Effects of Peanut Consumption on Brain Function

Maastricht University Medical Centre (MUMC)

Status

Completed

Conditions

Cerebral Blood Flow

Brain Vascular Function

Brain Insulin Sensitivity

Cognitive Performance

Treatments

Dietary Supplement: Skin roasted peanuts

Study type

Interventional

Funder types

Other

Identifiers

NCT05724654

METC 22-046

Details and patient eligibility

About

Impaired brain vascular function precedes the development of reduced cognitive performance, while brain insulin-resistance is also associated with cognitive decline. Peanut consumption has already been shown to beneficially affect cognitive performance. However, underlying mechanisms have not yet been established, while well-controlled trials on longer-term effects of peanuts on cognitive performance are highly needed. The hypothesis is that longer-term peanut consumption has beneficial effects on (regional) cerebral blood flow responses (primary outcome), which may relate to an improved cognitive performance (secondary outcome) in older men and women. Important objectives are to investigate in older adults the effect of 16-week peanut consumption on (i) brain vascular function in cognitive-control brain areas, and (ii) brain insulin-sensitivity. We will also focus on changes in cognitive performance as assessed with a neuropsychological test battery (secondary objective). Cerebral blood flow responses before (brain vascular function) and after the administration of intranasal insulin (brain insulin-sensitivity) will be quantified by the non-invasive gold standard magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-perfusion method Arterial Spin Labeling (ASL).

Enrollment

31 patients

Sex

All

Ages

60 to 75 years old

Volunteers

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

Men and women, aged between 60-75 years
BMI between 20-35 kg/m2
Fasting plasma glucose < 7.0 mmol/L
Fasting serum total cholesterol < 8.0 mmol/L
Fasting serum triacylglycerol < 4.5 mmol/L
Systolic blood pressure < 160 mmHg and diastolic blood pressure < 100 mmHg
Stable body weight (weight gain or loss < 3 kg in the past three months)
Willingness to give up being a blood donor from 8 weeks before the start of the study, during the study and for 4 weeks after completion of the study
No difficult venipuncture as evidenced during the screening visit

Exclusion criteria

Allergy or intolerance to peanuts
Left-handedness
Current smoker, or smoking cessation < 12 months
Diabetic patients
Familial hypercholesterolemia
Abuse of drugs
More than 3 alcoholic consumptions per day
Use of products or dietary supplements known to interfere with the main outcomes as judged by the principal investigators
Use medication to treat blood pressure, lipid, or glucose metabolism
Use of an investigational product within another biomedical intervention trial within the previous 1-month
Severe medical conditions that might interfere with the study, such as epilepsy, asthma, kidney failure or renal insufficiency, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, inflammatory bowel diseases, auto inflammatory diseases, and rheumatoid arthritis
Active cardiovascular disease like congestive heart failure or cardiovascular event, such as an acute myocardial infarction or cerebrovascular accident
Contra-indications for MRI imaging (e.g., pacemaker, surgical clips/material in body, metal splinter in eye, claustrophobia)