Clinical trial NCT01853761: Microcurrent and Aerobic Exercise Effects on Abdominal Fat
Official title: Microcurrent and Aerobic Exercise Effects on Abdominal Fat
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Obesity, Abdominal
Keywords: abdominal fat
metabolic syndrome
microcurrent
aerobic exercise
Lead sponsor: Escola Superior de Tecnologia da Saúde do Porto
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2013-05-15
Enrollment: 45
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Maximum age (years): 30
Standard ages: ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: FACTORIAL
Primary purpose: PREVENTION

Brief summary: The purpose of this study was to analyze microcurrent short and long term effects used with aerobic exercise on abdominal fat.

Detailed description: Nutritional patterns have been changed during XXI century with sugar and fat's high proportions that allied to sedentarism increased body fat. There is already a well establish relationship between total body fat excess, cardiometabolic diseases and increased mortality, knowing that abdominal fat (android pattern), different from body index, presents an additional influence to health risks. Women with their abdominal adipocytes (visceral fat) show an increased lipolitic activity that releases free fat acids to the systemic and portal circulation leading to a metabolic syndrome, increasing the risk of cardiovascular diseases Aerobic exercise is a way to decrease fat as it stimulates lipolysis through an increase in catecholamine's level resulting from a sympathetic system nervous activity raise. The most used exercise for lipid elimination is the prolonged aerobic moderate exercise with a minimum of 30 mn.

Nevertheless aerobic exercise practice reduce globally lipidic sources and not locally . Electrolipolysis using microcurrent has been used in clinical practice as a technique to reduce abdominal fat. This technique can be applied transcutaneously or percutaneously seeming that the former is not so effective as skin can be an obstacle to the current effect on visceral and subcutaneous fat .

Abdominal fat excess is associated with cardiometabolic diseases and can be prevented using microcurrent and aerobic exercise to stimulate lipolysis.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* age between 18 and 30 years
* presenting a normal to pre-obese body mass index (18.5 - 29.9 Kg/m2)
* moderate physical activity level (between 600 and 3000 metabolic-minute/week (MET-min/week)) scored by International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ)

Exclusion Criteria:

* submitted to other fat reduce procedure
* to show cardiovascular risk factors or diseases and/or any physical condition limiting aerobic exercise
* to present any contra indications to microcurrent and/or aerobic exercise
* to take medication that influence lipid metabolism, and to be pregnant

Primary outcomes:
measure: subcutaneous abdominal fat and viceral abdominal fat
timeFrame: five weeks after the intervencion
Secondary outcomes:
measure: bioimpedance values
timeFrame: five weeks after the intervencion
measure: cholesterol, triglycerides and glucose levels
timeFrame: five weeks after intervention
measure: perimeters measurements
timeFrame: five weeks after intervencion
measure: Suprailiac, vertical and horizontal abdominal skinfolds
timeFrame: five weeks after intervencion
Other outcomes:
measure: International Physical Activity Questionnaire
timeFrame: five weeks after the intervencion
measure: Food Frequency Questionnaire
timeFrame: five weeks after intervencion
Locations:
city: Vila Nova de Gaia
country: Portugal
facility: Andreia Noites
state: Porto
city: Vila Nova de Gaia
country: Portugal
facility: Andreia Noites
state: Porto
Study officials:
affiliation: Escola Superior de Tecnologia da Saúde do Porto
name: Andreia Noites, MSc
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: Despres JP, Lemieux I. Abdominal obesity and metabolic syndrome. Nature. 2006 Dec 14;444(7121):881-7. doi: 10.1038/nature05488.
citation: Donnelly JE, Blair SN, Jakicic JM, Manore MM, Rankin JW, Smith BK; American College of Sports Medicine. American College of Sports Medicine Position Stand. Appropriate physical activity intervention strategies for weight loss and prevention of weight regain for adults. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2009 Feb;41(2):459-71. doi: 10.1249/MSS.0b013e3181949333.
citation: Ribeiro-Filho FF, Faria AN, Azjen S, Zanella MT, Ferreira SR. Methods of estimation of visceral fat: advantages of ultrasonography. Obes Res. 2003 Dec;11(12):1488-94. doi: 10.1038/oby.2003.199.
citation: Hamida ZH, Comtois AS, Portmann M, Boucher JP, Savard R. Effect of electrical stimulation on lipolysis of human white adipocytes. Appl Physiol Nutr Metab. 2011 Apr;36(2):271-5. doi: 10.1139/h11-011.