Can exercise help obese muscles soak up sugar?
NCT ID NCT04532814
First seen Sep 15, 2026 · Last updated Sep 16, 2026 · Updated 1 time
Summary
Researchers at Mayo Clinic are studying how a single session of cycling exercise affects the way muscles take up glucose in adults with upper body obesity compared with lean adults. The trial enrolls 48 sedentary premenopausal women and age-matched men, some with upper body obesity and some of normal weight. By measuring glucose uptake from the whole body down to the cellular level, the team aims to understand whether obesity changes the muscle's response to exercise.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- a cycling exercise session at moderate intensity
- What this could lead to
- If exercise helps muscles take up glucose differently in people with upper body obesity, this could guide exercise recommendations or treatments for insulin resistance.
- What could go wrong
- This is an early, small physiology study with 48 participants. It measures muscle glucose uptake during exercise, not long-term health outcomes, so any findings would need much larger trials before changing care.
This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.
Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
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Not a phased trial
Phase numbers describe drug development. The registry uses this when they do not apply, as it does for trials of devices, procedures or behaviour changes, and for observational studies.
- Participants
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About 48 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Started
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Sep 2020
- Expected to finish
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May 2027
An estimate. End dates often move.
- Lead sponsor
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Other sponsor
The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
- Ages
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18 to 55 years
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
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Accepted
You do not need to have the condition being studied to take part.
Show the full entry requirements Hide the full entry requirements
Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria: For the exercise studies of leg glucose uptake - "insulin sensitive" group: * Sedentary, normal weight, premenopausal women. * Sedentary, age-matched normal weight men. * Weight stable for two (2) months prior to study. * Willing to provide written, informed consent. * For the exercise studies of leg glucose uptake - "insulin resistant" group: For the exercise studies of leg glucose uptake - "insulin resistant" group: * Upper body obese (UBO) premenopausal women. * Age-matched upper body obese (UBO) men. * Weight stable for two (2) months prior to study. * Willing to provide written, informed consent. Exclusion Criteria: * Age \< 18 or \> 55 years (premenopausal women and age-matched men). * Use of glucose-lowering agents. * For female subjects: positive pregnancy test at the time of enrollment or study * History of prior upper abdominal surgery such as adjustable gastric banding, pyloroplasty and vagotomy. * Active systemic illness or malignancy. * Symptomatic macrovascular or microvascular disease.
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Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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Mayo Clinic in Rochester
Rochester, Minnesota, 55905, United States