Translational Study Using Human Abdominal Adipose Tissue Biopsies to Investigate the Role of Cannabinoid Receptor 1 (CB1) in Controlling Endocannabinoid and Adipokine Secretion (ENDOCATA)

July 24, 2025 updated by: Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Dijon

Abdominal obesity and type 2 diabetes are associated with the hyperactivation of the endocannabinoid system. Several animal and human studies indicate that circulating endocannabinoid (EC) levels are correlated with body fat. Thus, adipose tissue, which possesses the enzymatic machinery for the synthesis of ECs, could be the main producer of plasma ECs.

Today, it is clearly established that stimulation of the endocannabinoid system, via activation of cannabinoid receptor 1 (CB1s) located in the brain, leads to increased food intake and weight gain. Moreover, peripheral CB1s present in organs such as the liver, muscles and adipose tissue are involved in the establishment of metabolic deregulations linked to obesity (steatosis, insulin resistance, dyslipidemia).

Thus, ECs produced by adipose tissue could play a key role in the regulation of carbohydrate-lipid homeostasis through their autocrine or paracrine actions by activating central and peripheral CB1s. Therefore, the objective of this study is to:

  1. clarify whether obesity, associated or not with diabetes, leads to an overproduction of ECs (specifying which ones) by visceral or subcutaneous adipose tissue
  2. to determine whether blocking CB1s with new peripherally acting antagonists can lead to a reduction in the production of ECs by adipose tissue.

This study will also provide an opportunity to evaluate the production of adipokines and cytokines involved in the control of energy homeostasis under the different experimental conditions.

Study Overview

Status

Recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

45

Phase

  • 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 Locations

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

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Controls:
  • men or post-menopausal women aged between 18 and 80
  • gave oral consent
  • to undergo visceral surgery

Non-diabetic obese subjects:

  • men or post-menopausal women aged between 18 and 80
  • BMI > 30
  • gave oral consent
  • to undergo visceral surgery

Obese diabetic subjects:

  • men or post-menopausal women aged between 18 and 80
  • type 2 diabetic not treated with Insulin or GLP-1 agonist
  • BMI > 30
  • gave oral consent
  • to undergo visceral surgery

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Controls:
  • Person not covered by national health insurance.
  • BMI > 30
  • diabetes
  • chronic inflammatory disease
  • cancer undergoing chemotherapy or chemotherapy less than a year old
  • digestive cancer with recent weight loss (≥10%) and/or malnutrition
  • known metastatic cancer
  • cancer undergoing long-term hormonal treatment
  • protected adult

Non-diabetic obese subjects:

  • Person not covered by national health insurance
  • diabetes
  • chronic inflammatory disease
  • cancer undergoing chemotherapy or chemotherapy less than a year old
  • digestive cancer with recent weight loss (≥10%) and/or malnutrition
  • known metastatic cancer
  • cancer undergoing long-term hormonal treatment
  • protected adult

Obese diabetic subjects:

  • Person not covered by national health insurance
  • chronic inflammatory disease
  • cancer undergoing chemotherapy or chemotherapy less than a year old
  • digestive cancer with recent weight loss (≥10%) and/or malnutrition
  • known metastatic cancer
  • cancer undergoing long-term hormonal treatment
  • type 1 diabetes
  • secondary diabetes
  • protected adult

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: Other
  • Allocation: Non-Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Non-diabetic obese
Procedure: Sampling of adipose tissue
Removal of less than 1 cm3 of adipose tissue during visceral surgery
Experimental: Diabetic obese
Procedure: Sampling of adipose tissue
Removal of less than 1 cm3 of adipose tissue during visceral surgery
Active Comparator: Witnesses
Procedure: Sampling of adipose tissue
Removal of less than 1 cm3 of adipose tissue during visceral surgery

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Kinetics of the appearance of endocannabinoids produced by visceral adipose tissue explants in culture medium estimated by the area under the curve in obese subjects and in controls.
Time Frame: 12 hours
The assay will be performed using a technique of liquide chromatography coupled to a mass spectrometer.
12 hours

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Dijon

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)

September 29, 2021

Primary Completion (Estimated)

September 1, 2027

Study Completion (Estimated)

September 1, 2027

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

May 10, 2021

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 18, 2021

First Posted (Actual)

June 28, 2021

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

July 28, 2025

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 24, 2025

Last Verified

July 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • VERGES 2020

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

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

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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