Visceral Adiposity, Vagal Tone and Food Preferences: a Pilot Study

NCT06175988 | Recruiting

• 1 other identifier: 2024-4097, 22392
• Study Type: observational
• Target: 70
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Food preferences are defined by a number of measurable parameters, such as per se food choices, sensitivity of taste and olfactory sensory perceptions, hedonic appreciation of foods ("liking") and motivation to consume them ("wanting"). These food preferences are fundamental to the quality of food intake, and are therefore a key factor influencing weight loss or maintenance of a stable weight. Obesity is also associated with reduced sensory sensitivity to taste and smell, as well as disturbances in the responses of the food reward system. However, the internal, or physiological, mechanisms impacting these food preferences are still poorly understood. To date, several studies seem to point to the role of body composition, in particular visceral adiposity, or adiposity surrounding the digestive organs. Indeed, a high level of visceral adiposity is associated with the onset of numerous cardiometabolic disorders, but also with altered sensory perceptions. This relationship could be mediated by the vagus nerve, which connects the digestive organs to the brain, enabling the perception of internal signals sent by the body, such as feelings of hunger or satiety. Low vagal activity is associated not only with abdominal obesity, but also with reduced sensory sensitivity to taste and smell, and changes in food choices in favor of energy-dense foods (rich in fats and/or sugars). Electrical stimulation of the vagus nerve is now recognized as a possible treatment for morbid obesity in the USA, but the mechanisms leading to the expected weight loss are still debated. Similarly, an increase in vagal tone has been found in patients who have undergone bariatric surgery for the treatment of severe complicated to morbid obesity, in parallel with sensory disturbances. The overall aim of this project is to explore and confirm the relationship between visceral adiposity and various food preference parameters, such as olfactory and gustatory perceptions and reward system responses, involving liking and wanting certain foods and associated behaviors. This project also aims to shed light on the possible mediation of the vagus nerve in this relationship.

Conditions

Adiposity; Food Preferences; Eating Behavior

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (14)

• "Taste Strips" total score

  Taste identification score for sweet, salty, bitter, and sour (/16). The test used is "Taste Strips" (ODOFIN, Burghart Messtechnik GmbH, Holm, Germany).

  Baseline

• TDI score, or "Sniffin Sticks" total score

  Olfaction score based on odor detection (Threshold), Discrimination, and Identification (/48). The test used is "Sniffin Sticks" (ODOFIN, Burghart Messtechnik GmbH, Holm, Germany).

  Baseline

• "Explicit liking" score for high-fat/sweet foods

  "Explicit liking" will be measured using visual analog scales anchored at each end with "not at all" and "extremely" to answer the question "How pleasant would it be to taste this food now?" while seeing pictures of food items. (/100) The task used is the "Leeds Food Preference Questionnaire".

  Baseline

• "Explicit liking" score for high-fat/savoury foods

  "Explicit liking" will be measured using visual analog scales anchored at each end with "not at all" and "extremely" to answer the question "How pleasant would it be to taste this food now?" while seeing pictures of food items. (/100) The task used is the "Leeds Food Preference Questionnaire".

  Baseline

• "Explicit liking" score for low-fat/high-sweet foods

  "Explicit liking" will be measured using visual analog scales anchored at each end with "not at all" and "extremely" to answer the question "How pleasant would it be to taste this food now?" while seeing pictures of food items. (/100) The task used is the "Leeds Food Preference Questionnaire".

  Baseline

• "Explicit liking" score for low-fat/savoury foods

  "Explicit liking" will be measured using visual analog scales anchored at each end with "not at all" and "extremely" to answer the question "How pleasant would it be to taste this food now?" while seeing pictures of food items. (/100) The task used is the "Leeds Food Preference Questionnaire".

  Baseline

• "Explicit wanting" score for high-fat/sweet foods

  "Explicit wanting" will be measured using visual analog scales anchored at each end with "not at all" and "extremely" to answer the question "How much would like to eat some of this food now?" while seeing pictures of food items. (/100) The task used is the "Leeds Food Preference Questionnaire".

  Baseline

• "Explicit wanting" score for high-fat/savoury foods

  "Explicit wanting" will be measured using visual analog scales anchored at each end with "not at all" and "extremely" to answer the question "How much would like to eat some of this food now?" while seeing pictures of food items. (/100) The task used is the "Leeds Food Preference Questionnaire".

  Baseline

• "Explicit wanting" score for low-fat/sweet foods

  "Explicit wanting" will be measured using visual analog scales anchored at each end with "not at all" and "extremely" to answer the question "How much would like to eat some of this food now?" while seeing pictures of food items. (/100) The task used is the "Leeds Food Preference Questionnaire".

  Baseline

• "Explicit wanting" score for low-fat/savoury foods

  "Explicit wanting" will be measured using visual analog scales anchored at each end with "not at all" and "extremely" to answer the question "How much would like to eat some of this food now?" while seeing pictures of food items. (/100) The task used is the "Leeds Food Preference Questionnaire".

  Baseline

• "Implicit wanting" score for high-fat/sweet foods

  "Implicit wanting" will be calculated using a forced-choice task. It involves the presentation of successive pairs of food pictures, each pair being the object of a spontaneous preferential choice by the volunteer. A score is calculated from the frequency of choice and non-choice of said category and the reaction time of the participants. This score ranges from -100 to 100 and is interpreted in relation to the scores for the other food categories assessed in the task. A positive score indicates that the food category under consideration was chosen more often and more quickly than the others. A negative score indicates the opposite. The task used is the "Leeds Food Preference Questionnaire".

