CClinicalTrials.gg
CompletedNCT06333717FBSUpdated Mar 27, 2024

Impact of Whole Grain Rye Bread on Health

An interventional study of Whole grain bread and Control bread in Healthy Diet, sponsored by Örebro University, Sweden. Completed at 1 site in Sweden. Open to participants aged 18 Years to 44 Years, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2024-03-27.

Sponsored by Örebro University, Sweden · Not applicable, Interventional, and Prevention

From the registry’s dates

  • Registered 2 years 11 months after the study started (first participant enrolled Mar 2021, registered Feb 2024).
Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
33
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
18 Years to 44 Years
Sex
All
01

Study summary

This randomized controlled trial aims to study how a high intake of a fibre-rich bread affects the composition and functioning of the gut microbiota in healthy subjects, and how this, in turn, impacts on the release of gut peptides, intestinal permeability, stress and cognitive performance.

Read the detailed description

Healthy subjects will be recruited for a 3-week, randomized, parallel-controlled study. Subjects that are eligible to take part in the study will be blinded and randomly allocated to consume a fibre-rich bread or a control bread daily for 3 weeks. Measurements of biomarkers related to the gut-brain axis, microbiota composition and functioning, intestinal permeability, stress and cognitive functioning will be conducted on two separate test days, at baseline and after the 3 weeks intervention. On both test days (day 0 and day 21) subjects will come to the study centre after a 10 hours overnight fast and will deliver faecal samples collected at home. At the study centre, blood samples will be collected and a device for continuous assessment of autonomic nervous system response (Biopac) will be placed. Subjects will drink a multisugar solution and urine samples will be collected for gut permeability analysis. Sugar solution intake will be followed by a baseline period during which participants will rest for 30 minutes to adapt to the laboratory setting. After the baseline period, subjects will conduct a stress test and cognitive tests. Visual analogue scales (VAS) to assess momentary perceived stress levels and saliva samples will be collected before and after the stress test. The study subjects will also complete questionnaires at both visits (food frequency questionnaire, food diary, physical activity, gastrointestinal symptom rating scale, Euro Quality of Life).

02

Conditions studied

  • Healthy Diet

Keywords

  • dietary fibre
  • microbiota
  • gut-brain axis
03

In context

Lead sponsor

Örebro University, Sweden is the lead sponsor of 84 studies on the registry; 15 are open to participants now.

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

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years to 44 Years
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
Yes

Inclusion criteria

  • Age 18-44 years
  • Body mass index (BMI) 18,5-30 kg/m2 (normal weight or overweight)

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Significant acute or chronic illness, including an inflammatory or a functional disease of gastrointestinal track and psychiatric and psychological disorders
  • Anxiety or depression (according to Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS score) and Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS-21 score))
  • Use of a medication that may interfere with the study (e.g. cannabis, antipsychotics, anxiolytics, antidepressants, proton-pump inhibitors)
  • Abuse of alcohol or drugs (according to AUDIT score)
  • Use of antibiotic medication within the past 3 months before the study
  • Use of laxative or anti-diarrhoea medication within the past 3 months before the study
  • Regular consumption of probiotic or prebiotic product for the past 6 weeks before the study
  • A diet that may interfere with the study (such as gluten free or low-carb diet)
  • Smoking
  • Pregnancy or breastfeeding
  • Premenopausal female with irregular or short menstruation cycle and not using hormonal contraception
  • Colour blindness, dyslexia or dyscalculia
  • Unable to absent from caffeine, alcohol or intense exercise for 12 hours prior measurements.
05

Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Prevention
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
Double (Participant, Investigator)
Enrollment
33 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    High-fibre bread

    Six slices (180 g) of whole grain rye bread divided over the meals during the day for 3 weeks

    Dietary Supplement: Whole grain bread

  • Placebo comparator
    Control bread

    Six slices (180 g) of control bread containing refined wheat and oat flour divided over the meals during the day for 3 weeks

