Activating Brown Adipose Tissue Through Exercise

Summary

The energy burning capacity of brown adipose tissue makes it an attractive target for anti-obesity therapies. Sympathetic nervous system (SNS) is the classical regulator of brown adipose tissue; however, recent findings show a pool of novel brown adipose tissue activators that sidestep the need for stimulating the SNS, including cardiac natriuretic peptides. Of interest is that both SNS and non-SNS brown adipose tissue activators are sensitive to physical exercise, which opens new horizons and opportunities to study the potential effect of exercise-based therapeutic interventions. Moreover, a new protein released by exercise-stimulated skeletal muscle, irisin, seems to play a key role in the browning program of white adipose tissue. Most of the available evidence comes from animal studies, which is sometimes difficult to infer to human physiology. The overall objective of the ACTIBATE randomized controlled trial is to study the effect of long-term exercise training (6 months) on brown adipose tissue activity and quantity (primary outcomes) in young overweight and obese adults. The clinical significance of activating and recruiting brown adipose tissue on resting metabolic rate and cardiometabolic profile in humans will be determined. The investigators will also study at the molecular level the benefits of exercise on the regulation pathways in two different tissues: white adipose tissue and skeletal muscle, as well as identifying possible cross-talk between the exercising muscle and heart, and fat. Information from exercise-induced signaling on brown adipose tissue, white adipose tissue and skeletal muscle will help on identifying potential molecular therapeutic candidates.

Conditions

• Obesity
• Diabetes Mellitus
• Metabolic Syndrome X

Interventions

OTHER

Exercise training based on recommendations for adults (WHO)

The length of the trial will be 6 months. the total time of aerobic exercise in both moderate-intensity and vigorous-intensity groups will be 150 minutes/week, whereas the time needed to complete the resistance training exercises will be ≈15-30 minutes for both groups.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Instituto de Salud Carlos III

  collaborator OTHER_GOV

• Hospital Clinico Universitario San Cecilio

  collaborator OTHER

• University Hospital Virgen de las Nieves

  collaborator OTHER

• Universidad de Granada

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Jonatan R Ruiz, PhD · Universidad de Granada

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

SINGLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Max Age

25 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2015-02-28

Primary Completion

2017-07-31

Completion

2017-07-31

Countries

• Spain

Study Locations