A Nutritional and Pharmacological Intervention for Body, Brain, and Longevity Effects (NIBBLE)

September 14, 2026 updated by: Mitzi Gonzales, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

A Nutritional and Pharmacological Intervention for Body, Brain, and Longevity Effects (NIBBLE) - A Randomized Open-label Intervention of the Fasting-mimicking Diet (FMD) and Rapamycin (NIBBLE)

The study aims to evaluate the safety, feasibility, and preliminary efficacy of the fasting-mimicking diet (FMD) or low-dose daily rapamycin treatment relative to a matched placebo control group when administered over 8 weeks in middle-aged adults at elevated risk for Alzheimer's disease due to the apolipoprotein (APOE) ε4 allele. Participants randomly assigned to the FMD intervention will adhere to FMD for 5-days over three cycles for a period of approximately 8 weeks. Participants randomly assigned to the rapamycin and placebo groups will take 1 mg of rapamycin or a matched placebo pill daily for approximately 8 weeks.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Not yet recruiting

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

Participants assigned to the FMD arm will adhere to the diet for 5 days over three cycles for a period of 8 weeks. The FMD diet is produced by L-Nutra and provides 1100 kcals on day 1 and 800 kcals on days 2-5. The diet consists of ingredients which are Generally Regarded As Safe (GRAS) selected for their fasting mimicking properties. Participants randomized to the rapamycin group will receive 1 mg rapamycin daily for 8 weeks and those in the placebo arm will take one matched placebo pill daily for 8 weeks.

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 (Estimated)

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.
60

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.
  • Phase 2
  • Phase 1

Contacts and Locations

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

Study Contact

Study Contact

The name and contact information for the person who can answer enrollment questions for a clinical study. Each location where the study is being conducted may also have a specific contact, who may be better able to answer those questions.

Study Contact Backup

Study Locations

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

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  1. Provision of signed and dated informed consent form
  2. Stated willingness to comply with all study procedures and availability for the duration of the study
  3. Male or female, aged 45-65 years at screening
  4. Carrier of at least one copy of the APOE e4 allele
  5. BMI 20-39kg/m2 (inclusive) at screening
  6. On a stable medication regimen for at least 3 months.
  7. For females: Post-menopausal status or use of highly effective contraception.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Has any medical disease or condition that, in the opinion of the principal investigator (PI) or appropriate study personnel, precludes study participation* (*Including acute, subacute, intermittent or chronic medical disease or condition that would place the subject at an unacceptable risk of injury, render the subject unable to meet the requirements of the protocol, or may interfere with the evaluation of responses or the subject's successful completion of this trial);
  • Significant depression (PHQ-9>9) or generalized anxiety (GAD-7>9)
  • Diagnosis of a significant neurological condition such as multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, Parkinson's disease, major stroke
  • Contraindications to MRI such as claustrophobia, cardiac pacemaker, etc.
  • Current adherence or adherence within the past 3 months to a specialized diet (e.g. ketogenic, paleo, intermittent fasting, raw food, vegan)
  • Food allergies (e.g. dairy, eggs, fish/shellfish, peanuts, tree nuts, soy, wheat, sesame, corn)
  • Diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment or dementia; use of an FDA-approved medication for Alzheimer's disease; MoCA<23
  • Diabetes (hbA1c >6.5%) or anti-diabetic medications
  • History of gastric bypass;
  • Inflammatory bowel disease
  • Small or large bowel resection
  • Subjects with recent weight loss (>5%), use of weight loss medication, participated in a weight loss program in the past 3 months
  • Use of immune suppression drugs;
  • Contraindication for study foods (special food needs and allergy);
  • Women who are pregnant, lactating, or trying to conceive
  • Women who are on hormone replacement therapy
  • Alcohol dependency (alcohol intake greater than two drinks per day for women and three drinks per day for men)
  • Current smoker or tobacco use within 3 months.
  • Active malignant cancer or history of malignancy within the last 1 yea1s (except non-melanoma skin cancer)
  • Serious psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, eating disorders
  • Persons with allergy to animal dander or animal-instigated asthma
  • Required use of drugs that affect cytochrome P450 3A4 or alter cerebral blood flow (see Appendix 1 for tables of excluded medications)
  • Current or chronic liver, kidney, cardiac, or pulmonary diseases
  • Untreated hypertriglyceridemia (fasting triglycerides > 300 mg/dl)
  • Poorly controlled blood pressure (systolic BP > 160 or diastolic BP > 100 mmHg

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: Prevention
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Quadruple

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: FMD - Intervention
Participants in the FMD group will be asked to refrain from consuming any calorie-containing foods or drinks other than the provided study foods/drinks during the designated intervention days each month.
Dietary supplement: FMD1 (LNT22-017-1)
FMD is a plant-based ketogenic diet that provides essential nutrients while maintaining hypo-caloric content. FMD is administered cyclically with 3-5 consecutive days of the diet followed by resumption of normal eating.
Experimental: Rapamycin
Participants randomly assigned to the rapamycin arm will take 1 mg of rapamycin daily for approximately 8 weeks.
Drug: Rapamycin
Participants randomly assigned to the rapamycin arm will take 1 mg of rapamycin daily for approximately 8 weeks..
Placebo Comparator: Placebo
Participants randomly assigned to the placebo arm will take one placebo pill daily for approximately 8 weeks.
Drug: Placebo
Participants randomly assigned to the placebo arm will take one placebo pill daily for approximately 8 weeks.

