Precision High-Intensity Training Through Epigenetics (PHITE)

Summary

The PHITE collaborative team, consisting of Tim Broderick, MD (Overall PI), Wright State University (WSU); Marcas Bamman, PhD (Site PI), The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB); and Ron Evans, PhD and Joe Ecker, PhD, Salk Institute for Biological Studies, are working with funding from the US Department of Defense (DoD), Office of Naval Research (ONR), to explore the link between physical training and epigenetics. This is a key interest area for the DoD ONR because it provides high-impact optimization of force readiness in warfighters with diverse backgrounds.

The term epigenetics refers to heritable changes in gene expression (active versus inactive genes) that does not involve changes to the underlying DNA sequence; a change in phenotype (the set of observable characteristics of an individual resulting from the interaction of its genotype with the environment) without a change in genotype (the genetic constitution of an individual organism) . This in turn affects how cells read the genes. Epigenetic change is a regular and natural occurrence but can also be influenced by several factors including age, the environment/lifestyle, and disease state. Epigenetic modifications can manifest as commonly as the manner in which cells terminally differentiate to end up as skin cells, liver cells, brain cells, etc. New and ongoing research is continuously uncovering the role of epigenetics in a variety of human conditions. This study is designed to assess whether epigenetics is a primary mechanism modulating how individuals adapt to specific exercise training prescriptions designed to produce a warfighter phenotype.

The PHITE team is organized around a shared test population of human subjects for which UAB will oversee recruitment, training, testing, and sampling. Healthy but untrained volunteers, both men and women, 18-27 y of age-phenotypical of the US warfighter-will participate in a 12-wk, two-arm, single-blind, randomized, exercise dose-response trial comparing two intensities of combined training: Moderate-Intensity vs. High-Intensity. Biospecimens are collected before and after an acute exercise bout in the pre-training state, and again after 12 weeks of 3 d/wk combined exercise training. Numerous phenotyping assessments are collected before after the 12-week intervention period to associate exercise training outcomes with molecular changes in the skeletal muscle and blood biospecimens.

Conditions

• Healthy

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Moderate Intensity

Exercise prescription intensity is moderate

BEHAVIORAL

High Intensity

Exercise prescription intensity is high

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Wright State University

  collaborator OTHER

• Salk Institute for Biological Studies

  collaborator OTHER

• University of Alabama at Birmingham

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Marcas Bamman, PhD · University of Alabama at Birmingham

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

BASIC_SCIENCE

Masking

DOUBLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Max Age

27 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2017-02-23

Primary Completion

2021-07-30

Completion

2021-07-31

Countries

• United States

Study Locations