An interventional study of Ketone Ester Acute and Placebo Acute in Type 2 Diabetes, Ketone Body Metabolism and Ketones, Metabolism, sponsored by Ohio State University. Recruiting at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 18 Years to 80 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-04-03.
Sponsored by Ohio State University · Not applicable, Interventional, and Basic science
This study is being done to evaluate how a ketone ester (KE) supplement affects heart function and health in people with diabetes compared to a placebo supplement (made with standard food ingredients that do not contain ketone esters).
This study is a single center, randomized controlled study of up to 30 subjects with diabetes. The study is designed to compare the acute effects of KE versus an energy and volume matched placebo on cardiac function and blood flow following a meal. Eligible subjects will have a known diagnosis of type 2 diabetes and will be selected from a larger population at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. Enrolled subjects will be stratified by sex to ensure equal proportions of men and women in each group (KE and placebo) and then randomly assigned (1:1) to a group, before washing out and crossing over to the other group (KE or Placebo). The order of treatment will be randomized such that half the cohort starts first with KE, and the other half with Placebo.
CMR will be performed on the days of supplement ingestion. CPET may be performed prior to starting the first intervention. Following a 2-wk washout period, each patient will replicate the acute CMR visit with the opposing treatment (KE or Placebo).
CMR will be used to evaluate cardiac function, myocardial blood flow, and cardiac and vascular function. CMR will provide insightful data on the magnitude, timeline, and functional impact of nutritional ketosis on cardiovascular function and myocardial blood flow in patients diagnosed with T2D.
10,371 studies on the registry are indexed under Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2; 1,406 are open to participants now.
This study's planned enrollment of 30 is below the median of 80 across 8,350 interventional studies indexed under Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2.
Browse Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 studies →Ohio State University is the lead sponsor of 663 studies on the registry; 148 are open to participants now.
Of its 67 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 49 (73%) have results posted.
Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.
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.
Exclusion Criteria:
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.
Weight in kilograms divided by height in metres squared. Example: 70 kg and 1.75 m gives 70 ÷ (1.75 × 1.75) ≈ 22.9.
What counts as overweight or obesity differs between countries (some use lower cut-offs), so go by the range the study states.
A reason a treatment, test or procedure should not be given to a particular person, such as an allergy, another illness or a medicine they take.
GFR (glomerular filtration rate) is how much blood the kidneys filter each minute. It is usually estimated from a blood test — eGFR, by formulas such as CKD-EPI or MDRD — and some studies ask for it to be measured directly instead. Usually given in mL/min/1.73 m².
Check the method, the units and the minimum the study states. A value of 90 or above is in the normal-or-high range, but kidney damage can show in other tests too.
The top of the normal range for a blood test, as set by the laboratory that runs it. Each lab prints its own range next to your result.
“≤ 2.5 × ULN” means the result can be up to two and a half times that top value.
Malignancy means cancer. Criteria about another or earlier malignancy ask whether you have had a different cancer, usually within a set number of years.
Some are commonly allowed, such as treated skin cancers other than melanoma and early cancers removed completely — check the exceptions this study lists.
A biopsy takes a small piece of tissue to examine. “Archival tissue” is a sample already taken, for example at diagnosis, and kept by the hospital.
Whether a stored sample will do depends on when it was taken, how much there is and what the study needs. Ask whether the study accepts your stored sample or needs a new biopsy.
The study doctor’s estimate of how long someone is likely to live. Criteria use it so that people can stay in the study long enough for it to answer its question.
A drug or device being studied in a clinical trial.
It may be new, or already approved and being studied for another use, dose or form. Criteria often leave out people who took part in another study of one within a recent period, commonly 30 days or five half-lives.
BMI (body mass index)
Weight in kilograms divided by height in metres squared. Example: 70 kg and 1.75 m gives 70 ÷ (1.75 × 1.75) ≈ 22.9.
What counts as overweight or obesity differs between countries (some use lower cut-offs), so go by the range the study states.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Contraindication
A reason a treatment, test or procedure should not be given to a particular person, such as an allergy, another illness or a medicine they take.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
GFR and eGFR (kidney filtering)
GFR (glomerular filtration rate) is how much blood the kidneys filter each minute. It is usually estimated from a blood test — eGFR, by formulas such as CKD-EPI or MDRD — and some studies ask for it to be measured directly instead. Usually given in mL/min/1.73 m².
