The Effect of a High-fat vs. High-sugar Diet on Liver Fat Accumulation and Metabolism

March 26, 2020 updated by: University of Oxford

The Effect of a High Fat Compared to a High Sugar Diet on Liver Fat Accumulation and Metabolism

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the most prevalent liver disease in the world. It is currently unclear why fat starts to accumulate in the liver, although both the amount and type of food consumed have been implicated. The majority of studies that have investigated the effects of dietary fat or sugar on liver fat have fed volunteers excess calories, which are known to increase liver fat. The effect of specific dietary components, when consumed as part of a diet not containing excess calories, on liver fat accumulation remains unclear.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

This research aims to investigate the role excessive consumption of specific macronutrients may play in the development of NAFLD. This will be achieved by subjecting participants to two specific dietary interventions (high-fat, low-carbohydrate and low-fat, high-carbohydrate) in a randomized, crossover research design. Liver fat content, and whole-body and hepatic fasting and postprandial lipid metabolism will be assessed before and after the specific dietary interventions.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

16

Phase

  • 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 Kingdom
      • Oxford, United Kingdom, OX3 7LE
        • Oxford Centre for Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism

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

30 years to 65 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Participant is willing and able to give informed consent for participation in the study.
  • BMI >25 <35kg/m2
  • No medical condition or relevant drug therapy known to affect liver, lipid or glucose metabolism

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Age <30 or >65 years
  • Body mass index <25 or >35kg/m2
  • A blood haemoglobin <120mg/dL
  • Any metabolic condition or relevant drug therapy
  • People who do not tolerate fructose
  • Smoking
  • History of alcoholism or a greater than recommended alcohol intake
  • Pregnant or nursing mothers
  • Women prescribed any contraceptive agent or device including oral contraceptives, hormone replacement therapy (HRT) or who have used these within the last 12 months
  • History of severe claustrophobia
  • Presence of metallic implants, pacemaker
  • Haemorrhagic disorders
  • Anticoagulant treatment

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: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: High-fat, low-carbohydrate diet
Dietary intervention: Participants will consume a diet that is rich in saturated fat (20% total energy) and low in free sugars for 4 weeks. This diet will include commonly eaten foods such as butter, cheese, and fatty meat products. Total fat intake in this intervention will be 40-45% total energy.
Other: High-fat, low-carbohydrate
Dietary intervention: 4 week
Active Comparator: Low-fat, high-carbohydrate diet
Dietary intervention: Participants will consume a diet that is low in saturated fat (~5% total energy) and rich in free sugars (20% total energy).The diet will include commonly eaten food and drink such as sugar sweetened beverages, confectionery (e.g. fruit gums) and table sugar.
Other: Low-fat, high-carbohydrate
Dietary intervention: 4 week

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in liver fat content
Time Frame: Before, and within 7 days after completion of each dietary intervention
Investigators will measure the change in liver fat content after each of the 4 week intervention diets by magnetic resonance imaging/spectroscopy (MRI/S).
Before, and within 7 days after completion of each dietary intervention

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in hepatic fatty acid partitioning
Time Frame: Within 7 days after completion of each dietary intervention
Investigators will utilise stable isotope tracer methodology to measure the contribution of newly synthesised fatty acids and dietary fatty acids to triglyceride production and oxidation pathways in the liver after each of the 4 week intervention diets.
Within 7 days after completion of each dietary intervention
Change in plasma metabolite concentrations
Time Frame: Before, and within 7 days after completion of each dietary intervention.
Circulating concentrations of glucose, insulin, non-esterified fatty acids, and triglycerides will be measured biochemically using a clinical analyser after each of the 4 week intervention diets.
Before, and within 7 days after completion of each dietary intervention.
Change in whole-body fatty acid oxidation
Time Frame: Within 7 days after completion of each dietary intervention
Investigators will utilise stable isotope tracer methodology to measure whole-body dietary fatty acid oxidation after each of the 4 week intervention diets.
Within 7 days after completion of each dietary intervention

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

University of Oxford

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Leanne Hodson, PhD, University of Oxford

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 (Actual)

December 1, 2016

Primary Completion (Actual)

December 1, 2019

Study Completion (Actual)

March 1, 2020

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

January 9, 2017

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 4, 2017

First Posted (Actual)

May 9, 2017

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

March 27, 2020

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 26, 2020

Last Verified

May 1, 2018

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • Oxlip-2017-HFD/HSD

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

YES

IPD Plan Description

Following completion of the study, all individual data obtained from participants may potentially be shared with other researchers, both here in the United Kingdom and abroad, in appropriate circumstances. If data is to be shared with other researchers, it will be done so under fully anonymised conditions.

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.

Clinical Trials on NAFLD

Clinical Trials on High-fat, low-carbohydrate

Search Similar Trials

Sponsors and Collaborators

Medical Conditions

Drug Interventions

CROs by country

CROs in Finland

Conditions

Rare Diseases

Drug Interventions

Dietary Supplements

Sponsor/Collaborators

Locations

Subscribe