Healthy Liver - Healthy Brain

Metabolic Syndrome Clinical Trial

Official title:

Diet Intervention to Promote Liver and Brain Health in Adults With Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Recruiting

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT05216796
• Other study ID #: STUDY00002189
• Status: Recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: May 18, 2022
• Est. completion date: September 2024

Study information

• Verified date: October 2023
• Source: University of Texas at Austin
• Contact: Andreana Haley, PhD
• Phone: 5124717926
• Email: haley[@]austin.utexas.edu
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

People with liver disease report difficulties with attention and problem-solving skills. Diet plays an important role in the development of liver disease and/or pre-diabetes. The purpose of this study is to examine whether participation in a brief diet intervention (up to 3 weeks) can improve brain and liver health and function.

Description:

The importance of liver function for brain and cognitive health is undeniable. Specifically, adults with chronic liver diseases such as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), a factor of metabolic syndrome (MetS), experience a range of symptoms including problems with attention, problem solving skills and executive function. Importantly, diet plays a role in the development of NAFLD. The investigators propose to be the first to demonstrate that Metabolic syndrome-related brain vulnerability, in the form of elevated free cerebral glutamate, is related to hepatic triglyceride level, through experimental manipulation of liver fat and multiorgan imaging. The investigators seek to improve liver health by altering diet content in a block randomized feeding trial. The investigators selected a low-carbohydrate (<30 g/d) diet (LoCHO) to reduce liver fat and a low-calorie (LoCAL) diet as a control for weight loss. The investigators hypothesize that LoCHO diet will improve cognitive performance by improving liver health and thus, brain health. This work may provide a way to support brain function in MetS and delay cognitive decline.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Recruiting
• Enrollment: 100
• Est. completion date: September 2024
• Est. primary completion date: September 2024
• Accepts healthy volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers
• Gender: All
• Age group: 40 Years and older

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• at least 40 years of age

• English speakers

• show a minimum of 5% hepatic triglyceride level on liver imaging

• have not taken part in a weight loss/dietary intervention within 6 months

• not currently adhering to a low-carbohydrate diet (e.g., Atkins, Paleo)

Exclusion Criteria:

• younger than 40 years of age

• have a history of neurological disease (e.g. stroke, seizure disorder)

• psychiatric illness (e.g. schizophrenia, bipolar disorder)

• harmful alcohol use (AUDIT-C score >5)

• morbid obesity (BMI>40)

• MRI contraindications

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Fatty Liver
• Liver Diseases
• Metabolic Syndrome
• NAFLD
• Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease
• Pre-diabetes
• Prediabetic State

Intervention

Behavioral:
• Diet Intervention
Meal will be prepared and delivered by SNAP Kitchen, which has 7 locations in Austin and offers 20+ options for low-carbohydrate and low-calorie meals, each meal available in different sizes varying in energy intake. Meals will be entered into the Nutrition Data System for Research (NDS-R) software to confirm low-calorie profile. Meals will be delivered to participants' homes twice a week.

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
United States	University of Texas at Austin	Austin	Texas

Sponsors (1)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
University of Texas at Austin

Country where clinical trial is conducted

United States, 

References & Publications (5)

Browning JD, Baker JA, Rogers T, Davis J, Satapati S, Burgess SC. Short-term weight loss and hepatic triglyceride reduction: evidence of a metabolic advantage with dietary carbohydrate restriction. Am J Clin Nutr. 2011 May;93(5):1048-52. doi: 10.3945/ajcn.110.007674. Epub 2011 Mar 2. — View Citation

Crabb DW, Im GY, Szabo G, Mellinger JL, Lucey MR. Diagnosis and Treatment of Alcohol-Associated Liver Diseases: 2019 Practice Guidance From the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases. Hepatology. 2020 Jan;71(1):306-333. doi: 10.1002/hep.30866. No abstract available. — View Citation

Ervin RB. Prevalence of metabolic syndrome among adults 20 years of age and over, by sex, age, race and ethnicity, and body mass index: United States, 2003-2006. Natl Health Stat Report. 2009 May 5;(13):1-7. — View Citation

Haley AP, Gonzales MM, Tarumi T, Tanaka H. Subclinical vascular disease and cerebral glutamate elevation in metabolic syndrome. Metab Brain Dis. 2012 Dec;27(4):513-20. doi: 10.1007/s11011-012-9306-x. Epub 2012 May 3. — View Citation

Oh R, Gilani B, Uppaluri KR. Low-Carbohydrate Diet. 2023 Aug 17. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2023 Jan-. Available from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK537084/ — View Citation

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Decrease in Liver Fat	Hepatic triglyceride level will be assessed using liver 1H MRS.	Liver fat will be measured at baseline (week 0) and after at least 2 weeks (up to 3 weeks) on the designated diet. The liver 1H MRS scans will happen during Visit 3 (baseline) and Visit 4 (at least 2 weeks on the diet).
Primary	Decrease in cerebral gluatamate	Cerebral glutamate levels will be measured using 1H MRS.	Cerebral glutamate will be measured at baseline (week 0) and after at least 2 weeks (up to 3 weeks) on the designated diet. The brain 1H MRS scans will happen during Visit 3 (baseline) and Visit 4 (at least 2 weeks on the diet).