ClinicalTrials.gg
CompletedNCT03754504MICAUpdated Mar 30, 2020

Effects of Cranberry Powder Supplements on Gut Microbiota Diversity and Metabolic Syndrome

An interventional study of Cranberry powder and Placebo in Overweight, Insulin Resistance and Microbiota, sponsored by Laval University. Completed at 1 site in Canada. Open to male participants aged 18 Years to 60 Years, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2020-03-30.

Sponsored by Laval University · Not applicable, Interventional, and Prevention

Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
24
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
18 Years to 60 Years
Sex
Male
01

Study summary

It is of major importance to refine prevention strategies in order to alleviate inflammation, insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome and it appear that improving gut health and microbiota represent a promising strategy. Cranberry-enriched diets may help prevent metabolic syndrome and its associated chronic diseases by a protective effect of gut health and microbiota. It is therefore highly relevant to test the hypothesis that a whole cranberry powder supplements (which include a mixture of polyphenols, free and fiber-associated proanthocyanidins, and fruits fibers) is associated with changes on the gut health and microbiota playing a major role in alleviating inflammation and obesity-associated metabolic disorders.

Read the detailed description

Over the past decade it has become clear that the gut microbiota is a key determinant of obesity and that its perturbations by nutritional insults play a significant role in the development of metabolic complications such as insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Indeed, there is growing amounts of studies that have shown that dysbiosis of the intestinal microbiota promotes obesity-linked chronic inflammation, and is causally related to diet-induced type 2 diabetes. Our group recently published that a polyphenol-rich cranberry extract exert striking effect on the gut microbiota of high-fat and high-sucrose fed mice, which was associated with prevention of diet-induced weight gain, visceral obesity, insulin resistance and hepatic steatosis. Notably, metagenomic analyses of feces of the cranberry extract-treated mice suggested that these metabolic effects were associated with a dramatic increase in the proportion of Akkermansia muciniphila, a dominant commensal bacterium in the intestinal mucus layer which has received particular attention in the last few years since its abundance is associated with improved metabolic health and beneficial responses to various interventions in both mice and humans with obesity and diabetes. Polyphenols are now recognized as potent molecules capable to protect against obesity-linked metabolic diseases and dysbiosis. Among polyphenols, there is increasing evidence supporting the beneficial impact of dietary proanthocyanidins. Cranberries being rich in proanthocyanidins, we believe that these phyto-elements could be associated to their beneficial effects. On the other hand, apart from the recognized beneficial effects of fibers on gut health, their association with high molecular proanthocyanidins could also contribute to their health benefits.

The main objective of this study is to investigate in a cross-over randomized placebo-controlled clinical trial the beneficial properties of a whole cranberry powder on gut microbiota, intestinal health and metabolic syndrome parameters in overweight men.

02

Conditions studied

  • Overweight
  • Insulin Resistance
  • Microbiota
  • Endotoxemia
  • Metabolic Syndrome
03

In context

Overweight

3,599 studies on the registry are indexed under Overweight; 852 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 24 is below the median of 78 across 3,120 interventional studies indexed under Overweight.

Browse Overweight studies →

Lead sponsor

Laval University is the lead sponsor of 380 studies on the registry; 67 are open to participants now.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years to 60 Years
Sexes eligible
Male
Accepts healthy volunteers
Yes

Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.

Inclusion criteria

  • overweight
  • fasting insulin > 42 pmol/L
  • non smoking
  • Stable weight in the past 3 months

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • chronic diseases
  • Taking drugs that could affect glucose or lipid metabolism
  • Taking anti-inflammatory, or anticoagulant drugs
  • Inflammatory bowel disease
  • vegetarians, vegan or following any restrictive dietary pattern or if they are big consumers of berries (>1 portion/day)
  • taking pre- and probiotics
  • antibiotics in the past 3 months or change in their regular medication
  • Major surgery in the past 3 months
  • taste aversion for cranberries or cranberry allergy or allergies to other ingredients used in the placebo
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(1)

Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.

Immunosuppression

A weakened immune system. It can come from an illness, such as HIV or some blood cancers, or from medicines that turn the immune system down, for example after an organ transplant or for an autoimmune disease; steroids at higher doses count.

Read whether the line is about a condition or about medicines, and which medicines and doses it means.