    Dietary Supplement: Control bread

Interventions

  • Dietary supplementWhole grain bread

    Consumption of high-fibre bread as a dietary supplementation

  • Dietary supplementControl bread

    Consumption of control bread as a dietary supplementation

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Microbiota composition baseline vs after intervention using 16S RNA gene sequencing

    Difference in gut microbiota composition in faecal samples before (baseline) and after intake of six slices of bread for 3 weeks (after intervention) using 16S RNA gene sequencing

    Time frame: faecal samples collected before and after intake of bread for 3 weeks

Secondary outcomes

  1. Microbiota composition whole grain rye bread vs control bread using 16S RNA gene sequencing

    Difference in gut microbiota composition in faecal samples between the study arms using 16S RNA gene sequencing

    Time frame: faecal samples collected before and after intake of bread for 3 weeks

  2. Concentrations of circulatory short-chain fatty acids SCFA

    Difference in blood levels of SCFA between and within intervention groups after intake of bread for 3 weeks

    Time frame: blood samples collected before and after intake of bread for 3 weeks

  3. Concentrations of faecal SCFA

    Difference in faecal levels of SCFA between and within intervention groups after intake of bread for 3 weeks

    Time frame: faecal samples collected before and after intake of bread for 3 weeks

  4. Concentrations of blood glucagon like peptide-1 (GLP-1)

    Difference in blood levels of GLP-1 between and within intervention groups after intake of bread for 3 weeks

    Time frame: blood samples collected before and after intake of bread for 3 weeks

  5. Concentrations of blood glucagon like peptide-2 (GLP-2)

    Difference in blood levels of GLP-2 between and within intervention groups after intake of bread for 3 weeks

    Time frame: blood samples collected before and after intake of bread for 3 weeks

  6. Concentrations of blood peptide YY (PYY)

    Difference in blood levels of PYY between and within intervention groups after intake of bread for 3 weeks

    Time frame: blood samples collected before and after intake of bread for 3 weeks

  7. Concentrations of blood gastric inhibitory polypeptide (GIP)

    Difference in blood levels of GIP between and within intervention groups after intake of bread for 3 weeks

    Time frame: blood samples collected before and after intake of bread for 3 weeks

  8. Concentrations of blood neuroactive peptide Y (NPY)

    Difference in blood levels of NPY between and within intervention groups after intake of bread for 3 weeks

    Time frame: blood samples collected before and after intake of bread for 3 weeks

  9. Concentrations of blood brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF)

    Difference in blood levels of BDNF between and within intervention groups after intake of bread for 3 weeks

    Time frame: blood samples collected before and after intake of bread for 3 weeks

  10. Concentrations of blood cytokines

    Difference in blood levels of cytokines between and within intervention groups after intake of bread for 3 weeks

    Time frame: blood samples collected before and after intake of bread for 3 weeks

  11. Concentrations of blood alkylresorcinols

    Difference in blood levels of alkylresorcinols between and within intervention groups after intake of bread for 3 weeks

    Time frame: blood samples collected before and after intake of bread for 3 weeks

  12. Concentrations of blood lipopolysaccharide-binding protein (LBP)

    Difference in blood levels of LBP between and within intervention groups after intake of bread for 3 weeks

    Time frame: blood samples collected before and after intake of bread for 3 weeks

  13. Concentrations of blood soluble CD-14 (sCD-14)

    Difference in blood levels of sCD-14 between and within intervention groups after intake of bread for 3 weeks

    Time frame: blood samples collected before and after intake of bread for 3 weeks

  14. Concentrations of sugars in urine

    Difference on intestinal permeability between and within intervention groups after intake of bread for 3 weeks measured by the excretion of sugars contained in a multi-sugar solution

    Time frame: urine samples collected before and after intake of bread for 3 weeks

  15. Concentrations of saliva cortisol during stress test

    Difference in saliva levels of cortisol produced during stress test between and within intervention groups after intake of bread for 3 weeks

