Healthy Liver - Healthy Brain

University of Texas at Austin55 enrolled

Overview

People with liver disease report difficulties with attention and problem-solving skills. Diet plays an important role in the development of liver disease and/or pre-diabetes. The purpose of this study is to examine whether participation in a brief diet intervention (up to 3 weeks) can improve brain and liver health and function.

The importance of liver function for brain and cognitive health is undeniable. Specifically, adults with chronic liver diseases such as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), a factor of metabolic syndrome (MetS), experience a range of symptoms including problems with attention, problem solving skills and executive function. Importantly, diet plays a role in the development of NAFLD. The investigators propose to be the first to demonstrate that Metabolic syndrome-related brain vulnerability, in the form of elevated free cerebral glutamate, is related to hepatic triglyceride level, through experimental manipulation of liver fat and multiorgan imaging. The investigators seek to improve liver health by altering diet content in a block randomized feeding trial. The investigators selected a low-carbohydrate (\<30 g/d) diet (LoCHO) to reduce liver fat and a low-calorie (LoCAL) diet as a control for weight loss. The investigators hypothesize that LoCHO diet will improve cognitive performance by improving liver health and thus, brain health. This work may provide a way to support brain function in MetS and delay cognitive decline.

Study Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

BASIC_SCIENCE

Masking

NONE

Enrollment

Conditions

Metabolic Syndrome Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease NAFLD Pre-diabetes

Interventions

Diet InterventionBEHAVIORAL

Meal will be prepared and delivered by SNAP Kitchen, which has 7 locations in Austin and offers 20+ options for low-carbohydrate and low-calorie meals, each meal available in different sizes varying in energy intake. Meals will be entered into the Nutrition Data System for Research (NDS-R) software to confirm low-calorie profile. Meals will be delivered to participants' homes twice a week.

Eligibility

Sex: ALLMin age: 40 YearsHealthy volunteers:

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion Criteria: * at least 40 years of age * English speakers * show a minimum of 5% hepatic triglyceride level on liver imaging * have not taken part in a weight loss/dietary intervention within 6 months * not currently adhering to a low-carbohydrate diet (e.g., Atkins, Paleo) Exclusion Criteria: * younger than 40 years of age * have a history of neurological disease (e.g. stroke, seizure disorder) * psychiatric illness (e.g. schizophrenia, bipolar disorder) * harmful alcohol use (AUDIT-C score \>5) * morbid obesity (BMI\>40) * MRI contraindications

Locations (1)

University of Texas at Austin

Austin, Texas, United States

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Decrease in Liver Fat

Hepatic triglyceride level will be assessed using liver 1H MRS.

Time frame: Liver fat will be measured at baseline (week 0) and after at least 2 weeks (up to 3 weeks) on the designated diet. The liver 1H MRS scans will happen during Visit 3 (baseline) and Visit 4 (at least 2 weeks on the diet).

Decrease in cerebral gluatamate

Cerebral glutamate levels will be measured using 1H MRS.

Time frame: Cerebral glutamate will be measured at baseline (week 0) and after at least 2 weeks (up to 3 weeks) on the designated diet. The brain 1H MRS scans will happen during Visit 3 (baseline) and Visit 4 (at least 2 weeks on the diet).

Data from ClinicalTrials.gov

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