Check the method, the units and the minimum the study states. A value of 90 or above is in the normal-or-high range, but kidney damage can show in other tests too.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
ULN (upper limit of normal)
The top of the normal range for a blood test, as set by the laboratory that runs it. Each lab prints its own range next to your result.
“≤ 2.5 × ULN” means the result can be up to two and a half times that top value.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Cancer (malignancy)
Malignancy means cancer. Criteria about another or earlier malignancy ask whether you have had a different cancer, usually within a set number of years.
Some are commonly allowed, such as treated skin cancers other than melanoma and early cancers removed completely — check the exceptions this study lists.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Biopsy and archival tissue
A biopsy takes a small piece of tissue to examine. “Archival tissue” is a sample already taken, for example at diagnosis, and kept by the hospital.
Whether a stored sample will do depends on when it was taken, how much there is and what the study needs. Ask whether the study accepts your stored sample or needs a new biopsy.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Life expectancy
The study doctor’s estimate of how long someone is likely to live. Criteria use it so that people can stay in the study long enough for it to answer its question.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Investigational drug or device
A drug or device being studied in a clinical trial.
It may be new, or already approved and being studied for another use, dose or form. Criteria often leave out people who took part in another study of one within a recent period, commonly 30 days or five half-lives.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
This arm will provide a Ketone Ester supplement + a meal for consumption.
Dietary Supplement: Ketone Ester Acute
This arm will provide a Placebo beverage + a meal for consumption.
Dietary Supplement: Placebo Acute
Participants will undertake a controlled feeding intervention where they will consume 25g of C8 Ketone Diester with a meal, and images obtained before and after consumption. The supplement powder contains 12.5 g C8 Diester, sodium caseinate and soluble corn fiber, per serving. The powder contains 120 kcal, 0 g fat, 3 g carbohydrate, and 0 g protein. A standardized meal will be provided to subjects to consume with their allocated supplement during the MRI visits. This meal is formulated with whole foods (i.e. chicken, rice, and a fruit bar) as a mix of macronutrients (29% protein, 3% fat, and 68% carbohydrate - not including the supplements). The meal consists of \~700kcal of food and will be standardized between all visits and subjects.
Participants will undertake a controlled feeding intervention where they will drink two servings of the placebo with a meal, and images obtained before and after consumption. The placebo is flavor, energy, volume, and macronutrient matched will be given to patients as part of the placebo arm of the study. This placebo will not contain any BHB, which will be replaced with a similar caloric content of fat in the form of canola oil.
Change in Cardiac MRI measures of cardiac function
Participants undergo MRI scans, conducted by trained professionals. MRI imaging analyses will determine cardiac function. The images will be analyzed by trained imaging professionals to determine overall change in cardiac function.
Time frame: Baseline, 2 weeks
Change in Quality of Life Questionnaire
Participants will complete a quality of life questionnaire several times throughout the study. The questions are divided into three areas: Dyspnea, Fatigue and Emotional Function. The scores for each are added up and divided by the number of questions. A 7-point scale is used for areas where 1 is the best and 7 is the worst.
Time frame: Baseline, 2 weeks
Metabolic Panel
Changes in metabolic blood panel will be assessed at lab visits.
Time frame: Baseline, 2 weeks
Lipid Panel
Changes in lipid blood panel will be assessed at lab visits.
Time frame: Baseline, 2 weeks
B-natriuretic peptide (BNP)
Changes in BNP (pg/mL) will be assessed at lab visits.
Time frame: Baseline, 2 weeks
Change in Cardiac function after acute ingestion of KE or placebo
Cardiovascular performance and function will be investigated using CMR at rest, both before and immediately after consumption of KE or placebo.
Time frame: Baseline, 2 weeks
Change in fat storage
Participants undergo MRI scans, conducted by trained professionals. MRI imaging analyses will determine fat storage.
Time frame: Baseline, 2 weeks
Plan to share: No
No publications or documents are linked to this record.
Started Jun 2023 (actual). Primary completion is estimated for Aug 2027, 50 months after the start.
Of 2,066 non-industry interventional studies with no phase under Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2, half reached primary completion within 21 months of starting (the median), counting those still running; a quarter within 10 and three quarters within 40. This study's planned 50 months is above that.
Counting every sponsor, half of 2,243 studies reached it within 21 months; a quarter within 10 and three quarters within 39.
How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.
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