Brown Fat Activation and Browning Efficiency Augmented by Chronic Cold and Nutraceuticals for Brown Adipose Tissue-mediated Effect Against Metabolic Syndrome (BEACON BEAMS Study)

Summary

Our body fat (adipose tissue) is largely made up of white adipose tissue (WAT) that stores surplus energy as white fat depots. In addition, adult humans have another type of fat similar to the brown fat in babies that burns up fat to generate heat for maintenance of body temperature during cold exposure. Adults have much lesser amounts of such brown adipose tissue (BAT), most of which are located within the sides of the neck and under the skin above the collar bones as well as along the sides of the spine. BAT consists of both classical brown fat identical to that found in babies as well as beige fat (composed of brown-in-white or 'brite' fat cells) found mainly in adults. Both types of BAT burn fat upon activation by various stimuli such as cold or by substances like curcumin found in turmeric ginger rhizome root.

This study is carried out to find out the effects of cold stimulation and/or a known BAT-activating nutraceutical among those overweight/obese people suffering from metabolic syndrome.

Conditions

• Energy Expenditure
• Obesity
• Brown Adipose Tissue

Interventions

OTHER

Cold Stimulation (CS)

Subject wear cooling vest to stay cool

OTHER

Browning Nutraceutical (BN)

Subject will consume 2000mg of curcumin a naturally-occurring polyphenol antioxidant that is found in turmeric ginger rhizome root

OTHER

Cold Stimulation and Browning Nutraceutical (CSBN)

Subject wear a cooling vest and consume 2000mg of curcumin

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School

  collaborator OTHER

• Canadian Imaging Research Centre (CIRC)

  collaborator OTHER

• National University of Singapore

  collaborator OTHER

• Singapore Institute of Food and Biotechnology Innovation (SIFBI)

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• Singapore Bioimaging Consortium (SBIC)

  collaborator INDUSTRY

• Institute for Human Development and Potential (IHDP), Singapore

  lead OTHER

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

OTHER

Masking

NONE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

21 Years

Max Age

50 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2021-01-15

Primary Completion

2023-10-31

Completion

2028-08-16

Countries

• Singapore

Study Locations