  Baseline

• "Implicit wanting" score for high-fat/savoury foods

  "Implicit wanting" will be calculated using a forced-choice task. It involves the presentation of successive pairs of food pictures, each pair being the object of a spontaneous preferential choice by the volunteer. A score is calculated from the frequency of choice and non-choice of said category and the reaction time of the participants. This score ranges from -100 to 100 and is interpreted in relation to the scores for the other food categories assessed in the task. A positive score indicates that the food category under consideration was chosen more often and more quickly than the others. A negative score indicates the opposite. The task used is the "Leeds Food Preference Questionnaire".

  Baseline

• "Implicit wanting" score for low-fat/sweet foods

  "Implicit wanting" will be calculated using a forced-choice task. It involves the presentation of successive pairs of food pictures, each pair being the object of a spontaneous preferential choice by the volunteer. A score is calculated from the frequency of choice and non-choice of said category and the reaction time of the participants. This score ranges from -100 to 100 and is interpreted in relation to the scores for the other food categories assessed in the task. A positive score indicates that the food category under consideration was chosen more often and more quickly than the others. A negative score indicates the opposite. The task used is the "Leeds Food Preference Questionnaire".

  Baseline

• "Implicit wanting" score for low-fat/savoury foods

  "Implicit wanting" will be calculated using a forced-choice task. It involves the presentation of successive pairs of food pictures, each pair being the object of a spontaneous preferential choice by the volunteer. A score is calculated from the frequency of choice and non-choice of said category and the reaction time of the participants. This score ranges from -100 to 100 and is interpreted in relation to the scores for the other food categories assessed in the task. A positive score indicates that the food category under consideration was chosen more often and more quickly than the others. A negative score indicates the opposite. The task used is the "Leeds Food Preference Questionnaire".

  Baseline

Secondary Outcomes (33)

• Standard deviation of the N-N interval (SDNN)

  Baseline

• pNN50

  Baseline

• Root mean square of successive N-N interval difference (RMSSD)

  Baseline

• Low Frequency (LF)

  Baseline

• High Frequency (HF)

  Baseline

Study Arms (1)

Visceral Adiposity

No intervention to be adminstrated. Participants will be considered based on their visceral adiposity (ctageorial and continous). Visceral adiposity index is computed with BMI, waist circumference, triglyceridemia, HDL-cholesterol levels, and biological sex.

Other: Visceral adiposity

Interventions

Visceral adiposity OTHER

Visceral adiposity assess by the visceral adiposity index

Visceral Adiposity

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 45 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64)
• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Adult men and women aged between 18 and 45 will be selected. This age limitation applied to both sexes will limit the risk of including post-menopausal women, without unbalancing the average age between the biological sexes. We will meet participants during the follicular phase of their cycle (beginning on the first day of menstruation and ending at ovulation).

You may qualify if:

• Have a BMI between 18.5 and 35 kg/m²;
• French-speaking;
• Be able to travel to the Research Center of the Institut Universitaire de Cardiologie et Pneumologie de Québec for an investigative visit.

You may not qualify if:

• Smokers ;
• Women who know they are pregnant, breastfeeding or menopausal;
• Who have been diagnosed with type I or type II diabetes;
• Having undergone bariatric surgery or obesity medication (GLP1 analogue, naltrexon-bupropion combination, etc.);
• Presenting an allergy or intolerance to one of the products used in the sensory tests (taste test: sucrose, sodium chloride, citric acid, quinine hydrochloride dihydrate; olfactory test: citrus, lemongrass, cinnamon, mint, peppermint, banana, anise, turpentine, garlic, coffee, apple, clove, pineapple, rose, geranium, eucalyptus, wormwood, fennel, caraway, leather, n-butanol, linalool, pyridine, diethyl phthalate, propylene glycol);
• Have a history of pathologies which, in the investigator's opinion, could interfere with the study criteria, such as ENT, neurological, upper digestive or cardiac pathologies;
• Receiving long-term pharmacological treatment, in particular antidepressants, antipsychotics, benzodiazepines, beta-blockers, etc. ;
• Presenting or having presented in the last 6 months a thymic episode such as depression, bipolar disorder, etc. ;
• Wearing a cardiostimulator (pacemaker);
• Minors or adults under guardianship.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Laval University: lead

Study Sites (1)

IUCPQ

Québec, Quebec, Canada

RECRUITING

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Obesity; Food Preferences; Feeding Behavior

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Overweight; Overnutrition; Nutrition Disorders; Nutritional and Metabolic Diseases; Body Weight; Signs and Symptoms; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms; Behavior; Behavior, Animal

Central Study Contacts

Sylvain Iceta, MD, PhD

CONTACT

+14186568711; equipe.iceta@criucpq.ulaval.ca

Study Design

• Study Type: observational
• Observational Model: COHORT
• Time Perspective: CROSS SECTIONAL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Principal Investigator

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: December 1, 2023
• First Posted: December 19, 2023
• Study Start: December 11, 2023
• Primary Completion: July 30, 2025
• Study Completion: December 30, 2025
• Last Updated: October 9, 2024

Record last verified: 2024-10

Locations

CA (1)