Scalp hair chemical changes in people with severe obesity and after bariatric surgery

Scalp Hair Metabolomics as a Novel Biomarker of Poor Metabolic Health in Individuals With Severe Obesity

This project will see if chemicals trapped in scalp hair change with body weight and can signal hair thinning or muscle loss in adults having bariatric surgery.

Quick facts

• Study type: Observational
• Enrollment: 60 (estimated)
• Ages: 21 Years to 70 Years
• Sex: All
• Sponsor: Singapore General Hospital (other)
• Locations: 1 site (Singapore)
• Trial ID: NCT07368842 on ClinicalTrials.gov

What this trial studies

Researchers will enroll 30 adults with severe obesity scheduled for bariatric surgery and 30 healthy-weight control participants. At baseline everyone will provide medical history, complete dietary and quality-of-life surveys, have body measurements and scalp photos taken, undergo a hair-pull test, give a hair sample, and complete muscle strength testing. The bariatric surgery group will repeat these procedures at about 4, 12, and 26 weeks after surgery to track changes in hair metabolites and relate them to hair thinning and muscle loss. Controls are assessed only at baseline to provide reference metabolite and clinical data.

Who should consider this trial

Good fit: Adults aged 21–70 who can give informed consent, including those with BMI >32.5 kg/m2 scheduled for bariatric surgery and healthy-weight controls with BMI 18.5–24.9 kg/m2 and no chronic disease or long-term medications.

Not a fit: People who are pregnant, have autoimmune or scarring alopecia, cannot adhere to follow-up visits, or fall outside the specified BMI or health criteria are unlikely to benefit from participation.

Why it matters

Potential benefit: If successful, this could offer a noninvasive way to monitor nutritional status and detect early hair or muscle loss after bariatric surgery using scalp hair analysis.

How similar studies have performed: Hair metabolomics is an emerging area with some promising work on long-term exposure and nutritional markers, but applying it to changes after bariatric surgery is largely novel.

Eligibility criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

All subjects:

1. Age 21-70 years
2. Ability to provide informed consent

Healthy weight controls:

1. BMI of 18.5-24.9 kg/m2
2. No chronic disease
3. No long-term medications

Severe obesity:

1. BMI of \> 32.5 kg/m2
2. Scheduled to undergo bariatric surgery

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Pregnancy
2. Any factors likely to limit adherence to study protocol
3. Any history of autoimmune or scarring alopecia (eg. alopecia areata, discoid lupus, lichen planopilaris)

Where this trial is running

Singapore

• Singapore General Hospital — Singapore, Singapore (RECRUITING)

Study contacts

• Principal investigator: Hong Chang Tan — Singapore General Hospital
• Study coordinator: Hong Chang Tan, MD PhD

Conditions: Obesity & Overweight, Hair Loss, Metabolomics, Bariatric Surgery, obesity, hair loss, metabolomics, bariatric surgery