Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38150009›Full record

Trial reportEuropean journal of applied physiology2024

Short-term cocoa bioflavanol supplementation does not improve cold-induced vasodilation in young healthy adults.

Billie K Alba, Andrew M Greenfield, Beau R Yurkevicius, Myra L Jones, John W Castellani

Registry-linked trialAbstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in European journal of applied physiology, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT04359082 (The Effects of Cocoa-rich Bioflavanol Supplementation on Manual Dexterity During Cold Exposure), which is not on this map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
0.4field-weighted citation impact, top 37% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT04359082 naunknown statusnot on this map

The Effects of Cocoa-rich Bioflavanol Supplementation on Manual Dexterity During Cold Exposure

TypeinterventionalSponsorUnited States Army Research Institute of Environmental MedicineRan2020 to 2021Enrolled40ConditionsCold Exposure, Manual Dexterity, Gut MicrobiomeArmsCocoaVia supplement, Placebo Pill
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed, 2 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Trial
  2. Cold-induced vasodilation: A meta-analysis.Temperature (Austin, Tex.) · 2026
    Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Billie K AlbaThermal and Mountain Medicine Division, US Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine, 10 General Greene Ave., Bldg. 42, Natick, MA, 01760, USA. billie.k.alba.civ@health.mil.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6503-6053
Andrew M GreenfieldThermal and Mountain Medicine Division, US Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine, 10 General Greene Ave., Bldg. 42, Natick, MA, 01760, USA.
Beau R YurkeviciusThermal and Mountain Medicine Division, US Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine, 10 General Greene Ave., Bldg. 42, Natick, MA, 01760, USA.
Myra L JonesThermal and Mountain Medicine Division, US Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine, 10 General Greene Ave., Bldg. 42, Natick, MA, 01760, USA.
John W CastellaniThermal and Mountain Medicine Division, US Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine, 10 General Greene Ave., Bldg. 42, Natick, MA, 01760, USA.
U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeCold-induced vasodilation (CIVD) is an oscillatory rise in blood flow to glabrous skin that occurs in cold-exposed extremities. Dietary flavanols increase bioavailable nitric oxide, a proposed mediator of CIVD through active vasodilation and/or withdrawal of sympathetic vascular smooth muscle tone. However, no studies have examined the effects of flavanol intake on extremity skin perfusion during cold exposure. We tested the hypothesis that acute and 8-day flavanol supplementation would augment CIVD during single-digit cold water immersion (CWI).

methodsEleven healthy adults (24 ± 6 years; 10 M/1F) ingested cocoa flavanols (900 mg/day) or caffeine- and theobromine-matched placebo for 8 days in a double-blind, randomized, crossover design. On Days 1 and 8, CIVD was assessed 2 h post-treatment. Subjects immersed their 3rd finger in warm water (42 °C) for 15 min before CWI (4 °C) for 30 min, during which nail bed and finger pad skin temperature were measured.

resultsFlavanol ingestion had no effect on CIVD frequency (Day 1, Flavanol: 3 ± 2 vs. Placebo: 3 ± 2; Day 8, Flavanol: 3 ± 2 vs. Placebo: 3 ± 1) or amplitude (Day 1, Flavanol: 4.3 ± 1.7 vs. Placebo: 4.9 ± 2.6 °C; Day 8, Flavanol: 3.9 ± 1.9 vs. Placebo: 3.9 ± 2.0 °C) in the finger pad following acute or 8-day supplementation (P > 0.05). Furthermore, average, nadir, and apex finger pad temperatures during CWI were not different between treatments on Days 1 or 8 of supplementation (P > 0.05). Similarly, no differences in CIVD parameters were observed in the nail bed following supplementation (P > 0.05).

conclusionThese data suggest that cocoa flavanol ingestion does not alter finger CIVD. Clinical Trial Registration Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT04359082. April 24, 2020.

Indexed as

Cold TemperatureDietary SupplementsVasodilationAdultCacaoChocolateCross-Over StudiesDouble-Blind MethodFemaleFlavonolsHumansMaleSkinSkin TemperatureYoung AdultFlavonolsCold water immersionCutaneous vasoconstrictionNitric oxidePolyphenolsSkin blood flowSkin temperature

Identifiers

PMID38150009
OpenAlexW4390272231

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.