Effect of Caffeine Consumption on Protein Biomarkers and Cardiovascular Disease

Summary

Caffeine is one of the most widely consumed substances worldwide. This study looks to test and measure the changes in different biomarkers in the blood before and after having caffeine using capillary and venous blood sampling methods. A biomarker is a measurable indicator of biological processes. The primary goal of this clinical trial is to evaluate participant rate and adherence. It will also learn about how caffeine affects different biomarkers that may be related to cardiovascular disease. Finally, it will assess the accuracy of the capillary blood samples compared to the venous blood samples. The main questions it aims to answer are:

* What is the feasibility of recruiting and retaining participants?
* Are the study procedures appropriate to be translated to a larger future study?

Researchers will compare caffeine to a placebo (a look-alike substance that contains no drug) to see if

Participants will:

* Be randomly assigned to the control group or the caffeine group. Individuals in the control group will be taking a placebo pill with no effect and those in the caffeine group will be taking 400mg of caffeine in pill form.
* Be asked to undergo a fast of at least 8 hours overnight before taking two placebo pills or the 400 mg of caffeine via two caffeine pills. They will be required to stay fasted for 6 hours after taking the pill as well. The total time fasted will be at least 14 hours.
* Have blood collected using three different methods before taking the two pills, 3 hours after taking the pills and 6 hours after taking the pills. The 3 methods include intravenous (IV) blood sampling, finger prick and collection on Whatman 903 Protein Saver Card and collection using the TASSO+ device. The TASSO+ blood collection device is a small capillary blood collection device that is designed to be easy to use and able to be used outside of a hospital/lab setting. Whatman 903 Protein Saver Cards are special filter paper with five circles for samples, that are designed for the collection and storage of blood.

Conditions

• Healthy

Interventions

DRUG

Caffeine Pill

Participants would take two Wake-Ups 200mg Caffeine tablets to meet the target dose of 400mg of caffeine. These are a registered natural health product with Health Canada (NPN 80003474). They are developed by Adrem Brands, which was established in 1951. Quality control testing is performed at a third-party independent lab, Nucro-Technics, which is audited by Health Canada and the US FDA. This ensures that the caffeine tablets comply with Health Canada standards. The tablets contain caffeine anhydrous-a processed, dehydrated form of caffeine-which allows for a standard dose per tablet. The tablets are sugar-free, which reduces the confounding effect of sugar on our results; thus, the investigators can be more confident that the obtained results are reflective of the association between caffeine and the CVD-related protein biomarkers.

DRUG

Placebo

Participants would take two placebo pills to match the dosage of the intervention group. The investigators will use empty vegetable capsules from Health Bloom as the placebo for the control group. These capsules contain no contaminants or additives and are free from the common allergens. They are sugar-free-unlike most placebo pills, which reduces the confounding effect of sugar on our results. They are developed by Health Bloom, which is a Canadian company established in 2015. These capsules undergo testing at various stages of production to ensure purity and quality control. Each ingredient is tested prior to formulation, and the final capsules are subjected to thorough testing post-development. The capsules are white, and similar in appearance to the caffeine pill given to participants in the intervention group.

DEVICE

TASSO+ Device

TASSO+ is a blood lancet device that uses negative pressure to draw capillary blood from the upper arm into a standard SST tube of volume 500μL. The small volume of blood collected makes this device less invasive than traditional collection methods. It is also safer and easier to use since it offers automated sample collection. TASSO manufactures a number of special devices for capillary blood sampling that have been validated as safe for consumer use, and the Tasso+ device is licensed with Health Canada for research use.

DEVICE

Finger prick and collection on Whatman Protein 903 Saver Cards

The Whatman Protein 903 Saver Card is a specialized filter paper designed for the collection, storage, and elution of biological samples, including blood. It contains five half-inch circles that hold 75 to 80 µL of blood, making it an efficient and reliable method of obtaining dried blood spot (DBS) samples. The participant's finger will be pricked using a sterile, disposable lancet, and drops of blood will be collected on the Whatman 903 Protein Saver Card to fill nine ½ inch discs via capillary action. The blood spots will be allowed to dry at ambient temperature (21°C) for two hours. Whatman Protein 903 Saver Cards undergo strict quality control and GMP manufacturing standards, which ensures high quality and reproducibility.

DEVICE

Intravenous Sampling

Blood will be collected from the medial cubital vein according to the standard venous blood sampling protocol into an EDTA tube with a volume up to 4mL.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Hamilton Health Sciences Corporation

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Guillaume Pare, MD · Population Health Research Institute

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

OTHER

Masking

TRIPLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Max Age

80 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2024-04-08

Primary Completion

2024-08-10

Completion

2025-06-01

FDA Drug

Yes

FDA Device

Yes

Countries

• Canada

Study Locations