Medium Chain Triglycerides and Brain Metabolism in Alzheimer's Disease

Proof of Concepts: Can a Supplement Ketogenic Based MCT Oil Increases Cerebral Capture Ketones in People With Alzheimer's Disease?

Status

Completed

Phases

Study type

Interventional

Source

ClinicalTrials.gov

Registry ID

NCT02709356

Acronym

MCT-MA

Enrollment

Registered

2016-03-16

Start date

2015-10-31

Completion date

2018-02-28

Last updated

2018-10-10

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Alzheimer's Disease

Brief summary

Evaluate and compare the changes in brain ketone and glucose uptake after taking two different MCT oil emulsions (60-40 oil or C8 oil) for one month, in a group of people with Alzheimer's disease and a control group.

Detailed description

Based on a PET/MRI protocol, the aim of this study is to evaluate and compare the response to the dietary supplementation of two different MCT oils (60% C10 + 40% C8 or 100 % C8) in two groups, patients with Alzheimer's disease and healthy elderly people (N=10/group). After a baseline evaluation, participant will test one of the supplements during two successive periods of one month; each period of time ending with 18F-FDG and 11C-acetoacetate PET scans.

Interventions

DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT1-month of 60-40 MCT oil

1-month supplementation of 30 g MCT oil (60% C10 + 40% C8)/day

DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT1-month of C8 MCT oil

1-month supplementation of 30 g MCT oil (100% C8)/day (1-month of C8 MCT oïl)

Study design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Intervention model

PARALLEL

Primary purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

SINGLE (Subject)

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

ALL

Age

65 Years to No maximum

Healthy volunteers

Yes

Inclusion criteria

* Good general health for Control group * Diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (NINCDS-ADRDA criteria) for AD group

Exclusion criteria

* Depression * Medical or psychiatric conditions that could interfere with study participation * Fasting plasma glucose ≥7.0 mM (diabetes or prediabetes) * Already on MCT supplementation * Clinically-significant gastrointestinal disease/conditions * Clinically-significant liver disease/dysfunction * Clinically-significant renal disease/dysfunction * Clinically-significant cardiac disease/conditions * Hypertension * Uncontrolled dyslipidaemia * Vitamin B12 deficiency * Structured physical activity (more than 3 times/week)

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame	Description
Quantification of brain glucose uptake	1-month	Brain glucose uptake (umol/100g/min) using 18-FDG PET scan
Quantification of brain acetoacetate uptake	1-month	Brain acetoacetate uptake (umol/100g/min) using 11C-AcAc PET scan

Countries

Canada

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026