MedPath

Firefighter Thermoregulatory Responses in Active Fire with Betaine Supplementation

Not Applicable
Completed
Conditions
Body Temperature Changes
Body Water Dehydration
Inflammation
Interventions
Dietary Supplement: Placebo
Dietary Supplement: Betaine
Registration Number
NCT06042270
Lead Sponsor
Michael J. Ormsbee
Brief Summary

The goal of this clinical trial is to compare betaine supplementation to placebo in firefighters undergoing live burn training regarding thermoregulation and inflammation. The main questions it aims to answer are:

* Does betaine supplementation mitigate rises in core temperature during firefighter live burn training?

* Does betaine supplementation decrease inflammation from firefighter training?

* Does betaine supplementation increase total body water stores?

Participants will supplement with betaine for 1 month and complete:

* Total Body Water measures

* Body Composition measures

* Live Burn training with Core Temperature Measurements

* Provide Salivary samples

Detailed Description

Not available

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status
COMPLETED
Sex
All
Target Recruitment
17
Inclusion Criteria
  • Structural Firefighter
Exclusion Criteria
  • • Participants have a cardiometabolic disease for which they take prescribed medications

    • Participants consume supplements known to impact hydration status or performance that they are not willing to stop taking for the study
    • Participants are pregnant
    • Female participants that have irregular menstrual cycles
    • Participants are injured and would not be able to fulfill the live burn scenario
    • Participants have sickle cell disease
    • Participants have experienced heat stroke within the last 2 years

Study & Design

Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Study Design
PARALLEL
Arm && Interventions
GroupInterventionDescription
PlaceboPlacebo10 participants will be given rice-flour as a placebo
BetaineBetaine10 participants will be given betaine
Primary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Thermoregulation10 minutes before the live burn, during the ~15 minute live burn, 10, 20, and 30 minutes after the live burn.

Core temperature (Degrees C), skin temperature (Degrees C)

Subjective measuresimmediately before and immediately after the completion of the live burn

Visual analog scales will be given to participants for subjective thermal sensation, rate of perceived exertion, and thirst

Stress (enzyme linked immunoassays)before, immediately after, 10 minutes, and 20 minutes after live burn

Salivary expression of Testosterone, Cortisol, interleukin-8, and interleukin 6 will be measured.

Sweat Rateimmediately before and immediately after the completion of the live burn

Changes in body weight in kg will be used to find loss of sweat in L

Stress (respiration efficiency)immediately before and immediately after the completion of the live burn

Air tank pounds per square inch (PSI) will be recorded

Sweat Contentimmediately before and immediately after the completion of the live burn

Tegaderm patches will be worn during the live burn to analyze sodium concentration in sweat.

Secondary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Chronic Stress (enzyme linked immunoassays)Before supplementation and after 4 weeks of supplementation

Saliva will be analyzed for testosterone, cortisol, uric acid, and c-reactive protein

Chronic Stress (vitals) professional firefighters.Before supplementation and after 4 weeks of supplementation

Resting blood pressure in mmHg and heart rate in beats per minute will be measured.

Fluid Compartment Volumes (Bioelectrical Impedance Spectrocopy) professional firefighters.Before supplementation and after 4 weeks of supplementation

Intracellular fluid volume (L), extracellular fluid volume (L), plasma volume (L), total body water (L)

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Institute of Sports Science and Medicine

🇺🇸

Tallahassee, Florida, United States

© Copyright 2025. All Rights Reserved by MedPath