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CompletedNCT03379181HEATUpdated Feb 13, 2020

Thermogenesis in Hyperthyroidism and Effect of Anti-Adrenergic Therapy

A Phase 4 interventional study of Propranolol in Hyperthyroidism, sponsored by University Hospital, Basel, Switzerland. Completed at 1 site in Switzerland. Open to participants aged 18 Years to 70 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2020-02-13.

Sponsored by University Hospital, Basel, Switzerland · Phase 4, Interventional, and Basic science

From the registry’s dates

  • Registered 4 months after the study started (first participant enrolled Jul 2017, registered Dec 2017).
Phase
Phase 4
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
19
Allocation
Not applicable
Ages
18 Years to 70 Years
Sex
All
01

Study summary

The overall objective of the HEAT study is to determine the acute effect of propranolol on energy expenditure in patients suffering from hyperthyroidism and to evaluate the consequences of the change of hyper- to euthyroidism on metabolism during the course of treatment, especially with regard to the reaction to cold ambient temperatures.

02

Conditions studied

  • Hyperthyroidism

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Keywords

  • Brown adipose tissue (BAT)
  • Hyperthyroidism
03

In context

Hyperthyroidism

112 studies on the registry are indexed under Hyperthyroidism; 27 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 19 is below the median of 60 across 61 interventional studies indexed under Hyperthyroidism.

Browse Hyperthyroidism studies →

Lead sponsor

University Hospital, Basel, Switzerland is the lead sponsor of 990 studies on the registry; 189 are open to participants now.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years to 70 Years
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.

Inclusion criteria

  • as documented by signature
  • Age 18 to 70 years
  • Hyperthyroidism: Thyroid-stimulating Hormone (TSH) below 0.2 mU and free T4 at or above 25 pmol/L or free T3 at or above 8 pmol/L.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • to propranolol: or allergy
  • Therapy with a beta blocker for reasons other than hyperthyroidism (e.g. cardiac arrhythmia or heart failure)
  • Treatment with amiodarone
  • Women who are pregnant or breast feeding,
  • Intention to become pregnant during the course of the study,
  • History of asthma or
  • Occlusive peripheral artery disease; Raynaud's syndrome.
  • Other concomitant disease states:

    • Known renal failure ( \< 50 ml/min)
    • Known hepatic dysfunction
    • known heart failure or unstable angina pectoris
  • Known or suspected non-compliance, drug or alcohol abuse,
  • Inability to follow the procedures of the study, e.g. due to language problems, psychological disorders, dementia, etc. of the participant,
  • Participation in another study with drug within the 30 days preceding and during the present study,
  • Previous enrolment into the current study,
  • Enrolment of the investigator, his/her family members, employees and other dependent persons.
  • -criteria

    • Resting heart rate below 60 bpm
    • Complete left bundle branch block
    • Atrioventricular block (AV-block) grade 2 or 3
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(8)

Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.

Informed consent

Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.

You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.

Contraindication

A reason a treatment, test or procedure should not be given to a particular person, such as an allergy, another illness or a medicine they take.

Hypersensitivity

An allergy, or another reaction of the immune system, to a substance. “Hypersensitivity to the study drug” means a known allergic reaction to it — not every side effect a medicine can have.

COPD

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: long-term lung disease that makes it hard to breathe out, including emphysema and chronic bronchitis.

Clinically significant

Judged by the study doctor to matter for your health or for the study. It is a doctor’s decision, so ask the study team if you are unsure whether something counts.

GFR and eGFR (kidney filtering)

GFR (glomerular filtration rate) is how much blood the kidneys filter each minute. It is usually estimated from a blood test — eGFR, by formulas such as CKD-EPI or MDRD — and some studies ask for it to be measured directly instead. Usually given in mL/min/1.73 m².

Check the method, the units and the minimum the study states. A value of 90 or above is in the normal-or-high range, but kidney damage can show in other tests too.

Investigational drug or device

A drug or device being studied in a clinical trial.

