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Status unknownNCT05019573Updated Aug 25, 2021

Can the Reduction of Iron Availability Caused by Tea Consumption Change the Gut Microbiota Composition and Disrupt Host Body-iron Status

An interventional study of Black tea and Placebo in Focus of Study: 1- Effect of Tea Consumption on Gut Microbiota and Focus of Study: 2- Effect of Tea Consumption on Body-iron Status, sponsored by University of Reading. Status unknown at 1 site in United Kingdom. Open to participants aged 18 Years to 60 Years, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2021-08-25.

Sponsored by University of Reading · Not applicable, Interventional, and Screening

The sponsor has not verified this record recently (last verified Aug 2021), so the status shown — last known as Not yet recruiting — may be out of date.
Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
40
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
18 Years to 60 Years
Sex
All
01

Study summary

Iron is an essential micronutrient for nearly all living organisms, including microbes. The adult human body contains approximately 3-5 g of iron (45-55 mg/kg of body weight in adult women and men, respectively). Iron-deficiency related anaemia (IDA) is a major public health problem that affects more than 2 billion people globally and this represents 24.8% of the world's population. According to World Health Organisation (WHO), iron deficiency is the most common cause of anaemia worldwide, with infants, children and women at higher risk, making it a global public health problem. Much iron deficiency is a result of poor iron dietary absorption since iron is poorly absorbed (\~15%). Absorption inhibition factors (iron chelators) like phytate and tannins, found in tea and vegetables have been reported to act as potent iron uptake inhibitors. Despite its health benefits, tea-containing polyphenols (tannins) have been associated with reduction and disruption of iron absorption, acting as inhibitors of non-haem iron uptake, potentially resulting in poor iron status. However, most studies on the effect of tea on iron absorption are largely based on isotope-labelled single meal studies and animal studies. Iron is a requirement of many microorganisms, as such changes in iron availability can also have an impact on the gut microbiota. Long-term controlled human intervention studies to investigate the effect of tea on iron absorption and the effect on gut microbiota composition are scarce. In addition, the impact of dietary tannins on the gut microbiota is not understood. Thus, this proposed human intervention trial will investigate the combined effect of tea-tannins on iron status, inflammation and gut microbiota composition. This will be the first study to consider this combination of factors.

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Conditions studied

  • Focus of Study: 1- Effect of Tea Consumption on Gut Microbiota
  • Focus of Study: 2- Effect of Tea Consumption on Body-iron Status
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In context

Lead sponsor

University of Reading is the lead sponsor of 146 studies on the registry; 20 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
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
Yes

Inclusion criteria

  • Age: 18-60 years
  • Gender: Male or Female
  • Volunteers agree to sign an informal written consent form
  • General good health
  • Normal haemoglobin and serum ferritin levels

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Regular tea drinkers
  • Use of antibiotics, prebiotics or probiotics (in food products or as supplements), laxatives, anti-spasmodic, anti-diarrhoea drugs, (e.g. Orlistat, Lactulose) in the last 4 weeks prior to, or during the study period.
  • Use of any iron supplement in the last 6 months prior to the study period.
  • If participants have received bowel preparation for investigative procedures in the 4 weeks prior to the study.
  • Surgical resection of any part of the bowel.
  • If you have any chronic gut disorder/disease, such as IBS, IBD, etc. or other conditions that might affect the gut environment, e.g. coeliac disease. If participants are taking any medication that could affect the iron absorption (e.g. lansoprazole, omeprazole). Those with gluten allergies (e.g. Celiac disease) must be excluded as the placebo may contain gluten
  • If participants are pregnant or are lactating.
  • If participants have a BMI > 30 kg/m2.
  • Severe allergy or any history of severe abnormal drug reaction, drug or alcohol abuse
05

Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Screening
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
Triple (Participant, Investigator, Outcomes assessor)
Enrollment
40 participants (estimated)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Black tea group

    Volunteers meeting inclusion/exclusion criteria will be given an appropriate number of black tea samples twice a day with main meals for the 4 weeks of the treatment.

    Dietary Supplement: Black tea

  • Placebo comparator
    Placebo group

    Volunteers meeting inclusion/exclusion criteria will be given an appropriate number of placebo tea samples twice a day with main meals for the 4 weeks of the treatment.

    Dietary Supplement: Placebo

Interventions

  • Dietary supplementBlack tea

    Black tea twice a day for 4 weeks

  • Dietary supplementPlacebo

    Placebo tea twice a day for 4 weeks

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Composition and diversity of the faecal microbiota of the individuals consuming tea/placebo during the 4 weeks intervention

    Changes in composition and diversity of faecal microbiota in response to black tea intervention assessed by next generation sequences NGS

    Time frame: 4 weeks intervention

  2. Levels of faecal and urine metabolites of the individuals consuming tea/placebo during the 4 weeks intervention

    Changes of metabolic profile during the intervention will be estimated in faecal and urine samples using Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR)

    Time frame: 4 weeks intervention

  3. Levels of ferritin (ng/mL) as body-iron status indicators of the individuals consuming tea/placebo during the 4 weeks intervention

    Ferritin will be monitored through blood samples collected during study visits.

    Time frame: 4 weeks intervention

  4. Changes in the concentration (pg/mL) of inflammation markers in plasma of the individuals consuming tea/placebo using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs)

    gut inflammation will be assessed by measuring concentration (pg/mL) of gut inflammatory markers as plasma intestinal fatty acid-binding protein and cytokines from plasma (e.g. IL-10, IL-6, TNFα). Samples will be analysed using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs)

    Time frame: 4 weeks intervention

  5. Changes in the concentration (mcg/g) of faecal calprotectin (gut inflammatory marker) during tea intervention using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs)

    Gut inflammation will be assessed measuring concentration (mcg/g) of calprotectin. Increase in the levels of Calprotectin indicates the migration of neutrophils to the intestinal mucosa, which occurs during intestinal inflammation.

    Time frame: 4 weeks intervention

Secondary outcomes

  1. Assessment of stool consistency

    The Bristol stool chart will be provided to volunteer to measure stool consistency, the chart rate the stool consistency from 1-7 (solid - liquid) based on the shape of stool.

    Time frame: 4 weeks intervention

  2. Assessment of gastrointestinal symptoms

    Daily assessment of gastrointestinal symptoms (abdominal pain, bloating or flatulence) will be recorded daily using daily diary.

    Time frame: 4 weeks intervention

07

Study locations

1 site
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References and documents

Individual participant data

Plan to share: Yes

Supporting information: Study protocol, Sap, Icf

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 Aug 25, 2021, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
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Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT05019573
Lead sponsor
University of Reading
Collaborators
Unilever R&D
Responsible party
Gemma Walton (Principle Investigator, University of Reading) — Principal investigator
First posted
Aug 25, 2021
Start date
Sep 20, 2021 (estimated)
Primary completion
Dec 10, 2021 (estimated)
Completion
Jan 10, 2022 (estimated)
Last update
Aug 25, 2021

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 status unknown, as verified in Aug 2021. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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