Mixed Nuts and Brain Vascular Function

Maastricht University Medical Centre (MUMC)

Status

Completed

Conditions

Cerebral Blood Flow

Brain Vascular Function

Treatments

Dietary Supplement: Mixed Nuts

Study type

Interventional

Funder types

Other

Identifiers

NCT04210869

METC 19-058

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. The Mediterranean diet, which is rich in nuts, may protect against the development of impaired cognitive performance. The hypothesis is that long-term mixed nut consumption increases brain insulin-sensitivity thereby improving brain vascular function and cognitive performance. The primary objective is to evaluate in elderly men and women the effect of 16-week mixed nut consumption on cerebral blood flow, as quantified by the non-invasive gold standard magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-perfusion method Arterial Spin Labelling (ASL). Cerebral blood flow is a robust and sensitive physiological marker of brain vascular function. Secondary objectives are to investigate effects on the cerebral blood flow response to intranasal insulin delivery - a marker of insulin-sensitivity in the human brain - as quantified by ASL, and cognitive functioning as assessed with a neuropsychological test battery.

Enrollment

28 patients

Sex

All

Ages

60 to 70 years old

Volunteers

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

Aged between 60-70 years
BMI between 25-35 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 nuts
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)