It may be new, or already approved and being studied for another use, dose or form. Criteria often leave out people who took part in another study of one within a recent period, commonly 30 days or five half-lives.

ECG (electrocardiogram)

A recording of the heart’s electrical activity, taken with stickers on the chest, arms and legs. It takes a few minutes and does not hurt.

05

Study design

Phase
Phase 4
Primary purpose
Basic science
Allocation
Not applicable
Intervention model
Single group
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
19 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Propranolol 80 mg

    Patients receive a single dose of 80 mg propranolol p.o.

    Drug: Propranolol

Interventions

  • Patients receive a single dose of 80 mg propranolol p.o.

    Also known as: beta blockade

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. acute effect of propranolol on energy expenditure in patients suffering from hyperthyroidism

    difference in resting energy expenditure (REE) measured single 90 minutes after an oral dose of 80 mg of propranolol compared to resting energy expenditure measured during the thirty minutes prior to administration of propranolol (ΔREEPropranolol).

    Time frame: 90 minutes after propranolol application

Secondary outcomes

  1. Respiratory quotient (RQ) before and after administration of propranolol.

    Difference in respiratory quotient (RQ) before and after administration of propranolol.

    Time frame: 90 minutes after propranolol application

  2. Difference in skin temperature

    Supraclavicular skin temperature in patients with hyperthyroidism after a single dose of 80 mg Propranolol compared to supraclavicular temperature before Propranolol.

    Time frame: 90 minutes after propranolol application

  3. Difference in REE from hyperthyroid to euthyroid state

    indirect calorimetry to determine resting energy expenditure

    Time frame: after 3 to 4 months

  4. Difference in REE hyperthyroid state to euthyroid state

    indirect calorimetry to determine resting energy expenditure

    Time frame: after 6 to 7 months

  5. Change in Body composition: percent body fat

    dual xray absorption scan

    Time frame: after 3 to 4 months

  6. Cold induced thermogenesis (CIT) in patients with hyperthyroidism

    Cold induced thermogenesis: Increase in energy expenditure above resting metabolic rate in response to a mild cold stimulus during hyperthyroidism as compared to euthyroidism.

    Time frame: after 3 to 4 months

07

Study locations

1 site
  • University Hospital Basel, Department of Endocrinology
    Basel, BS 4031, Switzerland
08

References and documents

Publications

  • Maushart CI, Senn JR, Loeliger RC, Siegenthaler J, Bur F, Fischer JGW, Betz MJ. Resting Energy Expenditure and Cold-induced Thermogenesis in Patients With Overt Hyperthyroidism. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2022 Jan 18;107(2):450-461. doi: 10.1210/clinem/dgab706. PubMed 34570185 ↗

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No

09

Timeline

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
ElapsedEstimatedEstimated, not yet reached

Ran from Jul 2017 to primary completion in Feb 2020, 30 months.

How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.

Registered
Dec 7, 2017
First posted
Dec 20, 2017
StartActual
Jul 18, 2017
Primary completionActual
Feb 12, 2020
CompletionActual
Feb 12, 2020
Last update
Feb 13, 2020
What these dates mean
Start.
When the first participant enrolled; while estimated, when the study expects to open to recruitment.
Primary completion.
When the last participant was examined or treated to collect data for the study's main question, its primary outcome. A study that stopped early gives the date its data collection stopped.
Completion.
When the last participant's last visit took place, for every outcome, secondary ones and side effects included: the end of the study. Often later than primary completion, sometimes the same day.
Actual and Est.
Actual means the registry says the date has happened. Est. (estimated) is a date the sponsor plans or expects. It can still move, and the sponsor is expected to change it to actual once it has passed.
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Feb 13, 2020, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT03379181
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
Dec 20, 2017
Start date
Jul 18, 2017
Primary completion
Feb 12, 2020
Completion
Feb 12, 2020
Last update
Feb 13, 2020

Study contacts

Matthias J Betz, MD
principal investigator · University Hospital, Basel, Switzerland

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
No
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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This study is completed, as verified in Feb 2020. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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Discussion

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Studies of the drug tested here: Propranolol

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