A Dietary Intervention (Soy Soft Pretzels) for Reducing Chronic Inflammation in Obese Individuals

June 10, 2026 updated by: Holli Loomans-Kropp, Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center

Examining the Efficacy of a Soft Soy Pretzel Intervention in Altering Chronic Inflammation and Immune Profiles in Obese Individuals

This clinical trial compares the effects of soy soft pretzels versus wheat pretzels on inflammatory markers in individuals with obesity. Obesity is a serious public health problem that can lead to chronic inflammation, which is associated with many negative health conditions and some types of cancer. Soy versus wheat pretzels may be processed by the body differently, and the components in these pretzel snacks may be helpful for reducing inflammation. Soy soft pretzels are made with soybeans, which contain many natural chemicals that may be beneficial to human health, such as isoflavones. Existing research has suggested that diets enriched with isoflavones may help reduce inflammation. However, the relationship between soy-rich diets and the immune systems of obese individuals is not well understood. This trial may help researchers determine whether soy soft pretzels are useful for lowering markers of chronic inflammation, compared to wheat pretzels, in individuals with obesity.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Active, not 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

PRIMARY OBJECTIVES:

I. Assess alterations in chronic inflammatory markers with soft soy pretzel (SSP) intervention among individuals with obesity.

II. Define immune cell populations in obese individuals with SSP intervention.

OUTLINE: Patients with a body mass index (BMI) ≥ 30 and C-reactive protein (CRP) ≥ 0.06 mg/dL are randomized to 1 of 2 arms. Patients with BMI 18.5-24.9 and detectable CRP are assigned to arm III.

ARM I: Patients consume 8 SSP bites twice daily (BID) for 14 days (days 1-14) and then begin a two-week washout period (days 15-28). Following the washout period, patients consume wheat pretzel (WP) bites BID for 14 days (days 28-42). Patients also undergo collection of blood and urine samples on study.

ARM II: Patients consume 8 WP bites BID for 14 days (days 1-14) and then begin a two-week washout period (days 15-28). Following the washout period, patients consume SSP bites BID for 14 days (days 28-42). Patients also undergo collection of blood and urine samples on study.

ARM III: Assigned to Arm I.

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.
30

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

  • United States
    • Ohio
      • Columbus, Ohio, United States, 43210
        • Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center

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

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Provision of signed and dated informed consent form
  • Stated willingness to comply with all study procedures, lifestyle considerations, and availability for the duration of the study
  • Males sex
  • 18 and 49 years of age

  • Height and weight or calculated BMI for:

    • Obese participants must be ≥ 30 kg/m^2
    • Non-obese (healthy) participants must be between 18.5 and 24.9 kg/m^2

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Inability to comply with all study procedures, lifestyle considerations, and availability for the duration of the study
  • Known allergy or intolerance to soy, wheat, or any other ingredients in study intervention
  • Current or prior history of type 2 diabetes mellitus as defined by International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-10-CM) E11
  • Current or prior history of cancer (excluding non-melanoma skin cancers)
  • History of blood clotting disorders or adverse events relating to blood draws
  • Use of antibiotic regime lasting longer than one week within the last six months
  • Current enrollment in other research studies for weight loss
  • Actively trying to lose weight and/or use of medications for weight loss within the last three months
  • Strict veganism (no consumption of animal, fish, or egg products)
  • Heavy alcohol consumption (defined as consumption of > 14 drinks/week on average)
  • Current or prior history of any condition that causes altered immunity such as chronic inflammatory disease, autoimmune disorders, cancer, anemia, and blood dyscrasias
  • Regular usage of inflammation lowering medications which include but not limited to nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as aspirin, ibuprofen, and naproxen, or anti-pyretic medications such as acetaminophen

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: Crossover Assignment
  • Masking: Single

