Taurine Supplementation Associated or Not With Exercise: Effect on Browning of White Adipose Tissue in Elderly Women With Sarcopenic Obesity

The aging process is followed by metabolic and body composition changes, increasing the risk of obesity and sarcopenia. The coexistence of these conditions acts synergistically on each other and is known as sarcopenic obesity. Beige adipose tissue is a tissue type that emerges from subcutaneous white adipose tissue (WAT), altering its phenotype to resemble the thermogenic functions of brown adipose tissue (BAT) in response to beta-adrenergic stimuli. Some in vitro and animal studies suggest that taurine supplementation and physical exercise are effective interventions in stimulating the aforementioned tissue, promoting what is known as WAT darkening, improving energy metabolism and showing benefits on the maintenance of muscle mass via stimulation of the coactivating protein PGC1α. These investigations are scarce in humans and could help health professionals in the adjuvant treatment of sarcopenic obesity. Therefore, the aim of the present study is to analyze the effects of taurine supplementation associated or not with physical exercise on the darkening of the WAT in sarcopenic obese elderly women.

Study Overview

• Status: Active, not recruiting
• Conditions: Browning of Subcutaneous White Adipose Tissue Post Intervention; Metabolic and Inflammatory Variables Post Intervention
• Intervention / Treatment: Dietary supplement: Taurine supplementation; Other: Pshysical exercise; Other: Placebo control

Detailed Description

The aging process is followed by metabolic and body composition changes, increasing the risk of obesity and sarcopenia. The coexistence of these conditions acts synergistically on each other and is known as sarcopenic obesity. Beige adipose tissue is a tissue type that emerges from subcutaneous white adipose tissue (WAT), altering its phenotype to resemble the thermogenic functions of brown adipose tissue (BAT) in response to beta-adrenergic stimuli. Some in vitro and animal studies suggest that taurine supplementation and physical exercise are effective interventions in stimulating the aforementioned tissue, promoting what is known as WAT darkening, improving energy metabolism and showing benefits on the maintenance of muscle mass via stimulation of the coactivating protein PGC1α. These investigations are scarce in humans and could help health professionals in the adjuvant treatment of sarcopenic obesity. Therefore, the aim of the present study is to analyze the effects of taurine supplementation associated or not with physical exercise on the darkening of the WAT in sarcopenic obese elderly women. Volunteers with low appendicular lean mass (<15 kg) and body mass index (BMI) between 30 and 40 kg/m² will be recruited. These will be subdivided into 4 groups: control group (Cont), taurine (Tau), exercise (Exe) and exercise and taurine (Exe +Tau) and the duration of the intervention for all groups will be 16 weeks. Data related to anthropometry, body composition, biochemical tests, and food intake will be collected. To evaluate the effects on the darkening, a biopsy of the abdominal subcutaneous white adipose tissue will be performed to analyze protein, lipidomic and genetic parameters of this tissue pre and post intervention. Data will be analyzed by Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) or Kruskal-Wallis test depending on the normality of the data that will be tested by Shapiro-Wilk. A significance level for p <0.05 will be admitted. All analyzes will be performed in SPSS version 20 software.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 40
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Gabriela U Ortiz, Bachelor; Phone Number: +5516991461389; Email: gabrielaueortiz@gmail.com

Study Locations

• Brazil
  • Sao Paulo
    • Ribeirao Preto, Sao Paulo, Brazil, 14040-907
      • Escola de Educação Física e Esporte de Ribeirão Preto

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 60 years to 75 years (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• BMI between 30 and 40kg/m²;
• Appendicular lean mass below 15 kg;
• Dynamometry below the cutoff point adjusted for sex and BMI (less than or equal to 21kg);
• "Sit and stand" test below the cut-off point adjusted for the age group, considering the number of repetitions in 30 seconds;
• Present medical certificate to perform physical exercise

Exclusion Criteria:

