Cold climate adaptations and human metabolic variation

越来越多的证据表明，一些人患有代谢健康的肥胖，体重指数高，体脂过多，但没有许多与肥胖相关的不良影响，比如心血管健康状况不佳或患糖尿病的风险增加。最近，也有人提出，寒冷气候的人群可能更有可能有代谢健康的肥胖，因为寒冷气候的适应影响了身体的大小、形状和组成，以及代谢功能。本研究探讨了寒冷气候适应如何影响个体的心脏代谢健康，这些个体代表着在寒冷暴露和其他因素中不同的传统和非传统生计。这项研究对极端寒冷环境和气候变化背景下生物与行为之间的相互作用提供了更全面的理解。从该项目中获得的见解也有可能为与肥胖相关的代谢疾病的评估、治疗和监测研究提供信息。该研究项目积极地包括参与研究设计、实施和传播的社区，研究被纳入圣母大学的本科和研究生课程。研究团队通过使用个人参与者报告、网站、研讨会、公开演讲、播客、博物馆展览、会议演讲和同行评审出版物，在地方、国家和国际范围内制定了强有力的推广计划。该项目的目的是：1)评估不同寒冷气候生计的静息代谢率变化范围及其驱动因素；2)评估棕色脂肪组织活性、代谢底物利用的范围以及发育性冷暴露的影响；3)评估行为应对寒冷气候的机制，包括衣着、饮食和身体活动；4)评估高冷气候适应表达的个体是否表现出更好的心脏代谢健康。研究小组测量了身高、体重、身体组成（脂肪量和肌肉量）、静息代谢率、棕色脂肪组织激活（使用代谢率测量和热成像）、代谢健康的生物标志物（如胆固醇和葡萄糖）、甲状腺激素水平、活动水平、饮食摄入量、血压以及缓解寒冷和气候变化的行为和文化手段。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

A growing body of evidence suggests that some individuals have metabolically healthy obesity, with a high body mass index and excess body fat, but without many of the ill-effects often associated with obesity, such as poor cardiovascular health or an increased risk of developing diabetes. Recently, it has also been suggested that cold climate populations may be more likely to have metabolically healthy obesity because of cold climate adaptations that impact body size, shape and composition, as well as metabolic function. This study examines how cold climate adaptations affect cardiometabolic health among individuals representing traditional and non-traditional livelihoods that vary in cold exposure and other factors. The research provides a more comprehensive understanding of the interactions between biology and behavior in extremely cold environments and in the context of climate change. Insights gained from this project also have the potential to inform research on the assessment, treatment, and monitoring of metabolic diseases regularly associated with obesity. The research program actively includes the participating communities in research design, implementation, and dissemination, and research is incorporated into undergraduate and graduate curricula at the University of Notre Dame. The research team has a robust outreach plan on local, national, and international scales through the use of individual participant reports, a website, workshops, public talks, podcasts, a museum exhibit, conference presentations, and peer-reviewed publications.The project has the following aims: 1) assess the range of resting metabolic rate variation and drivers among different cold climate livelihoods; 2) assess the range of brown adipose tissue activity, metabolic substrate utilization, and the impact of developmental cold exposure; 3) assess behavioral cold climate coping mechanisms including clothing, diet, and physical activity; and 4) assess if individuals with greater cold climate adaptation expression exhibit better cardiometabolic health. The research team measures height, weight, body composition (fat mass and muscle mass), resting metabolic rate, brown adipose tissue activation (using metabolic rate measurements and thermal imaging), biomarkers of metabolic health (e.g., cholesterol and glucose), thyroid hormone levels, activity levels, dietary intake, blood pressure, and behavioral and cultural means for mitigating the cold and climate change.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.