    Time frame: Saliva samples collected before the stress test, after the introduction phase, directly after the acute stress phase, 5 minutes, 10-15 minutes, 60 minutes, and 75 minutes after the stress test

  16. Concentrations of saliva alpha-amylase during stress test

    Difference in saliva levels of a-amylase produced during stress test between and within intervention groups after intake of bread for 3 weeks

    Time frame: Saliva samples collected before the stress test, after the introduction phase, directly after the acute stress phase, 5 minutes, 10-15 minutes, 60 minutes, and 75 minutes after the stress test

Other outcomes

  1. Gastrointestinal symptoms measured by Gastrointestinal Symptom Rating Scale in Irritable Bowel Syndrome (GSRS-IBS)

    Difference in the frequency and severity of gastrointestinal symptoms between and within intervention groups after the intake of bread for 3 weeks. The GSRS-IBS contains 13 self-report items rated on a 6-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (no discomfort at all) to 7 (very severe discomfort). Total scores range from 0 to 78.

    Time frame: 3 weeks

  2. Food habits measured by an electronic food frequency questionnaire Mealq

    Survey of participants' food habits before and during the intake of bread for 3 weeks

    Time frame: 3 weeks

  3. Food habits measured by a Food diary

    Survey of participants' food habits before and during the intake of bread for 3 weeks

    Time frame: 3 days

  4. Physical activity measured by the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ)

    Survey of participants' physical activities before and during the intake of bread for 3 weeks. The IPAQ contains 7 self-report questions and the categorical score is divided into 3 levels: low (less than 600 metabolic equivalent-minutes/week), moderate (at least 600 metabolic equivalent-minutes/week) or high (at least 1500 metabolic equivalent-minutes/week).

    Time frame: 3 days

  5. Quality of life measured by the Euro Quality of Life questionnaire

    Survey of participants' well-being before and during the intake of bread for 3 weeks. It records the patient's self-rated health on a vertical visual analogue scale where the endpoints are labelled from 0 (worst imaginable health state) to 100 (best imaginable health state).

    Time frame: once before and after intake of bread for 3 weeks

  6. Perceived stress measured by a Visual analog scale questionnaire

    Difference in the perceived stress during a stress test between and within intervention groups after the intake of bread for 3 weeks

    Time frame: before the stress test, after the introduction phase, directly after the acute stress phase, 5 minutes, 10-15 minutes, 60 minutes, and 75 minutes after the stress test

  7. Cognitive control using Eriksen flanker task (Flanker task)

    Difference in cognitive control between and within intervention groups after the intake of bread for 3 weeks

    Time frame: once before and after intake of bread for 3 weeks

  8. Working memory performance using a modified N-back task combined with recent-probes item-recognition task (Sternberg task)

    Difference in working memory between and within intervention groups after the intake of bread for 3 weeks

    Time frame: once before and after intake of bread for 3 weeks

  9. Electrocardiogram (ECG) using the Biopac system

    Difference in heart rate variability during a stress test between and within intervention groups after the intake of bread for 3 weeks

    Time frame: once before and after intake of bread for 3 weeks

  10. Electrodermal activity (EDA) using the Biopac system

    Difference in skin conductivity during a stress test between and within intervention groups after the intake of bread for 3 weeks. Electrodes to measure EDA will be placed on the subjects' left palm. Skin conductivity measures will include skin conductivity level (SCL), the number of skin conductivity responses (SCR), and the amplitude of SCR.

    Time frame: once before and after intake of bread for 3 weeks

07

Study locations

1 site
  • Örebro University
    Örebro, Sweden
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 Mar 27, 2024, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT06333717
Lead sponsor
Örebro University, Sweden
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
Mar 27, 2024
Start date
Mar 3, 2021
Primary completion
Mar 3, 2021
Completion
Nov 5, 2021
Last update
Mar 27, 2024

Study contacts

Rebecca Wall, PhD
principal investigator · Örebro University, Sweden

Oversight

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

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