Whole Coffee Fruit Concentrate Pilot Study 1

Summary

The purpose of this pilot study is to evaluate the potential effects of whole coffee fruit concentrate (WCFC, Neurofactor), a product that elevates circulating brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), on cognition and mood in healthy adults.

The projected outcome of this study is that self-administration of Neurofactor for 28 days (or even 14 days) will be associated with an improvement in mood and scores on cognitive tests, and that the change will exceed that observed with administration of Nutrim (placebo).

Volunteers will be recruited from the greater Los Angeles community. Participants will be middle-aged nonsmokers, in good health, and between the ages of 40-55 to enhance the chance of demonstrating pro-cognitive effects. Younger participants, whose cognitive performance is expected to be higher, may perform at a ceiling level, with less room for improvement by the product under study.

Participants who call our lab will be told about the study in more detail, and will complete a 5 minute phone screener to determine preliminary eligibility. After the initial telephone screening, participants will visit Dr. London's laboratory at UCLA to provide written informed consent.

The first study visit will be an in-person screening visit to determine full eligibility. The evaluation will include a psychiatric diagnostic interview, using the SCID, blood tests, urine samples (to test for drug use and pregnancy). Participants will also be interviewed about their prior and current drug use, including tobacco use. In addition, participants will be interviewed about the nature of their employment and physical exercise habits: endurance training has been shown to increase plasma BDNF in young men.

Participants meeting the inclusion criteria will attend the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA to take part in baseline measurements, and to be randomized to receive either WCFC or placebo. During the active treatment time (28 days), they will visit the UCLA Semel Institute on a weekly basis. At each of these weekly visits, questionnaires regarding compliance will be completed, and blood samples will be taken for assay of BDNF. A cognitive test battery and mood-rating scales will be completed at baseline and at 14 and 28 days of treatment. At the midpoint assessment (14 days) and at completion of treatment (28 days) blood will be drawn for assay of a blood chemistry panel (as at baseline) as well as for biomarkers in addition to BDNF.

Conditions

• Brain-derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF)
• Cognitive Function
• Affect

Interventions

DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT

Whole Coffee Fruit Concentrate (WCFC)

Neurfactor is a powder dietary supplement patented by Futureceuticals, in which the active ingredient is WCFC. It is hypothesized that the whole fruit of the coffee plant, Coffea arabica, has very unique, important benefits for healthy aging not available from regular coffee, other coffee extracts, green coffee bean extracts, caffeine, or other leading botanicals. NeuroFactor is thought to increase Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor, a protein vital for neuron development, repair and protection and essential for learning, memory, alertness, controlling body weight, and energy metabolism.

DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT

Nutrim

Nutrim is an oat bran powder Nutrim is hypothesized to bestow a number of benefits such as cardiovascular health, glucose management and healthy digestion. However, improved cognition is not one of the hypothesized benefits. This product is free of caffeine and stimulants.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Applied BioClinical Inc.

  collaborator INDUSTRY

• University of California, Los Angeles

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Edythe D London, PhD · Professor in Residence

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

BASIC_SCIENCE

Masking

DOUBLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

40 Years

Max Age

55 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2013-10-31

Primary Completion

2014-12-31

Completion

2014-12-31

Countries

• United States

Study Locations