The effect of serotonin in brown adipose tissue
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The effect of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors on brown adipose tissue activation in humans
IRAS ID
241688
Contact name
Roland H Stimson
Contact email
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 2 months, 31 days
Research summary
Brown fat is a special type of fat which functions to burn calories to keep our bodies warm when we're placed in a cold environment. People who are obese have less brown fat than lean individuals. Some antidepressants are known to cause weight gain and type 2 diabetes and we hypothesize that this could be by preventing activation of brown fat. To determine whether this is the case, 10 healthy humans will be recruited to a study testing whether one of the most commonly used class of antidepressants, called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI), inhibits brown fat activity. Volunteers will be given an SSRI or placebo in random order prior to undergoing a positron emission tomography (PET) scan during mild cold exposure to determine the effect on brown fat activity. Volunteers will then cross over to the other phase of the study after a 2-week washout period.
REC name
South East Scotland REC 02
REC reference
18/SS/0104
Date of REC Opinion
17 Aug 2018
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion