Evaluation of the Effect of Body Weight and Composition on Iron Absorption and Blood Volume

October 11, 2013 updated by: Prof. Michael B. Zimmermann, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology
A total of 75 subjects will be recruited for this study (25 normal weight, 25 overweight, 25 obese). In each subject blood volume will be determined using the minimally invasive carbon monoxide-rebreathing method (substudy 1) and iron absorption will be measured from a test meal labeled with stable iron isotopes. The effect of ascorbic acid on iron absorption will further be determined using a second labeled test meal (substudy 2). In addition, inflammation, hepcidin and iron status will be determined. In order to study the effect of body fat content on blood volume and iron absorption weight and height will be measured, and body fat will de determined by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Completed

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

Obesity has repeatedly been shown to be a risk factor for iron deficiency. The reason for this is believed to be reduced iron absorption as a result of increased circulating hepcidin concentrations. However, the direct interactions between body fat mass, iron absorption, inflammation and hepcidin have not been studied to date. Whether the low iron absorption in obese subjects could be overcome by conventional methods to increasing iron absorption, e.g. the addition of ascorbic acid and whether a reduction of inflammation could improve absorption is further unclear. For the calculation of fractional iron absorption from oral doses of stable iron isotopes an estimation of blood volume is required. Several equations to estimate blood volume from weight and height or calculated body surface area or volume are available, but have rarely been validated or used in obese subjects. The aim of the described study is therefore: 1) to determine blood volume using the carbon monoxide-rebreathing method over a large BMI range and to use those values to validate existing blood volume equations; 2) to measure iron absorption, hepcidin and inflammation in relation to BMI and body fat and 3) to assess the effect of ascorbic acid on iron absorption.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
64

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Switzerland
      • Zurich, Switzerland, 8092
        • Human Nutrition Laboratory, ETH Zurich

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years to 45 years (Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

Female

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Women
  • Age 18-45 years
  • Pre-menopausal (no absence of a menstrual cycle in the past 12 months)
  • BMI 18.5-39.9 kg/m2 (n=25 18.5-24.9, n=25 25-29.9, n=25 30-39.9)
  • Apparently healthy (no significant medical conditions that could influence iron or inflammatory status other than obesity (i.e., cancer, HIV/AIDS, inflammatory bowel disease, gastrointestinal bleeding, and rheumatoid arthritis, renal disease or hemochromatosis) (judged by study physician)

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Moderate/sever anemia (Hb<11 g/dl)
  • Use of medication which interferes with study measurements (judged by the study physician)
  • Smoking
  • Pregnancy and lactation; planning to become pregnant during the course of the study (pregnancy test will be conducted at visit 2 and subjects will be asked about contraception*)
  • Consumption of vitamin- or mineral supplements unless they consent to discontinue intake two weeks before the start of the study until the final blood sampling
  • Prior participation in studies using stable iron isotopes
  • Food allergies/intolerances (gluten, lactose, milk protein)
  • Blood donation during the two months prior to the study
  • Major injuries during the 6 months prior to the study
  • Illness during the 4 weeks prior to the study (judged by study physician)
  • Administration of recombinant erythropoietin (rhEPO)
  • More than 5 days at altitudes above 1600 m above sea level during the 3 weeks prior to the study
  • Long distance flight (>8 h) during the 3 weeks prior to the study
  • Chronic alcohol abuse

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Basic Science
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Crossover Assignment
  • Masking: Double

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Experimental: labeled iron meal
Test meal (bread with honey) with a labeled iron solution
Dietary supplement: labeled iron solution
labeled iron as ferrous sulfate (6mg/test meal)
Dietary supplement: labeled iron solution and ascorbic acid
labeled iron as ferrous sulfate plus ascorbic acid (6mg:30mg /test meal)
Experimental: labeled iron and ascorbic acid meal
Test meal (bread with honey) with a labeled iron solution and ascorbic acid
Dietary supplement: labeled iron solution
labeled iron as ferrous sulfate (6mg/test meal)
Dietary supplement: labeled iron solution and ascorbic acid
labeled iron as ferrous sulfate plus ascorbic acid (6mg:30mg /test meal)

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Fractional iron absorption from the isotopically labeled test meals.
Time Frame: Baseline
Iron absorption will be determined by incorporation of labeled iron into erythrocytes, 14 days after the administration of the last test meal containing labeled iron (stable isotope technique). Based on the shift of the iron isotope ratios in the blood samples and the amount of iron circulating in the body, the amounts of isotopic label iron present in the blood 14 days after the test meal administration will be calculated based on the principles of isotope dilution and considering that the iron isotopic labels are not monoisotopic. Circulating iron will be calculated based on blood volume as determined by carbon monoxide-rebreathing. For calculation of fractional absorption, 80% incorporation of the absorbed iron into red blood cells will be assumed.
Baseline

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Hemoglobin mass will be measured with the carbon monoxide-rebreathing method.
Time Frame: Baseline
Blood volume will be calculated from hemoglobin mass and compared to values determined by the different equations.
Baseline

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology

Collaborators

Collaborators

An organization other than the sponsor that provides support for a clinical study. This support may include activities related to funding, design, implementation, data analysis, or reporting.
Wageningen University
Universidad de Monterrey

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Principal Investigator: Isabelle Aeberli, PhD, ETH Zurich

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
June 1, 2013

Primary Completion (Actual)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
August 1, 2013

Study Completion (Actual)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
October 1, 2013

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
June 19, 2013

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
June 21, 2013

First Posted (Estimate)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
June 24, 2013

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
October 14, 2013

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
October 11, 2013

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
October 1, 2013

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • KEKZH-2013-0110

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

Cookie Settings

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. For more details carefully read our Privacy and Cookies Policy. ...>>>You can change your preferences or withdraw your consent at any time by deleting the cookies from your website or computer as described in the policy. Please accept it and choose your preferences by ticking the corresponding boxes in the "Manage Settings" section below. Please carefully read our Terms of Service before you proceed with using any part of this website.
«Manage Settings