The Joint Effect of Air Pollution and Exercise on Cognitive Function

Not Applicable

• Conditions: Air Pollution; Cognition; Exercise; Health Promotion
• Interventions: Behavioral: Exercise; Behavioral: Air purification

• Registration Number: NCT04830059
• Lead Sponsor: Tsinghua University

Brief Summary

A double-blind randomized controlled trial design is used in this study. A mixed design of 2 (pollution reduction group vs. no pollution reduction group) × 3 (high intensity intermittent exercise \[HIIT\], moderate intensity of aerobic exercise \[MICT\] and control group \[CONT\]) is used. 93 subjects recruited by advertising will be randomly divided into 6 groups: high intensity exercise group (pollution reduction vs no pollution reduction), moderate intensity aerobic exercise group (pollution reduction vs no pollution reduction) and Stretching group (Control) (pollution reduction vs no pollution reduction).

Detailed Description

Environmental intervention program In the pollution reduction groups, the air purification system is used 2 hours before the subjects entered the room to minimize the indoor PM2.5 and PM10.

Exercise intervention program including HIIT, MICT and Stretching (Control) group :

The VO2max of all subjects are measured one week before the experiment. HIIT program: 20 minutes exercise of HIIT (1min of 100% VO2max and 1min of 50% VO2max alternately) and 10 minutes of warm-up and relaxation.

MICT program: 20 minutes exercise of 70-75% VO2max and 10 minutes of warm-up and relaxation.

Stretching control group: 30 minutes of stretching, posture adjustment and rehabilitation courses taught by professional therapists.

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2020-11-01
• Study First Submitted: 2021-03-29
• Status Verified: 2021-04
• Study First Submitted QC: 2021-04-01
• Last Update Submitted: 2021-04-01
• Study First Posted: 2021-04-02
• Last Update Posted: 2021-04-02
• Primary Completion: 2021-06-10
• Study Completion: 2021-07-10

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: UNKNOWN
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 93

Inclusion Criteria

• No regular exercise in the past six months;
• Healthy people without history of disease;
• Aged between 20 and 30 years old.

Exclusion Criteria

• Professional athletes;
• Regular exercise in the past six months;
• People who are injured or have a history of disease in the past six months;
• People who have a history of taking medicine in the past six months.

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Moderate intensity continuous training	Exercise	MICT program: 20 minutes of 70-75% VO2max exercise and 10 minutes of warm-up and relaxation before and after exercise.
MICT with pollution reduction	Exercise	MICT program: 20 minutes of 70-75% VO2max exercise and 10 minutes of warm-up and relaxation before and after exercise; Environmental pollution intervention program: air purification system is used order to reduce the PM2.5 and PM10.
Stretch control group	Exercise	Stretching control group: 30 minutes stretching, posture adjustment and rehabilitation courses is taught by professional therapist.
HIIT with pollution reduction	Exercise	HIIT program: 20 minutes HIIT exercise (1min 100% VO2max and 1min 50% VO2max alternately), and warm-up and relaxation before and after exercise for 10 minutes; Environmental pollution intervention program: air purification system is used order to reduce the PM2.5 and PM10.
HIIT with pollution reduction	Air purification	HIIT program: 20 minutes HIIT exercise (1min 100% VO2max and 1min 50% VO2max alternately), and warm-up and relaxation before and after exercise for 10 minutes; Environmental pollution intervention program: air purification system is used order to reduce the PM2.5 and PM10.
Control with pollution reduction	Exercise	Stretching control group: 30 minutes stretching, posture adjustment and rehabilitation courses is taught by professional therapist. Environmental pollution intervention program: air purification system is used order to reduce the PM2.5 and PM10.
Control with pollution reduction	Air purification	Stretching control group: 30 minutes stretching, posture adjustment and rehabilitation courses is taught by professional therapist. Environmental pollution intervention program: air purification system is used order to reduce the PM2.5 and PM10.
High intensity intermittent training	Exercise	HIIT exercise program: 20 minutes HIIT exercise (1min 100% VO2max and 1min 50% VO2max alternately), and warm-up and relaxation before and after exercise for 10 minutes.
MICT with pollution reduction	Air purification	MICT program: 20 minutes of 70-75% VO2max exercise and 10 minutes of warm-up and relaxation before and after exercise; Environmental pollution intervention program: air purification system is used order to reduce the PM2.5 and PM10.

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Change of transcriptions	Before and after acute exercise (about 30 minutes).	The molecular response of exercise and environment through the measurement of peripheral blood
Change of cognitive function	Before and after acute exercise (about 30 minutes).	Cognitive function measured by computer-based tasks including executive function
Change of biomarkers	Before and after acute exercise (about 30 minutes).	The cognitive-related biomarkers including brain derived neurotrophic factor
Change of metabonomics	Before and after acute exercise (about 30 minutes).	The molecular response of exercise and environment through the measurement of peripheral blood
Change of cerebral blood flow	Before and after acute exercise (about 30 minutes).	The blood flow of middle cerebral artery measured by ultrasonic doppler
Change of oxyhemoglobin	Before and after acute exercise (about 30 minutes).	Mearsurement of oxyhemoglobin using fNIRS

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Change of transcriptions	Three months (from baseline to the third month)	The molecular response of exercise through the measurement of peripheral blood
Change of aerobic capacity	Three months (from baseline to the third month)	The aerobic capacity measured by the gas metabolism analyzer
Change of metabonomics	Three months (from baseline to the third month)	The molecular response of exercise through the measurement of peripheral blood
Change of cognitive function	Three months (from baseline to the third month)	Cognitive function measured by computer-based tasks including executive function
Change of cerebral blood flow	Three months (from baseline to the third month)	The blood flow of middle cerebral artery measured by ultrasonic doppler
Change of biomarkers	Three months (from baseline to the third month)	The cognitive-related biomarkers including brain derived neurotrophic factor
Change of oxyhemoglobin	Three months (from baseline to the third month)	Mearsurement of oxyhemoglobin using functional near infrared spectroscopy

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Tsinghua University; 🇨🇳 Beijing, Beijing, China