05

Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Prevention
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Crossover assignment
Masking
Quadruple (Participant, Care provider, Investigator, Outcomes assessor)
Enrollment
24 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Cranberry

    Whole Cranberry Powder Supplements

    Dietary Supplement: Cranberry powder

  • Placebo comparator
    Placebo

    Placebo

    Dietary Supplement: Placebo

Interventions

  • Dietary supplementCranberry powder

    3 capsules /day of whole cranberry powder (500mg/each)

  • Dietary supplementPlacebo

    3 capsules/day of a placebo comparator

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Change in Gut Microbiota Diversity

    Global variation of the fecal microbiota

    Time frame: At the beginning and the end of each treatment (4 weeks each)

Secondary outcomes

  1. Change in Endotoxemia

    Plasma Lipopolysaccharides (LPS) and Lipopolysaccharide Binding Protein (LBP)

    Time frame: At the beginning and the end of each treatment (4 weeks each)

  2. Change in Intestinal permeability

    Plasma zonulin

    Time frame: At the beginning and the end of each treatment (4 weeks each)

  3. Change in Inflammation state of the tissue

    Fecal calprotectin and chromogranin

    Time frame: At the beginning and the end of each treatment (4 weeks each)

  4. Change in Short chain fatty acids in the feces

    Measure short chain fatty acids in the feces

    Time frame: At the beginning and the end of each treatment (4 weeks each)

  5. Change in Gut health and stool consistency

    Evaluation of gastrointestinal symptoms and stool consistency using standardized questionnaires

    Time frame: At the beginning and the end of each treatment (4 weeks each)

  6. Change in Lipid profile

    Evaluation of plasma triglycerides (TG), Total cholesterol, LDL, HDL and Apolipoprotein B from the beginning to the end of two dietary treatment

    Time frame: At the beginning and the end of each treatment (4 weeks each)

  7. Change in chronic inflammation

    Evaluation of plasma high sensitive C-Reactive Protein (hs-CRP)

    Time frame: At the beginning and the end of each treatment (4 weeks each)

  8. Change in Glucose homeostasis

    Evaluation of plasma fasting glucose and insulin concentration

    Time frame: At the beginning and the end of each treatment (4 weeks each)

07

Study locations

1 site
  • Institut sur la nutrition et les aliments fonctionnels
    Québec, G1V 0A6, Canada
08

Timeline

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
ElapsedEstimatedEstimated, not yet reachedSimilar studies: half by the dot; the band is the middle halfHalf of similar studies reached it by the dot; the band is the middle half, from a quarter to three quarters

Ran from Oct 2018 to primary completion in Mar 2020, 16 months.

Of 1,300 non-industry interventional studies with no phase under Overweight, half reached primary completion within 18 months of starting (the median), counting those still running; a quarter within 8 and three quarters within 38. This study's 16 months is below that.

Counting every sponsor, half of 1,411 studies reached it within 17 months; a quarter within 8 and three quarters within 38.

How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.

Registered
Nov 19, 2018
First posted
Nov 27, 2018
StartActual
Oct 15, 2018
Primary completionActual
Mar 1, 2020
CompletionActual
Mar 1, 2020
Last update
Mar 30, 2020
What these dates mean
Start.
When the first participant enrolled; while estimated, when the study expects to open to recruitment.
Primary completion.
When the last participant was examined or treated to collect data for the study's main question, its primary outcome. A study that stopped early gives the date its data collection stopped.
Completion.
When the last participant's last visit took place, for every outcome, secondary ones and side effects included: the end of the study. Often later than primary completion, sometimes the same day.
Actual and Est.
Actual means the registry says the date has happened. Est. (estimated) is a date the sponsor plans or expects. It can still move, and the sponsor is expected to change it to actual once it has passed.
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Mar 30, 2020, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
09

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT03754504
Lead sponsor
Laval University
Collaborators
Naturex
Responsible party
André Marette (Professor, Laval University) — Principal investigator
First posted
Nov 27, 2018
Start date
Oct 15, 2018
Primary completion
Mar 1, 2020
Completion
Mar 1, 2020
Last update
Mar 30, 2020

Study contacts

André Marette, Ph.D
principal investigator · Institute of nutrition and functional foods, Laval University

Oversight

FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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This study is completed, as verified in Mar 2020. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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