Noninvasive Neuromodulation of the Prefrontal Cortex in Subjects With Obesity

Obesity Clinical Trial

Official title:

Noninvasive Neuromodulation of the Prefrontal Cortex in Subjects With Obesity: a Proof-of-concept Study

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT02953353
• Other study ID #: Process HCRP: 8463/2016
• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: June 12, 2017
• Est. completion date: March 29, 2019

Study information

• Verified date: January 2021
• Source: University of Sao Paulo
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

The overall goal of this proposal is to evaluate the efficacy of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), a noninvasive neuromodulation technique, to facilitate weight loss and weight loss maintenance in obesity. This is a novel clinical research study that examines the therapeutic potential of an innovative biomedical treatment for weight loss.

Description:

The hypothesis is that tDCS will successfully engage prefrontal-related neurobehavioral cognitive control systems, resulting in decreased eating disinhibition and therefore facilitation of weight loss and weight loss maintenance. To test this hypothesis, a 6-month randomized, sham-controlled, double-blind, intervention study was designed. Subjects will undergo an intervention with the following components/phases:

1. Phase 1 - Target engagement (one session) The purpose of this phase is to examine whether tDCS can reach the brain target, the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, and influence performance in a neuropsychology tests that depends on the activity of this region. Results from this component of the study will provide evidence for target engagement. Genomic DNA will be extracted from whole blood for sequencing of Catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) polymorphism genotypes.

2. Phase 2 - tDCS alone (two weeks) During this phase participants will receive daily tDCS sessions over the course of two weeks (Monday to Friday; total=10 sessions). The purpose of this phase is to examine the effect of modulating the activity of the prefrontal cortex with tDCS on body weight under baseline/weight stable conditions. Also analyse changes in appetite and eating behavior.

3. Phase 3 - tDCS plus hypocaloric diet (two weeks). During this phase participants will undergo a hypocaloric diet intervention aimed at achieving a 5% body weight reduction at 3 months. The diet will be individualized on the basis of physical activity levels, age for each participant. This intervention will be be conducted at an inpatient, well-controlled setting to guarantee adherence to the diet. Here the diet intervention will be administered in combination with tDCS. tDCS will be applied every other day (Monday, Wednesday, Friday) over the course of these two weeks. The purpose of this component is to examine acute changes in weight associated with tDCS in combination with the diet. Also analyse changes in appetite and eating behavior.

4. Phase 4 - Follow up (6 months). During this phase (outpatient) changes in body weight over time will be assessed to evaluate weight maintenance. Subjects will be asked to come back to the laboratory at 1, 3 and 6 months. Also analyse changes in appetite and eating behavior.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 38
• Est. completion date: March 29, 2019
• Est. primary completion date: September 3, 2018
• Accepts healthy volunteers: No
• Gender: Female
• Age group: 20 Years to 40 Years

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• Women with obesity (BMI 30-35 kg/m2), with stable weight over the previous 3 months.

Exclusion Criteria:

• pregnancy

• diabetes

• acute and chronic kidney disease

• pancreatitis

• any active psychiatric or neurological condition at the time of joining the study

• intake of centrally-acting medications that could interfere with tDCS effects

• anemia (Hgb <12 g/dl)

• any other significant medical condition

• contraindications for tDCS, which includes damaged skin at the site of stimulation, any electrically sensitive or metallic device and history of epilepsy

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Obesity

Intervention

Device:
• Active transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS)
Participants will receive 10 daily sessions (phase 2) and 3 times a week (phase 3) of tDCS (2mA, 30 min per session). The tDCS montage will target the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) (anode: F3 based on the 10:20 system; cathode over the right supraorbital area). For stimulation the investigators will use 5x5cm sponge pads that will be soaked in 0.9% saline during the sessions.

Other:
• Hypocaloric diet
During phase 3, participants will undergo a supervised hypocaloric diet intervention for 2 weeks based on a low-calorie diet (LCD) providing a hypocaloric diet based in 20% reduction from total energy expenditure (TEE). The diet will be individualized on the basis of physical activity levels, age for each participant. This intervention will be be conducted at an inpatient, well-controlled setting to guarantee adherence to the diet. Here the diet intervention will be administered in combination with tDCS. tDCS will be applied every other day (Monday, Wednesday, Friday) over the course of these two weeks.
• Sham transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS)
Subjects in the control group will receive sham stimulation (placebo) (similar procedure and duration as real tDCS, but here electric current flows for 30 s only, to mimic the subjective sensations that occur with active tDCS).