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: Arm I (SSP, WP)
Patients consume 8 SSP bites BID for 14 days (days 1-14) and then begin a two-week washout period (days 15-28). Following the washout period, patients consume WP bites BID for 14 days (days 28-42). Patients also undergo collection of blood and urine samples on study.
Other: Questionnaire Administration
Ancillary studies
Procedure: Biospecimen Collection
Undergo collection of blood and urine samples
Other Names:
  • Biological Sample Collection
  • Biospecimen Collected
  • Specimen Collection
  • Sample Collection
Other: Dietary Intervention
Consume SSPs
Other Names:
  • Dietary Modification
  • intervention, dietary
  • Nutrition Intervention
  • Nutrition Interventions
  • Nutritional Interventions
Other: Dietary Intervention
Consume WPs
Other Names:
  • Dietary Modification
  • intervention, dietary
  • Nutrition Intervention
  • Nutrition Interventions
  • Nutritional Interventions
Experimental: Arm II (WP, SSP)
Patients consume 8 WP bites BID for 14 days (days 1-14) and then begin a two-week washout period (days 15-28). Following the washout period, patients consume SSP bites BID for 14 days (days 28-42). Patients also undergo collection of blood and urine samples on study.
Other: Questionnaire Administration
Ancillary studies
Procedure: Biospecimen Collection
Undergo collection of blood and urine samples
Other Names:
  • Biological Sample Collection
  • Biospecimen Collected
  • Specimen Collection
  • Sample Collection
Other: Dietary Intervention
Consume SSPs
Other Names:
  • Dietary Modification
  • intervention, dietary
  • Nutrition Intervention
  • Nutrition Interventions
  • Nutritional Interventions
Other: Dietary Intervention
Consume WPs
Other Names:
  • Dietary Modification
  • intervention, dietary
  • Nutrition Intervention
  • Nutrition Interventions
  • Nutritional Interventions
Experimental: Arm III (WP, SSP)
Patients receive intervention as in Arm I. Patients also undergo collection of blood and urine samples on study.
Other: Questionnaire Administration
Ancillary studies
Procedure: Biospecimen Collection
Undergo collection of blood and urine samples
Other Names:
  • Biological Sample Collection
  • Biospecimen Collected
  • Specimen Collection
  • Sample Collection
Other: Dietary Intervention
Consume SSPs
Other Names:
  • Dietary Modification
  • intervention, dietary
  • Nutrition Intervention
  • Nutrition Interventions
  • Nutritional Interventions
Other: Dietary Intervention
Consume WPs
Other Names:
  • Dietary Modification
  • intervention, dietary
  • Nutrition Intervention
  • Nutrition Interventions
  • Nutritional Interventions

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
Differences in chronic inflammatory biomarkers
Time Frame: Up to 42 days
Will be compared between interventions using a repeated measures analysis of variance and between obese and normal body mass index groups. Inflammatory biomarker concentrations will be determined by comparing signal intensity of each well to a generated standard curve and averaged to make a single data point per biomarker per individual. Biomarker concentrations will be transformed to prevent heteroskedasticity. Depending on the underlying distribution of the data, Student's t-test or Mann-Whitney U will be used to compare individual biomarker expression values, using Bonferroni correction for multiple comparisons. Immunophenotyping will be analyzed using log-transformed cell counts and comparisons of defined populations between groups, with statistical significance corrected for multiple comparisons.
Up to 42 days
Differences in percentages of immune cell populations
Time Frame: Up to 42 days
Will be compared between interventions using a repeated measures analysis of variance and between obese and normal body mass index groups. Immune cell population analyses will be visualized using clustering and t-stochastic neighbor embedding plots.
Up to 42 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.
Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center

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.
Ohio Soybean Council

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: Holli Loomans-Kropp, PhD, MPH, Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center

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.

Helpful Links

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 (Actual)

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, 2025

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.
September 30, 2026

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.
December 31, 2026

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 10, 2026

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 10, 2026

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.
June 16, 2026

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.
June 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.
June 10, 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.
June 1, 2026

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.
  • OSU-25053 (Other Identifier: Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center)
  • NCI-2026-01822 (Registry Identifier: CTRP (Clinical Trial Reporting Program))

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

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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