The Role of Altered Nutrient Partitioning in Food Reward
Overview
- Phase
- Not Applicable
- Intervention
- Not specified
- Conditions
- Overweight and Obesity
- Sponsor
- Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
- Enrollment
- 20
- Locations
- 1
- Primary Endpoint
- Change in Preference- Liking
- Status
- Completed
- Last Updated
- 7 months ago
Overview
Brief Summary
Obesity remains a public health epidemic despite substantial advances in treatment strategies and therapies in the last decade. Effective strategies to support maintenance of improved metabolic health and reduced body weight are still needed.
Signals from the gut to the brain are important in regulating metabolism and energy balance and have been linked with food reward and preference in metabolically healthy individuals with normal body mass index. In particular, post-ingestive signaling related to glucose metabolism has been linked with food reward and preference. However, not much is known about how these gut and brain signals interact to influence eating behaviors in states of obesity or altered metabolic health. In addition, evidence in rodent models and human studies indicates obesity is associated with a blunted brain response to foods compared with normal body weight. However, whether altered nutrient utilization, termed metabolic inflexibility, influences the relationship between obesity and food reward has yet to be studied.
The overall objective of this proof-of-concept pilot study is to assess the feasibility of measuring reward response following a flavor-nutrient conditioning paradigm across the normal to obese body mass index (BMI) range and in states of altered metabolic health. The aims of this study are: 1) to determine whether differences in reinforcement learning/flavor-nutrient conditioning of carbohydrate can be measured across the body mass index range; and 2) to determine the feasibility of assessing metabolic flexibility and whether a relationship between metabolic flexibility and calorie-predictive reward can be detected.
Investigators
Alexandra DiFeliceantonio
Assistant Professor
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Eligibility Criteria
Inclusion Criteria
- •BMI between 18.5-40 kg/m2
- •Not pregnant or planning to become pregnant during study participation
- •Residing in the Roanoke area and/or willing/able to attend sessions at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute
- •Able to speak and write in English
- •Specific to fMRI scan only: BMI between 25-35 kg/m2
Exclusion Criteria
- •Current inhaled nicotine use
- •History of alcohol dependence.
- •Current or past diagnosis of diabetes or thyroid problems.
- •Glycated hemoglobin (Hemoglobin A1C) \>5.7%
- •Taking medications known to influence study measures (including antiglycemic agents, thyroid medications, sleep medications)
- •Active medical or neurologic disorder.
- •Recent change in body weight (gain or loss of \> 5 lbs within the past 3 months)
- •Current shift work (typical pattern of work/activity overnight)
- •Previous weight loss surgery
- •Adherence to a special diet within the past 3 months (e.g., low-carb or ketogenic diet, exclusion of food groups/specific macronutrients, intermittent fasting, etc.)
Outcomes
Primary Outcomes
Change in Preference- Liking
Time Frame: Baseline and at 4 weeks
Subjective ratings of liking of flavors used in the intervention were assessed at baseline and after the intervention. The generalized Labeled Magnitude Scale will be used. The scale is anchored by descriptors of "Most Disliked Sensation Imaginable" and "Most Liked Sensation Imaginable" at the lower and upper ends, respectively. The score is determined by the place on the scale participants select (range of scale is 0-100). An increase in score from baseline to post-intervention indicates an increase in liking.
Secondary Outcomes
- Post-test Preference - Wanting(Baseline and at 4 weeks)
- Substrate Oxidation Response to Test Meals(6-hour measurement)
- Energy Expenditure in Response to Beverages(1.5-hour measurement)
- Respiratory Exchange Ratio in Response to Beverages(1.5-hour measurement)
- Substrate Oxidation in Response to Beverages(1.5-hour measurement)
- Change in Preference- Wanting(5-minute measurement)
- Blood Oxygen Level-dependent (BOLD) Response to Beverages(30-minute measurement that occurs during the post-test, approximately 4 weeks after the first study session)
- Blood Insulin Response to Beverages(2-hour measurement)
- Blood Glucose Response to Beverages(2-hour measurement)