Cold climate adaptations and human metabolic variation

越来越多的证据表明，一些人患有新陈代谢健康的肥胖症，体重指数高，体脂过多，但没有许多经常与肥胖症相关的不良影响，如心血管健康状况不佳或患糖尿病风险增加。最近，也有人提出，寒冷气候人群可能更有可能患有新陈代谢健康的肥胖症，因为寒冷气候适应会影响身体的尺寸、形状和成分，以及代谢功能。这项研究考察了寒冷气候适应如何影响代表传统和非传统生计的个人的心脏代谢健康，这些人在寒冷暴露和其他因素方面存在差异。这项研究提供了对极端寒冷环境和气候变化背景下生物和行为之间相互作用的更全面的理解。从这个项目中获得的见解也有可能为评估、治疗和监测经常与肥胖相关的代谢性疾病的研究提供信息。该研究计划积极地让参与社区参与研究设计、实施和传播，并将研究纳入圣母大学的本科生和研究生课程。研究小组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、会议演示和同行评议出版物，在地方、国家和国际范围内制定了强有力的外展计划。该项目有以下目标：1)评估不同寒冷气候生计中静息代谢率变化的范围和驱动因素；2)评估棕色脂肪组织活动的范围、代谢底物的利用以及发育寒冷暴露的影响；3)评估行为寒冷气候应对机制，包括服装、饮食和体力活动；以及4)评估冷气候适应程度较高的个人是否表现出更好的心脏代谢健康。研究团队测量了身高、体重、身体组成(脂肪质量和肌肉质量)、静息代谢率、棕色脂肪组织激活(使用代谢率测量和热成像)、代谢健康的生物标记物(例如胆固醇和葡萄糖)、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NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势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.