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Brain Substrate Switch to Ketones and Lactate

NCT06000605 · Status: UNKNOWN · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 12

Last updated 2023-08-24

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

The brain is constantly active and energetically expensive, making up a quarter of the body's energy budget despite occupying only 2% of its mass. To fuel this incessant activity, the brain relies on glucose, which accommodates 99% of its metabolic needs. In most cases, glucose is the ideal fuel since it is in constant surplus owing to 24-hr access to sugar-rich food. However, the brain is metabolically flexible and capable of metabolizing alternative fuels when glucose is scarce, or, decreasing rapidly. For example, during fasting when glucose stores are dwindling, ketone bodies can supplement the brain's metabolic needs. During intense exercise, when glucose stores are being rapidly depleted, lactate - a byproduct of this glucose turnover - similarly acts as an alternative fuel for the brain. In healthy individuals, exploiting this 'brain metabolic flexibility' may be beneficial in protecting the brain from aging.

The main question is: Does the brain substrate switch that occurs during fasting and high-intensity exercise underlie the beneficial effects on the brain?

Young, healthy participants will fast for 3 days and complete high-intensity cycling exercise, each of which will induce a brain substrate switch. Participants will also be passively infused with ketones (to simulate fasting) and lactate (to simulate high-intensity exercise) in the fed and rested state. In doing so, the investigators will isolate the brain substrate switch from the broader, pluripotent stressors that encompass fasting and exercise.

The main outcome variables are the brain biomarkers: brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and secreted amyloid beta precursor protein (sAPPA).

Conditions

Interventions

OTHER

Fed

Participants will eat a light meal prior to testing and be fed a light meal during testing.

OTHER

Fasted

Participants will completely abstain from calories for 72 hours prior to testing and not receive any calories during testing.

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • University of Otago

    collaborator OTHER

  • University of British Columbia

    lead OTHER

Study Design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
BASIC_SCIENCE
Masking
SINGLE
Model
CROSSOVER

Eligibility

Min Age
19 Years
Max Age
40 Years
Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2023-10-01
Primary Completion
2024-01-01
Completion
2024-01-01

Countries

  • Canada

Study Locations

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Entities

Diseases

Read the full study record

This page highlights key information. For complete eligibility criteria, study locations, investigator contacts, and the full protocol, visit the original record on ClinicalTrials.gov.

View NCT06000605 on ClinicalTrials.gov