Stimulation of Diet-Induced Thermogenesis by Cold-Exposure (BAT&DIT)

BAT&DIT: Stimulation of Diet-Induced Thermogenesis by Cold-Exposure

Human fat tissue is essentially white fat, the main function of which is to store excess energy intake, and to release it when necessary. Brown fat is far less abundant and is present in the body to burn fat (and thus energy) to generate heat to maintain body temperature around 96 degrees. This phenomenon is called thermogenesis. When humans are exposed to cold on a chronic basis, brown fat expands and becomes more active, and consequently burns more energy. The amount of brown fat is higher during winter, and daily short (20 minutes) exposures to cold might be sufficient to induce its activity.

We hypothesized that daily short term (20 minutes) exposure to a cold environment (4 °C) for four weeks increases adaptive BAT-mediated thermogenesis. CIT and DIT will be increased proportionally (the increase in CIT and DIT will be correlated).

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Brown Adipose Tissue; Thermogenesis
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Cold Exposure

Detailed Description

This study will have 3 phases:

Phase 1: baseline testing. This phase takes place at the beginning of the study to establish several physical, physiological and metabolic studies and includes measures of height, weight, body composition, sedentary and resting metabolic rate in a metabolic chamber as well as your metabolic and cardiac responses to cold.

Phase 2: cold exposure (treatment) phase. This phase is initiated immediately after phase 1 and will last 4 weeks. Each work day (Monday to Friday) subjects will have to spend 20 minutes in a cold room wearing light clothes.

Phase 3: post-treatment testing. The same physiological and metabolic studies measured at baseline will be repeated over 3 days.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 9
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Louisiana
    • Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States, 70808
      • Pennington Biomedical Research Center

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 35 years (Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: Male

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Men between the ages of 18-35 years, inclusive
• Body mass index (BMI) between 18.5 and 25.0 kg/m2, inclusive, with a stable weight (<2kg variation) within the past 3-6 months
• Non smokers
• On no medication or recreational drugs
• Healthy as assessed by a standard self-reported screening health questionnaire
• Provide written informed consent

Exclusion Criteria:

• Smokers
• Individuals taking any medications
• Individuals taking any stimulants
• Individuals taking beta-blockers
• Individuals with diabetes or impaired fasting glucose as defined by theADA criteria, i.e. fasting plasma glucose concentration ≥ 5.6 mmol/L (100 mg/dl).
• Individuals with chronic alcohol consumption (> 3 drinks per day) or drug abuse
• Individuals unable to abstain from caffeinated beverage or alcohol the days of study
• Individuals with pacemakers or defibrillators
• Individuals with history of heart disease or history of stroke
• Individuals having a significant recent loss or gain of weight
• Individuals involved in regular (> 3 times per week), intense competitive sporting activities.
• Individuals involved in intensive exercise activity.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Cold Exposure	Other: Cold Exposure; Participants will spend 20 minutes per day 5 times a week (workdays) in a cold room wearing light clothes (T-shirt, shorts and light shoes) for 4 weeks.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Energy Expenditure	Change in energy expenditure is measured within 24 hours (acute) and after 4 weeks (chronic) of cold exposure with either bed-side calorimeter or whole-room calorimeter.	After 4 weeks of cold exposure

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Temperature	Change in temperature acute (within 24 hours) and chronic (after 4 weeks) temperature from baseline as measured by either capsule (core body temperature) or infrared imaging (surface temperature).	After 4 weeks of cold exposure

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Pennington Biomedical Research Center

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Lam YY, Redman LM, Smith SR, Bray GA, Greenway FL, Johannsen D, Ravussin E. Determinants of sedentary 24-h energy expenditure: equations for energy prescription and adjustment in a respiratory chamber. Am J Clin Nutr. 2014 Apr;99(4):834-42. doi: 10.3945/ajcn.113.079566. Epub 2014 Feb 5.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: November 1, 2010
• Primary Completion (Actual): May 1, 2012
• Study Completion (Actual): May 1, 2012

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: July 7, 2013
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: July 10, 2013
• First Posted (Estimate): July 15, 2013

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimate): January 8, 2016
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 6, 2016
• Last Verified: January 1, 2016

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Brown adipose tissue; Diet-induced thermogenesis; Cold-induced thermogenesis; Brown fat
• Other Study ID Numbers: PBRC 10031