Cold Acclimation as a Modulator of Brown Adipose Tissue Function in Adults With Obesity

Summary

This study will investigate the effects of at least 12 weeks of weekly cold water immersions (water temperature 18ºC) on BAT perfusion in individuals with obesity. BAT oxygen uptake and tissue perfusion will be measured using 15O-O2 and 15O-H2O PET-CT, at room temperature and after cold exposure. In addition, BAT glucose uptake will be measured using 18F-FDG after 2 hours of cold exposure and BAT NEFA uptake will be analyzed using 18F-FTHA at room temperature.

To understrand the metabolic effects of BAT activation in individuals with obesity and how the cold water immersions affect the BAT perfusion in humans is critical for the development of new strategies to treat obesity and its comorbidities.

Conditions

• Obesity

Interventions

OTHER

Cold acclimation

The cold water immersions will last 30-60 minutes per day and the volunteers will undergo 2-3 cold immersions per week.

OTHER

Intervention Control group - volunteers with obesity

Participants with obesity in the control group will undergo PET/CT scans at baseline and 12 weeks after the first scan.

OTHER

Acute cold exposure

All participants (lean and with obesity) will undergo PET/scans after 2 hours of cold exposure to investigate BAT perfusion and BAT glucose uptake.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Turku

  collaborator OTHER

• University of Barcelona

  collaborator OTHER

• University of Ottawa

  collaborator OTHER

• Turku University Hospital

  lead OTHER_GOV

Principal Investigators

• Kirsi A Virtanen · Turku University Hospital

• Francisco Acosta, PhD · Turku PET Centre

• Mueez U-Din, PhD · Turku PET Centre

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

NONE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Max Age

45 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2022-07-25

Primary Completion

2024-12-20

Completion

2026-12-01

Countries

• Finland

Study Locations