Brain Blood Flow and Lactate in Non-obese and Obese Subjects

November 20, 2025 updated by: Jill Kanaley, University of Missouri-Columbia

Cerebral Lactate Uptake and Transport in Obese and Non-Obese Individuals

Cerebral blood flow (CBF) is essential for maintaining brain health and function, as it ensures delivery oxygen and nutrients necessary to support neuronal activity. Reduced CBF can impair the brain's ability to meet its metabolic demands, leading to deficits in cognitive ability. Impairments in CBF are associated with cognitive decline and neurodegenerative disease such as Alzheimer's and dementia. Many factors influence CBF, but recently lactate has emerged as a key player. Blood glucose has long been considered the primary fuel for the brain, but emerging evidence indicates that lactate may be the preferred fuel for neurons, and lactate may become even more important under stressful conditions.

Individuals with obesity often have impaired lactate metabolism resulting in higher resting blood lactate concentrations and reduced ability to clear lactate after a physiological stress. At the same time, it is known that exercise is a powerful intervention for improving lactate metabolism.

Thus, this project seeks to investigate the role of lactate in brain blood flow in individuals with and without obesity as well as establish if short term exercise training (individuals with obesity only) will alter circulating lactate concentrations at rest and in response to exercise.

Study Overview

Status

Recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Blood lactate is often considered a waste product from aerobic metabolism. Many people assume it causes fatigue and muscle. Lactate is a signaling molecule in the body. In addition lactate is also a fuel. Evidence supports that lactate may be more important when the brain is stressed. We also know that individuals with obesity and/or type 2 diabetes may have impaired lactate metabolism.

The investigators will compare brain blood flow and lactate response to an exercise stress test and submaximal exercise in obese and non-obese individuals.

Study Type

Observational

Enrollment (Estimated)

24

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 Backup

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Missouri
      • Columbia, Missouri, United States, 65211
        • Recruiting
        • University of Missouri
        • Contact:
        • Contact:
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Jill Kanaley, PhD

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

  • Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Sampling Method

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Individuals that live in the area of Columbia, MO

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

healthy adult men and women 18-45 years of age BMI 18-40 kg/m2 not pregnant, premenopausal with regular menstrual cycles not breastfeeding non-nicotine users

Exclusion Criteria:

medications known to affect sleep, autonomic control, blood lactate levels or metabolic, or cardiovascular function (PI discretion) self-reported history of hepatic, renal, pulmonary, cardiovascular, or neurological disease, stroke or neurovascular disease, bleeding/clotting disorders, sleep apnea or other sleep disorders, diabetes, history of alcoholism or substance abuse major cardiovascular event or surgical procedure within the past three months hypertension (>140/90 mmHg or at PIs discretion).

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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
Intervention / Treatment
non-obese
individuals with a BMI<25 kg/m2
Behavioral: EXERCISE
each group will undergo a max test and a submaximal exercise test
obese
individuals with a BMI 30-40 kg/m2
Behavioral: EXERCISE
each group will undergo a max test and a submaximal exercise test

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
brain blood flow
Time Frame: over the 30 minutes of testing
Using transcranial doppler we will measure brain blood flow
over the 30 minutes of testing

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
lactate concentrations
Time Frame: over ~ 60 minutes of testing
Lactate will be measured in response to an exercise stress test as well as to a submaximal exercise bout
over ~ 60 minutes of testing

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

University of Missouri-Columbia

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Jill Kanaley, PhD, University of Missouri-Columbia

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

Helpful Links

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)

May 1, 2025

Primary Completion (Estimated)

March 1, 2027

Study Completion (Estimated)

March 1, 2027

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

January 19, 2025

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 19, 2025

First Posted (Actual)

January 24, 2025

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

November 26, 2025

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

November 20, 2025

Last Verified

November 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 2125746

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

YES

IPD Plan Description

only coded IPD will be shared that is used in the results published

IPD Sharing Time Frame

Beginning 1 year after publication and ending 5 yr after publication of results

IPD Sharing Access Criteria

Mean data will be shared for meta analysis For access to individual data, a proposal that described the planned analysis must be submitted and an agree must be signed by the applicant. These documents would be submitted to the PI.

IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type

  • STUDY_PROTOCOL
  • SAP

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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