An interventional study of Cold exposure in Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease, sponsored by Medical University of Vienna. Recruiting at 1 site in Austria. Open to participants aged 18 Years to 50 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2024-03-13.
Sponsored by Medical University of Vienna · Not applicable, Interventional, and Basic science
In the recent years, research on brown adipose tissue (BAT) revealed that larger amounts as well as higher activity thereof are associated with a favourable metabolic phenotype. Longitudinal studies which applied recurrent cooling sessions demonstrated a high plasticity of BAT which significantly increased in size and activity during these studies. These changes were accompanied by improvements in body fat mass as well as insulin sensitivity. Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is estimated to advance to the primary cause of liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma in the following years. Besides predisposing genetic and possibly nutritional factors, the insulin resistance syndrome and obesity are the main factors contributing to this excessive hepatic lipid accumulation.
The aim of this study is to investigate whether BAT recruitment via cold-acclimation results in decreased hepatic lipid content in overweight/obese patients with NAFLD.
2,081 studies on the registry are indexed under Liver Diseases; 390 are open to participants now.
This study's planned enrollment of 26 is below the median of 50 across 1,323 interventional studies indexed under Liver Diseases.
Browse Liver Diseases studies →Medical University of Vienna is the lead sponsor of 1,076 studies on the registry; 177 are open to participants now.
Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.
Exclusion Criteria:
Other: Cold exposure
Two hours of mild cold exposure using a water-perfused vest
Hepatic lipid content (%)
Magnetic resonance imaging-proton density fat fraction
Time frame: Six weeks
Brown adipose tissue volume (ml) / activity (SUVmean)
18-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/ magnetic resonance imaging
Time frame: Six weeks
Basal metabolic rate (kcal/day/kg fat-free body mass)
Indirect calorimetry
Time frame: Six weeks
Cold-induced non-shivering thermogenesis (%)
Indirect calorimetry: percentage increase in basal metabolic rate before and after cold exposure
Time frame: Six weeks
Body fat mass (kg)
Air displacement plethysmography
Time frame: Six weeks
Insulin sensitivity
"Matsuda Index" for 2 hour standard oral glucose tolerance test
Time frame: Six weeks
Plan to share: No
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Medical University of Vienna