundation Flanders

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 20, 2023

Primary Completion (Estimated)

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.
September 1, 2026

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.
September 1, 2026

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).
February 27, 2023

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.
May 30, 2024

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.
June 5, 2024

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.
September 15, 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.
September 8, 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.
September 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

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.
  • CTU Z-2022041

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

IPD Plan Description

Patient information will be coded based on unique identifiers. This file will only be available for the principle investigator and will be stored safely on the secured Google Enterprise drive of UHasselt. Biological samples will be processed and coded by UHasselt, after registration in the biobank of Limburg (UBILIM). Only researchers of the EVO study will have access to any of the files, patient information or biological samples.

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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