How the Body Processes Sugar After Eating, in People With Different Body Weights

Summary

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn how a high-glycaemic meal affects the way the body processes glucose in healthy adults who are either lean or have obesity. The main questions it aims to answer are: Is the polyol pathway (conversion of glucose into sorbitol and fructose) more active after a hyperglycaemic meal? Is this pathway more active in individuals with obesity compared with lean individuals? We will compare people who eat a high-glycaemic meal with those who eat a low-glycaemic meal to see whether meal type changes how glucose is metabolized in the body. Participants will drink a small amount of 14C-labelled glucose so researchers can trace how the body uses glucose, spend one long study day (about 12 hours in the lab) plus short morning visits on days 2 to 4, and undergo repeated measurements, including blood sampling, breath sampling, indirect calorimetry, and complete urine and stool collection for 72 hours. This information will help us understand how glucose is processed in the body and whether people with obesity handle glucose differently than lean individuals.

Conditions

• Obesity & Overweight

Interventions

DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT

Low-glycemic breakfast (randomized vs high glycemic)

Participants receive a single oral microtracer dose of \[14C\] glucose (≤10 kBq / 270 nCi) mixed with 1 g unlabeled glucose, administered immediately after a low glycemic breakfast. The dose is prepared fresh on the morning of administration and consumed as a liquid drink. This approach enables tracing of glucose metabolism using Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) at extremely low radiation exposure (\~0.006 mSv). The intervention is combined with indirect calorimetry, serial blood sampling (including arterialized and deep-venous lines), expired air collection for 14CO₂ recovery, and pooled urine/feces collection over 72 hours to quantify metabolic fate and pathway activity.

DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT

High-glycaemic breakfast (randomized vs low glycemic)

Participants receive a single oral microtracer dose of \[14C\] glucose (≤10 kBq / 270 nCi) mixed with 1 g unlabeled glucose, administered immediately after a high glycemic breakfast. The dose is prepared fresh on the morning of administration and consumed as a liquid drink. This approach enables tracing of glucose metabolism using Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) at extremely low radiation exposure (\~0.006 mSv). The intervention is combined with indirect calorimetry, serial blood sampling (including arterialized and deep-venous lines), expired air collection for 14CO₂ recovery, and pooled urine/feces collection over 72 hours to quantify metabolic fate and pathway activity.

DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT

High-glycaemic breakfast

Participants receive a single oral microtracer dose of \[14C\] glucose (≤10 kBq / 270 nCi) mixed with 1 g unlabeled glucose, administered immediately after a high glycemic breakfast. The dose is prepared fresh on the morning of administration and consumed as a liquid drink. This approach enables tracing of glucose metabolism using Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) at extremely low radiation exposure (\~0.006 mSv). The intervention is combined with indirect calorimetry, serial blood sampling (including arterialized and deep-venous lines), expired air collection for 14CO₂ recovery, and pooled urine/feces collection over 72 hours to quantify metabolic fate and pathway activity.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Bonumose, Inc.

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• TNO

  collaborator OTHER

• Wageningen University

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Marlou Dirks, PhD · Wageningen University

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

BASIC_SCIENCE

Masking

NONE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Max Age

65 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2026-02-24

Primary Completion

2026-07-30

Completion

2026-07-30

Countries

• Netherlands

Study Locations