• alcoholics
• smokers
• diseases that prevents the practice of physical activity
• medical impediment to the practice of physical exercise throughout the study
• infectious diseases
• coronary diseases
• chronic kidney diseases
• undergoing nutritional monitoring or weight loss treatment
• score ≤13 for cognitive screening on the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE)

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Triple

Number of Arms

4

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Taurine and Exercise (Tau+Exe); Individuals who will receive 3g of taurine supplementation combined with physical training in the period of 16 weeks	Dietary supplement: Taurine supplementation; Participants will receive 3g of taurine to be supplemented in the morning in single-dose capsules. The intervention will last 16 weeks.; Other: Pshysical exercise; Participants will perform a multicomponent type workout that explores strength, aerobic and balance capacities with load progression every 15 days. The sessions will last 60 minutes each, being held three times a week with a day of rest in between. The intervention will last 16 weeks
Experimental: Taurine (Tau); Individuals who will receive 3g of taurine supplementation	Dietary supplement: Taurine supplementation; Participants will receive 3g of taurine to be supplemented in the morning in single-dose capsules. The intervention will last 16 weeks.
Experimental: Exercise (Exe); Individuals who will perform a physical training and receive a placebo supplementation in the period of 16 weeks	Other: Pshysical exercise; Participants will perform a multicomponent type workout that explores strength, aerobic and balance capacities with load progression every 15 days. The sessions will last 60 minutes each, being held three times a week with a day of rest in between. The intervention will last 16 weeks
Placebo Comparator: Placebo (Cont); Individuals who will receive a placebo supplementation in the period of 16 weeks	Other: Placebo control; The participants will receive a supplementation capsule containing placebo in the morning in single-dose capsules. The intervention will last 16 weeks.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Browning of white adipose tissue	Changes in the gene and protein expression on the subcutaneous white adipose tissue	16 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Indirect calorimetry assessment	Changes in resting metabolic rate (RMR) evaluated pre and post intervention by indirect calorimetry.	16 weeks
Changes in metabolic parameters - fasting blood glucose	Changes in fasting blood glucose samples in pre and post intervention	16 weeks
Changes in metabolic parameters - lipid profile	Changes in lipid profile (total cholesterol, HDL-c, LDL-c, triglycerides)samples in pre and post intervention	16 weeks
Changes in metabolic parameters - insulin sensitivity	Changes in insulin sensitivity samples in pre and post intervention	16 weeks
Body composition changes	Changes in fat-free mass and fat mass evaluated pre and post intervention by iDEXA	16 weeks
Improvement of physical performance	Improvement of physical performance evaluated by the 6-minute walk test, elbow flexion, sit and stand test and hand grip test	16 weeks
Changes in inflamatory markers	Evaluate the inflamatory markers PCR, IL-1β, IL-6, IL-10, IL-15, IFNy, MCP1, TNF-α, NFκβ, JNK1, PTP1B, iNOS	16 weeks
Changes in subcutaneous white adipose tissue (sWAT) morphology	Evaluate the changes in the white adipose tissue morphology by the histological analysis	16 weeks
Changes in Lipidomic profile of sWAT	Evaluate the fatty acids profile in the sWAT	16 weeks
Changes in plasma taurine	Evaluate the changes in the plasma taurine pre and post intervention	16 weeks
Changes in plasma irisin	Evaluate the changes in plasma irisin pre and post intervention	16 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Sao Paulo
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Ellen C de Freitas, PhD, University of São Paulo, School of Physical Education and Sports of Ribeirão Preto Ph.D. +55 16 3602-0345 ellenfreitas@usp.br

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): February 27, 2023
• Primary Completion (Actual): September 26, 2023
• Study Completion (Estimated): June 1, 2024

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: June 8, 2022
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: June 8, 2022
• First Posted (Actual): June 10, 2022

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): November 29, 2023
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 28, 2023
• Last Verified: November 1, 2023

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Exercise; Obesity; Sarcopenia; Taurine; Brite adipose tissue
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Overnutrition; Nutrition Disorders; Overweight; Body Weight; Obesity
• Other Study ID Numbers: Taurine_exercise_browning

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