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Active, not recruitingNCT04603898Updated Jun 9, 2026

Oxalate Formation From Ascorbic Acid

An interventional study of Low Oxalate Diet and Carbon-13 Ascorbic Acid Oral Load in Kidney Stone, sponsored by University of Alabama at Birmingham. Active, not recruiting at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 19 Years and older, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-06-09.

Sponsored by University of Alabama at Birmingham · Not applicable, Interventional, and Basic science

Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
90
Allocation
Not applicable
Ages
19 Years and older
Sex
All
01

Study summary

The purpose of this basic research study is to determine the contribution of endogenous ascorbic acid (AA) turnover to urinary oxalate excretion in both normal BMI and obese adult non-stone formers and calcium oxalate stone formers. The studies proposed will use diets of known nutrient composition, a stable isotope of ascorbic acid (13C6-AA) and mass spectrometric techniques to quantify ascorbic acid turnover to oxalate.

Read the detailed description

The purpose of this basic research study is to determine the contribution of endogenous ascorbic acid (AA)turnover to urinary oxalate excretion in both normal BMI and obese adult non-stone formers and calcium oxalate stone formers. The studies proposed will use diets of known nutrient composition, a stable isotope of AA, 13C6-AA, and mass spectrometric techniques to quantify AA turnover to oxalate.

Adults (≥19 years) with and without a history of calcium oxalate kidney stone disease will be recruited from within the greater Birmingham area, and divided into normal BMI (BMI\<25 kg/m2) and obese (BMI≥30 kg/m2) groups. Following consent, subjects will meet with a dietitian to ensure willingness to consume controlled diets, and provide fasted blood and 2 x 24 hour urine specimens to determine general health status and adequacy of 24-hour urine collections, respectively.

Eligible subjects will consume a low oxalate controlled diet for 6 days, which will involve 2 days of dietary equilibration followed by oral ingestion of 1 mg/kg carbon-13 AA with breakfast on day 3 and subsequent collection of 4 consecutive 24-hour urine specimens. After the carbon-13 AA load, subjects will return each morning to the Clinical Research Unit for a fasted blood draw, to drop off their 24-hour urine collection, and receive their prepared food. In addition, on day 4, 24 hours after ingesting carbon-13 AA, subjects will collect hourly urine and 1/2 hourly blood samples for 5 hours in the Clinical Research Unit.

02

Conditions studied

  • Kidney Stone

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Keywords

  • Oxalate
  • Calcium oxalate stones
  • Ascorbic Acid
03

In context

Kidney Calculi

598 studies on the registry are indexed under Kidney Calculi; 163 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 90 is close to the median of 90 across 461 interventional studies indexed under Kidney Calculi.

Browse Kidney Calculi studies →

Lead sponsor

University of Alabama at Birmingham is the lead sponsor of 1,396 studies on the registry; 284 are open to participants now.

Of its 156 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 124 (79%) have results posted.

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

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
19 Years and older
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
Yes

Inclusion criteria

  • Able to provide informed consent
  • For stone formers: composition of most recent stone > 50% calcium oxalate, no uric acid component
  • For stone formers: first time or recurrent calcium oxalate stone former with stone event within the prior 3 years
  • Two 24-hour urine collections with urinary 24-hour creatinine excretion within 20% of appropriate ratio of creatinine (mg) / body weigh (kg) for gender
  • Willingness to stop supplements (vitamins, Calcium (citrate or carbonate) and other minerals, herbal supplements, nutritional aids, probiotics) for 2 weeks before start and during study
  • Willingness to not undertake vigorous exercise during the study
  • Normal fasting blood Comprehensive Metabolic Panel (CMP)
  • Willingness to ingest menus prepared in Clinical Research Unit at University of Alabama at Birmingham
  • No food allergies or intolerance to any of the foods in study menus
  • If on medications for stone prevention (e.g. thiazides, citrate supplementation excluding calcium citrate), they should have been on a stable dose regimen for at least 8 weeks prior to and during screening, with no changes in dosing anticipated during study protocol. If on allopurinol for stone prevention, stop it for 2 weeks prior to screening and this will not be administered during the study as it has anti-oxidant properties.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Diabetes
  • Gout
  • Hypertension
  • Estimated Glomerular Filtration Rate (eGFR) less than 60ml/min/1.73m2
  • Primary hyperoxaluria
  • Nephrotic syndrome
  • Enteric hyperoxaluria
  • Renal tubular acidosis
  • Primary hyperparathyroidism
  • Liver disease
  • Auto-immune disorder
  • Neurogenic bladder
  • Urinary diversion
  • Bariatric surgery
  • Active malignancy or treatment for malignancy within 12 months prior to screening
  • Pregnancy
  • Breastfeeding/nursing individuals
  • Females of child bearing age who are not able to use an effective method of birth control during the study
  • Mental/medical condition that is likely to impede successful study completion
  • Illness including flu/common cold/fever 14 days before study and during study
  • Diarrhea or other abnormal gastrointestinal event (e.g. abnormal bowel movements) 14 days before study or during study
  • Abnormal fasting CMP
05

Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Basic science
Allocation
Not applicable
Intervention model
Single group
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
90 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Controlled Dietary Study

    Subjects will consume a controlled diet (low in oxalate and ascorbic acid) for six days. After two days of equilibration, subjects will provide a blood sample and ingest an oral load of ascorbic acid (1 mg/kg) with breakfast on Day 3. The following day (Day 4), serial blood and urine collections will occur. On Days 5 through 7, subjects will complete a 24-hr urine collection and blood draw.

    Dietary Supplement: Low Oxalate Diet · Dietary Supplement: Carbon-13 Ascorbic Acid Oral Load

Interventions

  • Dietary supplementLow Oxalate Diet

    Subjects will be instructed to ingest a controlled diet low in oxalate for a total of 4 days

  • Dietary supplementCarbon-13 Ascorbic Acid Oral Load

    Subjects will be instructed to ingest 1mg/kg of carbon-13 ascorbic acid at breakfast, 2 days after initiating the low oxalate controlled diet.

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Percent contribution of ascorbic acid (AA) to urinary oxalate excretion

    On the last day (Day 4) of controlled diet and 24 hours following ingestion of an oral load of carbon-13 AA (1mg/kg), urine and blood will be collected and the levels of carbon 12 and carbon 13 AA and oxalate measured to determine the percent contribution of AA metabolism to urinary oxalate excretion for each subject.

    Time frame: Day 4

07

Study locations

1 site
  • University of Alabama at Birmingham
    Birmingham, Alabama 35243-3353, United States
08

References and documents

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No

No publications or documents are linked to this record.

09

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Jun 9, 2026, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT04603898
Lead sponsor
University of Alabama at Birmingham
Collaborators
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK)
Responsible party
John Knight (Principal Investigator, University of Alabama at Birmingham) — Principal investigator
First posted
Oct 27, 2020
Start date
Nov 15, 2021
Primary completion
Dec 1, 2026 (estimated)
Completion
Feb 1, 2027 (estimated)
Last update
Jun 9, 2026

Study contacts

John Knight, PhD
principal investigator · University of Alabama at Birmingham

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
Yes
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

Not currently enrolling

This study is active, not recruiting, as verified in Jun 2026. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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