Omega-3 Fatty Acids as Regulators of Brown Adipose Tissue During Cold Exposure

Summary

This clinical trial will assess the whether fish oil supplementation can modulate brown fat activation, shivering, thermal comfort and skin blood flow during cold exposure.

Detailed Description

This proof-of-concept study will be conducted as a randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled, parallel group clinical trial in which 30 healthy men and women (ages 18-40 years) will be randomly assigned to fish oil (n=20; 7.8 g/day total n-3 PUFA: 3.75 g/day EPA and 1.5 g/day DHA) or placebo (n=20, olive oil) conditions for 12 weeks. Before beginning supplementation, and at 6- and 12-weeks post-supplementation, whole-body thermoregulation will be assessed by progressively reducing air temperature (from 29°C→4°C, with a wind speed of 4.5 m/s) over a 125-minute period in an environmental chamber. This approach will allow for quantitative determination of fish oil supplementation on body temperature regulation during cold exposure. This approach is novel because it also permits comprehensive assessment of the regulation of core body temperature (rectal temperature) and objective quantification of both autonomic \[metabolic heat production (indirect calorimetry), BAT activation (infrared thermography), shivering (accelerometry, electromyography), skin blood flow (laser Doppler)\] and behavioral (voluntary control of local thermal comfort) thermoregulatory responses. The advantage of this methodology is that this approach will enable assessment of whether fish oil supplementation is beneficial during exposure to cold environments.

Eligibility Criteria

Interventions