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The Effect of a Fasting MimickINg Diet on the Immune System

The Effect of a Fasting MimickINg Diet on the Immune System: an Exploratory Study

Status
Completed
Phases
NA
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT04833439
Acronym
FIND
Enrollment
16
Registered
2021-04-06
Start date
2021-11-01
Completion date
2022-04-28
Last updated
2022-07-27

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

Conditions

Cancer, Healthy Subjects, Neoplasms

Keywords

Fasting, Caloric restriction, Immunomodulation, Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocytes, Fasting Mimicking Diet

Brief summary

Fasting or a Fasting Mimicking diet (FMD) can lower blood concentration of glucose and IGF1. Since cancer cells rely mostly on a glucose-based metabolism, FMD renders cancer cells more vulnerable to chemotherapy, thereby enhancing therapeutic efficacy. This process is known as differential stress sensitization (DSS). Another response to nutritional stress by fasting is known as differential stress resistance (DSR). DSR is a state in which healthy cells rather focus resources on protection and internal repair, which can result in reduced chemotherapeutic toxicity. Recent preclinical studies found that fasting or FMD not only aids healthy cell protection, but also has the potential to benefit effector T-cells and could thereby improve antitumor immunity. However in most oncotherapeutic clinical trials investigating the addition of a fasting regimen, other factors such as chemotherapy, surgery and additional medication affect the immune system as well. That is why this explorative study, conducted in healthy subjects, might be more suitable to investigate the immunological alterations upon FMD more specifically. This exploratory study aims to identify immunological alterations by using extensive immunoprofiling before and after three days of FMD in healthy subjects, as well as investigate possible side effects of FMD.

Interventions

Low-caloric, low-protein, plant-based diet regiment for 3 days

Sponsors

Leiden University Medical Center
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
NA
Intervention model
SINGLE_GROUP
Primary purpose
BASIC_SCIENCE
Masking
NONE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
Yes

Inclusion criteria

* ≥18 years old * BMI ≥18.5 and ≤25kg/m2

Exclusion criteria

* Chronic disease or active infection * Medication use other than contraceptive, during the last 12 weeks prior to inclusion. * A history of allergy * Blood or plasma donation in the last 12 weeks prior to inclusion. * Participation in other medical research in the last 12 weeks prior to inclusion.

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Change in gene expression signature in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) after overnight fast and after completion of 2 cycles of fasting mimicking diet compared to baseline.4 weeksPBMCs are retrieved from whole blood samples. Gene expression signature is retrieved from PBMCs using RNA-Nanostring technique with the Pancancer IO 360 panel. The Nanostring will report RNA counts for a panel of 770 genes, including 40 housekeeping genes. The data will be normalized on the 40 housekeeping genes for internal control using Nanostring nSolver software. The fold change from baseline to overnight fast and after completion of second fasting mimicking diet will provide insight in affected pathways as well as metabolic and immune signatures.

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Change in immune cell properties from PBMCs after overnight fast and after 2 cycles of fasting mimicking diet compared to baseline.6 monthsPBMCs retrieved from whole blood samples will be analysed with a 40-plex Aurora flowcytometry panel with markers for T cells and myeloid cells. The flow cytometry will generate frequencies of the different immune cell markers,. A comparison of the frequency data between blood samples will determine change in immune cell properties. This analysis will be used to confirm and complement gene expression signature findings on a protein level.
Change in plasma concentration of IGF1, glucose and ketone bodies (Beta-hydroxybutyric acid) after overnight fast and after completion of 2 cycles of fasting mimicking diet compared to baseline.4 weeksMeasured in blood plasma taken at 3 time points.
Percentage of participants reporting adverse events as assessed by CTCAE v5.0 during fasting mimicking diet8 weeksDescriptive analysis of adverse events by type and grade according to NCI CTCAE v5.0 experienced by participants during fasting mimicking diet assessed after second cycle on day 22.

Countries

Netherlands

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Aug 5, 2026