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
Evaluate and compare the safety of an approximately 8-week FMD or low dose rapamycin intervention relative to a matched control group
Time Frame: From pre- to post-treatment (Day 72 +/- 5 days)
Endpoint: Number of adverse events in the intervention groups relative to the placebo group.
From pre- to post-treatment (Day 72 +/- 5 days)

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
Investigate the effect of an approximately 8-week FMD or low dose rapamycin intervention relative to a matched control group.
Time Frame: From pre- to post-treatment (Day 72 +/- 5 days)
Endpoint: Cerebral blood flow - Cerebral blood flow will be assessed through brain magnetic resonance imaging arterial spin labeling sequence.
From pre- to post-treatment (Day 72 +/- 5 days)
Investigate and compare the impact of the FMD and rapamycin interventions on cognition relative to the placebo group.
Time Frame: From pre- to post-treatment (Day 72 +/- 5 days)

NIH Toolbox Flanker and Pattern Comparison Tests and the Mayo Preclinical Alzheimer's Cognitive Composite.

The NIH Toolbox assessments are measured through scaled scores (T-scores), which range from 20-80 with higher scores indicating better outcomes. The Mayo Preclinical Alzheimer's Cognitive Composite is also measured using a standardized score (Z-score) with mean of 0 and a standard deviation of 1. Higher scores indicate better performance.
From pre- to post-treatment (Day 72 +/- 5 days)

Other Outcome Measures

Other Outcome Measures

For clinical trials, a planned measurement described in the protocol that is used to determine the effect of an intervention/treatment on participants. For observational studies, a measurement or observation that is used to describe patterns of diseases or traits, or associations with exposures, risk factors, or treatment. Types of outcome measures include primary outcome measure and secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Examine and compare impact of FMD and rapamycin relative to placebo on ADRD blood-based biomarkers
Time Frame: From pre- to post-treatment (Day 72 +/- 5 days)
Endpoint: Circulating levels of phosphorylated tau 217 (p-tau 217), neurofilament light (NFL), and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP). The same unit of measurement applies for all - pg/ml.
From pre- to post-treatment (Day 72 +/- 5 days)
Evaluate and compare the efficacy of FMD and rapamycin relative to placebo for modulating autophagic flux
Time Frame: From pre- to post-treatment (Day 72 +/- 5 days)
Endpoint: Autophagic flux in PBMCs and tissue (optional) Autophagy related gene expression. Both have the same unit of measurement as arbitrary units.
From pre- to post-treatment (Day 72 +/- 5 days)
Evaluate and compare the efficacy of FMD and rapamycin relative to placebo for modulating insulin growth factor-1
Time Frame: From pre- to post-treatment (Day 72 +/- 5 days)
Endpoint: insulin growth factor 1 (unit of measure is ng/ml)
From pre- to post-treatment (Day 72 +/- 5 days)
Examine and compare the impact of FMD and rapamycin relative to placebo on systemic markers of inflammation through physiological parameters.
Time Frame: From pre- to post-treatment (Day 72 +/- 5 days)
Endpoint: Proteomic expression of pro-inflammatory markers Pro-inflammatory markers are IFN-γ, IL-1β, IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IL-12p70, IL-13, TNF-α, which are all measured in pg/ml.
From pre- to post-treatment (Day 72 +/- 5 days)
Evaluate and compare the efficacy of FMD and rapamycin relative to placebo on epigenetic clock
Time Frame: From enrollment to end of study (Day 72 +/- 5 days)
Endpoint: Epigenetic modifications in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (unit of measure is DNA methylation age acceleration)
From enrollment to end of study (Day 72 +/- 5 days)
Evaluate and compare the efficacy of FMD and rapamycin relative to placebo for fasting blood glucose levels
Time Frame: From pre- to post-treatment (Day 72 +/- 5 days)
Endpoint: blood glucose (mg/dl)
From pre- to post-treatment (Day 72 +/- 5 days)
Evaluate the efficacy of FMD and rapamycin relative to Dietary Guidance for body composition
Time Frame: From pre- to post-treatment (Day 72 +/- 5 days)
Endpoint: percent body fat and muscle mass (measure of unit: %)
From pre- to post-treatment (Day 72 +/- 5 days)
Evaluate and compare the impact of FMD and rapamycin relative to placebo on physical functioning.
Time Frame: From pre- to post-treatment (Day 72 +/- 5 days)
Endpoint: Gait speed (meters/second)
From pre- to post-treatment (Day 72 +/- 5 days)

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.
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

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: Mitzi Gonzales, PhD, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

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 (Estimated)

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.
November 1, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

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.
March 1, 2028

Study Completion (Estimated)

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.
June 1, 2028

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).
October 29, 2024

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.
November 7, 2024

First Posted (Actual)

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.
November 12, 2024

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

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.
September 16, 2026

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.
September 14, 2026

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.
September 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

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.
  • STUDY00003359

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

YES

IPD Plan Description

Data collected for this study will be analyzed and stored at Cedars Sinai. After the study is completed, the de-identified, archived data will be stored at Cedars Sinai for use by other researchers including those outside of the study. As new relevant methodologies are developed, however, there is a conceivable future interest to process deidentified samples and data in a collaborating laboratory at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center or outside of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center including commercial entities. Participants are made aware of this possibility in the written informed consent form at the time of enrollment and are informed that to consent to this study is also to consent to permit coded data to be shared for the purposes of this research. The key to the code is not shared with collaborators but will remain in a HIPAA-compliant, secure, REDCap database at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

IPD Sharing Time Frame

De-identified data will be available within 6 months of release of the primary endpoint results and will be made available by request indefinitely

IPD Sharing Access Criteria

Access to trial IPD can be requested by qualified researchers engaging in independent scientific research, and will be provided following review and approval of a research proposal and execution of a Data Sharing Agreement (DSA)

IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type

  • STUDY_PROTOCOL
  • SAP
  • ICF

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

Yes

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

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.

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