Circadian Brown Adipose Tissue Metabolism

Completed · Not applicable

Conditions studied: Healthy

In brief

Brown adipose tissue is poorly understood fat that can metabolize glucose in order to generate heat. Since activated brown fat has a high metabolic rate, it is of great interest as a potential target to combat obesity. However, the signaling and control of brown fat metabolism is poorly understood. Because brown fat uses glucose as its energy source, brown fat metabolism can be imaged with PET/CT using the positron emitting glucose analog F-18 FDG. We have recently shown in mice a striking circadian variation in brown fat metabolism as evidenced by changes in FDG uptake. In this study we endeavor to generate pilot data on a potential circadian variation in brown fat activation in healthy humans.

Key facts

Study ID

NCT02285270

Run by

University of Pennsylvania

People needed

10

Starts

2014-03-01

Expected to finish

2015-04-01

Last updated by the study team

2016-12-07

Who can join

Age: 18 and older, up to 45. Sex: male. Healthy volunteers: accepted.

You may qualify if…

• At least 18 years of age and less than 45 years of age
• Able and willing to provide informed consent
• Male gender
• Capable of complying with study procedures and able to lie still in the PET/CT scanner for up to 40 minutes continuously
• Normal fasting glucose (less than 100 mg/dl)
• No evidence of significant concurrent illness
• Follow typical sleep/wake cycle of generally asleep at night and awake during the day

You may not qualify if…

• Prior surgery or radiation to the head, neck, or upper chest (except surgeries such as tonsillectomy/adenoidectomy/tympanostomy that would not be expected, in the judgement of the investigator, to have disrupted the adipose tissue in the neck or the upper chest)
• Active addiction or illicit drug abuse
• BMI greater than 25
• Employment in the night shift/3rd shift
• Unable to remain in the Clinical and Translational Research Center (CTRC) for entire 24 hour period.
• Unable or unwilling to maintain peripheral intravenous access for up to 24 hours
• Abnormal liver or kidney function (serum creatinine or transaminase levels greater than 1.5 ULN)
• Subject has any other condition or personal circumstance that, in the judgement of the investigator, might interfere with the collection of complete, high quality data

Where it is running

• University of Pennsylvania — Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States

Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov

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