Monocyte Priming When Consuming a Western Diet

Not Applicable

Completed

• Conditions: Heart Diseases
• Interventions: Other: Experimental diet

• Registration Number: NCT05348395
• Lead Sponsor: Wake Forest University Health Sciences

Brief Summary

To determine the mechanism of monocyte priming in humans, the study team will conduct a complete feeding trial in normal weight and metabolically healthy human subjects (20-45 years of age) using a western diet (WD), characterized as being high-saturated fat, high-fructose, and high-calorie for 8 weeks.

Detailed Description

The goal is to challenge metabolically healthy human subjects with a high-calorie, Western diet for 8 weeks to identify the metabolite(s) responsible for monocyte priming and use redox proteomics, RNAseq and Chipseq to determine the genes and pathways involved in monocyte priming in humans. To reflect some key components of the typical Western intake, the Study Team will compose the diet to be high in saturated fat (15% of total energy intake) and fructose (14% of total energy intake) with excess energy intake that is 25% higher than estimated total energy expenditure. A total of 30 participants, including 15 men and 15 women, will complete a run-in phase where weight stability will be achieved on the control diet. After weight is stabilized during the run-in period, participants will enter the experimental phase of the dietary intervention, where overfeeding will begin with additional calories provided by the key nutrients as noted above. Participants will be monitored throughout the feeding trial. After completion of the 8-week overfeeding period, individuals will be allowed to return to a normal dietary intake. All study participants will be given access to counseling for weight reduction should it be needed following the overfeeding period.

Study Timeline

• Study First Submitted: 2022-04-21
• Study First Submitted QC: 2022-04-26
• Study First Posted: 2022-04-27
• Study Start: 2023-01-06
• Primary Completion: 2024-10-11
• Study Completion: 2024-10-11
• Status Verified: 2024-12
• Last Update Submitted: 2025-03-05
• Last Update Posted: 2025-03-06

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 8

Inclusion Criteria

• Age 20-45
• Planning to be available for the entire study period
• Able to speak and read English
• Normal weight (body mass index 18.5-24.9 kg/m2)
• Able to eat the prescribed diet
• Non-smoker

Exclusion Criteria

• Excessive alcohol consumption
• History of chronic cardiometabolic disease or major risk factor, including diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, heart disease
• History of prior surgical procedure for weight control or liposuction
• Use of weight loss medications in previous 6 months
• Recent self-reported weight change
• Severe pulmonary disease requiring supplemental oxygen
• Abnormal renal or liver function
• History of non-skin cancer in the past 5 years
• Regular use of medications (prescribed or over-the-counter) that affect blood pressure, lipids, glucose, inflammation, or body weight
• Works night shifts
• Exercise per week > 420 minutes total for moderate activity or > 210 minutes for vigorous activity
• Any medical or behavioral indication that would make participation unsafe based on the judgement of the study physician
• Pregnant or lactating women
• Known or discovered intolerances, allergies or difficulty consuming any of the foods included in the study diets

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: SINGLE_GROUP

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Experimental diet	Experimental diet	The experimental diet will provide 15% of calories from saturated fat and 14% of calories from fructose with a goal of providing 1.25x total energy needs

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Measurement of Mitogen-activated protein kinase phosphate 1 (MKP-1) activity	change in at the endpoint of week 8	Analyze plasma from all subjects for their plasma lipid composition using an unbiased lipidomics approach in order to identify the lipid species responsible for monocyte priming

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Measurement of Monocyte protein S-glutathionylation	change in at the endpoint of week 8	To identify which proteins alter their S-glutathionylation status (and possibly their expression levels) in response to HCD-induced monocyte priming, and which signaling pathways are altered in these cells.; Isolate S-glutathionylated proteins from all samples and subject them to redox proteomics approach to identify S-glutathionylated proteins and to determine the extent and directionality of modifications on their cysteine residues.

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Wake Forest University Health Sciences; 🇺🇸 Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States