Effects of Ketogenic Diet in Divers Breathing Enriched Air Nitrox

April 10, 2017 updated by: Antonio Paoli, University of Padova

Effects of Exercise and Dietary Inatke on Muscle Metabolism and Inflammatory Status Modulated by Oxygen Free Radicals and Cytokines in Humans

Overweight divers face a challenging activity such as immersions, starting from a higher levels of circulating cytokines and oxidative stress. Ketogenic Diet (KD) is described as effective in weight loss, in countering inflammation and oxidative stress, and used in the control of drug-refractory seizures.

The aim of our pilot study was to evaluate if a ketosis state induced by a specific dietary regime, may have a protective effect on oxidative stress damages and inflammatory status, that accompanies both overweight and diving activities.

Blood and urine samples from six overweight divers were obtained a) before (CTRL) and after a dive breathing Enriched Air Nitrox and performing light underwater exercise (NTRX), b) after a dive (same conditions) performed after 7 days of KD (K-NTRX). We measured urinary 8-isoprostane and 8-OH-2-deoxyguanosine evaluating lipids peroxidation and DNA oxidative damages. Plasmatic IL-1beta, IL-6 and TNF-alpha levels were measured to investigate the inflammatory status.

Study Overview

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

6

Phase

  • Not Applicable

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

Ages Eligible for Study

25 years to 65 years (ADULT, OLDER_ADULT)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

Male

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • to be in an overweight state (BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2) and no history of orthopedic, cardiovascular, renal or metabolic disorders.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • not to be in an overweight state (BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2) and a history of orthopedic, cardiovascular, renal or metabolic disorders.

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: NA
  • Interventional Model: SINGLE_GROUP
  • Masking: NONE

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
EXPERIMENTAL: Divers group
Throughout each dive, subjects performed a 20-minute long mild exercise on an underwater bike. The depth of dive was set at 15 meters, where the subjects performed an activity guided by Borg CR-10 scale at intensity level 3 (25 rpm). The ascent rate was set at 10 m/min, with a decompression stop at 5 meters for 3 min, according to the US Navy Manual Diving Table. 48 h prior to the immersions, none of the participants consumed medications or dived or flew. In the first part of the experiment, all subjects performed a dive breathing Enriched Air Nitrox (EAN, 32% ppO2). Baseline clinical measurements were collected before and after this first dive in order to have a reference [CTRL] and to measure physiological modifications due to immersion [NTRX]. After twenty days of no diving activity, subjects were engaged in a KD for seven days. At the end of this period, subjects performed a single immersion breathing EAN. The measures were performed after this single dive [KETO-NTRX]
Diet consisted of a very low carbohydrate ketogenic diet (for 7 days) with the use of some phytoextracts as previously described. The consumed diet was primarily made of beef and veal, poultry, fish, raw and cooked green vegetables without restrictions, cold cuts (dried beef, carpaccio and cured ham), eggs and seasoned cheese (e.g., parmesan). The allowed drinks were infused tea, moka coffee and herbal extracts. The foods and drinks that subjects had to avoid included alcohol, bread, pasta, rice, milk, yogurt, soluble tea, and barley coffee. To facilitate adherence to the nutritional regime, a variety of special meals based on protein and fibers were given to each subject. KD characteristics are protein intake 1.3g/kg/day, to maintain skeletal muscle mass; carbohydrates intake less than 40 g/day and 50-60% of total kcal to induce ketosis. In accordance with a hypocaloric profile, total energy intake was calculated with 200 kcal more than basal metabolic rate.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Oxidative damage change
Time Frame: Change from Baseline Oxidative damage at twenty days
8-OH-dG (ng ⋅ mg-1 creatinine) and 8-iso-PGF2α (ng ⋅ mg-1 creatinine)
Change from Baseline Oxidative damage at twenty days
Pro-inflammatory cytokines change
Time Frame: Change from Baseline Pro-inflammatory cytokines at twenty days
IL-1β (pg/ml), IL-6 (pg/ml) and TNF- α (pg/ml)
Change from Baseline Pro-inflammatory cytokines at twenty days

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Weight Loss
Time Frame: Weight was registered before (T0) and after twenty days of no diving activity in which subjects were engaged in a 7-days Ketogenic Diet (T3).
Kilogram (Kg)
Weight was registered before (T0) and after twenty days of no diving activity in which subjects were engaged in a 7-days Ketogenic Diet (T3).

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Investigators

  • Study Director: Bosco Gerardo, MD, PhD, University of Padova

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)

May 25, 2016

Primary Completion (ACTUAL)

July 10, 2016

Study Completion (ACTUAL)

July 10, 2016

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

April 4, 2017

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 10, 2017

First Posted (ACTUAL)

April 14, 2017

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (ACTUAL)

April 14, 2017

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 10, 2017

Last Verified

April 1, 2017

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • NEPL-DSB 06/16

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

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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