Clinical Trial: Microcurrent and Aerobic Exercise Effects in Abdominal Fat

Study Status: Completed
Recruit Status: Completed
Study Type: Interventional

Official Title: Microcurrent and Aerobic Exercise Effects in Glycerol, Catecholamines, Energetic Source and Muscle Activity

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

Detailed Summary:

Nutritional patterns have been changed during twenty-first century with sugar and fat's high proportions that allied to sedentary lifestyle 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 lipolytic 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 minutes.

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.

Sponsor: Escola Superior de Tecnologia da Saúde do Porto

Current Primary Outcome:

• Change in catecholamines and glycerol concentrations [ Time Frame: 10 minutes before the interventions, after interventions (duration of interventions - 90 minutes) and after 24 hours ]
  Blood analysis collection was carried out with help from an clinical analysis technician. The volunteers were not fasting.
• Change in proportion of energy source [ Time Frame: Immediately before (for 3 minutes) and during exercise (duration of exercise - 50 minutes) ]
  K4b2 (COSMED ®) was used for analysis of cardiopulmonary gas exchange in real time.
• Change in electromyographic activity [ Time Frame: 5 minutes before and after microcurrent ]
  Recording the surface electrical activity produced by rectus abdominis and external oblique in front bridge and side bridge exercise, respectively.

Original Primary Outcome: Same as current

Current Secondary Outcome:

• Subcutaneous abdominal fat and visceral abdominal fat [ Time Frame: 20 minutes before the interventions ]
  Ultrasound was performed at the end of expiration to measure subcutaneous abdominal fat between xiphoid apophysis and navel, below navel, and above left and right anterior superior iliac spine. Between xiphoid apophysis and navel was also measured visceral abdominal fat. Abdominal fat analyzed by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DEXA).
• Suprailiac, vertical and horizontal abdominal skinfolds [ Time Frame: 20 minutes before the interventions ]
  Suprailiac, vertical and horizontal abdominal skinfolds were performed two times in right hemi body, by caliper.
• Perimeters measurements [ Time Frame: 20 minutes before the interventions ]

  The perimeters measurements were done, at the end of expiration, at waist level (below last rib), at navel level, at the point immediately above the iliac crests and at trochanters level. The waist-hip ratio was calculated using the waist level perimeter.

  divided by trochanters level perimeter.

• Change in cholesterol, triglycerides and glucose concentrations [ Time Frame: 10 minutes before the interventions, after interventions (duration of interventions - 90 minutes) ]
  Blood analysis collection was carried out with help from an clinical analysis technician. The volunteers were not fasting.

Original Secondary Outcome: Same as current

Information By: Escola Superior de Tecnologia da Saúde do Porto

Dates:
Date Received: March 21, 2014
Date Started: February 2014
Date Completion:
Last Updated: October 23, 2014
Last Verified: October 2014