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
Brazil	Clinical Hospital of Ribeirão Preto	Ribeirão Preto	São Paulo
United States	Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School	Boston	Massachusetts
United States	Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging, Tufts University	Boston	Massachusetts

Sponsors (4)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
University of Sao Paulo	Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo, USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging

Countries where clinical trial is conducted

United States,  Brazil, 

References & Publications (10)

Alonso-Alonso M. Translating tDCS into the field of obesity: mechanism-driven approaches. Front Hum Neurosci. 2013 Aug 27;7:512. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2013.00512. eCollection 2013. — View Citation

CREUTZFELDT OD, FROMM GH, KAPP H. Influence of transcortical d-c currents on cortical neuronal activity. Exp Neurol. 1962 Jun;5:436-52. — View Citation

Gandiga PC, Hummel FC, Cohen LG. Transcranial DC stimulation (tDCS): a tool for double-blind sham-controlled clinical studies in brain stimulation. Clin Neurophysiol. 2006 Apr;117(4):845-50. Epub 2006 Jan 19. — View Citation

Gluck ME, Alonso-Alonso M, Piaggi P, Weise CM, Jumpertz-von Schwartzenberg R, Reinhardt M, Wassermann EM, Venti CA, Votruba SB, Krakoff J. Neuromodulation targeted to the prefrontal cortex induces changes in energy intake and weight loss in obesity. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2015 Nov;23(11):2149-56. doi: 10.1002/oby.21313. — View Citation

Nitsche MA, Cohen LG, Wassermann EM, Priori A, Lang N, Antal A, Paulus W, Hummel F, Boggio PS, Fregni F, Pascual-Leone A. Transcranial direct current stimulation: State of the art 2008. Brain Stimul. 2008 Jul;1(3):206-23. doi: 10.1016/j.brs.2008.06.004. Epub 2008 Jul 1. Review. — View Citation

Nitsche MA, Paulus W. Excitability changes induced in the human motor cortex by weak transcranial direct current stimulation. J Physiol. 2000 Sep 15;527 Pt 3:633-9. — View Citation

Okamoto M, Dan H, Sakamoto K, Takeo K, Shimizu K, Kohno S, Oda I, Isobe S, Suzuki T, Kohyama K, Dan I. Three-dimensional probabilistic anatomical cranio-cerebral correlation via the international 10-20 system oriented for transcranial functional brain mapping. Neuroimage. 2004 Jan;21(1):99-111. — View Citation

Truong DQ, Magerowski G, Blackburn GL, Bikson M, Alonso-Alonso M. Computational modeling of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) in obesity: Impact of head fat and dose guidelines. Neuroimage Clin. 2013 May 31;2:759-66. doi: 10.1016/j.nicl.2013.05.011. eCollection 2013. — View Citation

Truong DQ, Magerowski G, Pascual-Leone A, Alonso-Alonso M, Bikson M. Finite Element study of skin and fat delineation in an obese subject for transcranial Direct Current Stimulation. Annu Int Conf IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc. 2012;2012:6587-90. doi: 10.1109/EMBC.2012.6347504. — View Citation

Val-Laillet D, Aarts E, Weber B, Ferrari M, Quaresima V, Stoeckel LE, Alonso-Alonso M, Audette M, Malbert CH, Stice E. Neuroimaging and neuromodulation approaches to study eating behavior and prevent and treat eating disorders and obesity. Neuroimage Clin. 2015 Mar 24;8:1-31. doi: 10.1016/j.nicl.2015.03.016. eCollection 2015. Review. — View Citation

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Body weight	The primary outcome will be change in body weight after two weeks intervention (tDCS alone) versus baseline (day 1), the change in body weight between the beginning and the end of the inpatient period (tDCS plus hypocaloric diet), and the change in body weight throughout follow-up (6 months), i.e. between the end of the tDCS intervention (end of the inpatient phase) and the end of the study.	6 months
Secondary	Appetite visual analogue scale	The investigators will analyse changes in appetite during the different phases of the study: phase 1 (target engagement), phase 2 (tDCS-only effect), phase 3 (tDCS plus diet effect), phase 4 (follow-up) using the visual analogue scale.	6 months
Secondary	Eating behavior questionnaire	The investigators will analyse changes in eating behavior during the different phases of the study: phase 1 (target engagement), phase 2 (tDCS-only effect), phase 3 (tDCS plus diet effect), phase 4 (follow-up) using the three-factor eating and food craving questionnaires.	6 months
Secondary	Cognitive performance in a food modified working memory test	The investigators will compare accuracy and reaction times before and after the 2 weeks with tDCS only. To evaluate working memory performance an N-back task will be used.	2 weeks

External Links

•   Website of the Clinical Hospital of the Ribeirão Preto Medical School