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Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Coeliac Disease: a Series of Studies

Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Coeliac Disease: a Series of Studies

Status
Recruiting
Phases
NA
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT05530070
Acronym
ARCTIC
Enrollment
190
Registered
2022-09-07
Start date
2022-09-01
Completion date
2026-12-31
Last updated
2025-01-22

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

Conditions

Coeliac Disease

Keywords

coeliac disease, cardiovascular risk, body composition, dietary intervention

Brief summary

This investigation examines the most important cardiovascular risk factors (e.g., metabolic parameters, body composition) and their changes in coeliac disease. The series of studies allow to assess body composition and cardiovascular risk-related metabolic parameters of newly diagnosed and treated coeliac patients in their complexity and to test if they change during therapy. The interventional part of the investigation aims to answer the question if a dietary intervention mitigates the unfavorable effects of unbalanced diet.

Detailed description

The global prevalence of coeliac disease (CD) is increasing, which contributes to the disease's significant public health care burden. Body composition and metabolic parameters of coeliac patients differ from the healthy population. Patients with non-classical CD are not necessarily lean; they usually have normal body weight but can be even overweight or obese. In coeliac patients, bodyweight tends to elevate, whereas the body composition changes unfavourably during a gluten-free diet (GFD). A reason for gaining weight is the improvement of malabsorption but an important contributor is the nutrient composition of the GFD, which generally has a high calorie density with high carbohydrate and fat content while being low in fibre. While terminating or mitigating the inflammatory process - if done without adequate dietary control - a GFD can readily lead to weight gain and unfavourably metabolic consequences (e.g., dyslipidemia, fatty liver disease, insulin resistance). The result can be an increase in cardiovascular risk in CD patients with a normal or high body weight at diagnosis. However, limited information is available on the cardiovascular (CV) risk in coeliac disease, and the data are controversial. This study examines the body composition and cardiovascular risk-related metabolic parameters at the diagnosis and on a gluten-free diet in a Hungarian cohort of CD patients. The randomised controlled trial (RCT) investigates the effect of structured, repeated, group-based dietary education on the examined metabolic parameters and body composition. This study aims to draw attention to a new aspect of the management of CD patients: from a metabolic and cardiovascular point of view. Findings will help to identify which parameters are beneficial to optimize and re-assess during follow-up in CD.

Interventions

OTHERDietary intervention

Patients will participate in a structured, group-based dietary counseling. Consultations will be organized online (Zoom meeting) lasting approximately 60 min/occasion. The intervention will include 6 sessions for 1 year (monthly for 5 months and finally at month 9). The aim of the counseling is to maintain a GFD and to develop a healthy lifestyle, in line with the Mediterranean diet.

OTHERStandard of care

Patients will receive standard of care and baseline dietary education.

DIAGNOSTIC_TESTCardiovascular risk-related parameters

Anthropometric measurements (body height, body composition assessment-InBody 770), questionnaires (symptoms, quality of life, dietary adherence, diet quality, cardiovascular risk), assessment of sarcopenia (handgrip dynamometer), urine collection (dietary adherence - urine gluten immunogenic peptide detection), blood collection (immunological tests, hormone levels complemented with routine laboratory panel), transabdominal US examination to assess the extent of fatty liver disease.

Sponsors

University of Pecs
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
PREVENTION
Masking
DOUBLE (Caregiver, Outcomes Assessor)

Masking description

Due to the nature of the study, the blinding of the participants is not possible. The blinding of the physicians, data managers and statisticians will be secured.

Intervention model description

This trial is a series of three multicentric studies. It includes 1) a case-control study, which compares newly diagnosed CD patients (n=37) and CD patients on a GFD (n=99) to matched non-coeliac control subjects (n=136); 2) a prospective cohort study, which investigates how the outcomes change during a 1-year GFD started after diagnosis of CD (n=236); 3) an RCT, which investigates how a dietetic intervention (n=95) influences the outcomes, compared to standard of care (n=95), in CD patients following a strict GFD for at least 1 year. There will be no intervention for the sake of the study in the case-control and the cohort study. Parameters of interest will be assessed only once in the case-control study and twice in the cohort study. In the RCT, randomization will be carried out after the baseline dietary education and interview, in 1:1 allocation ratio. Parameters will be recorded at baseline and the end of the study.

Eligibility

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

Inclusion criteria

(applies to all subjects): * Age should be over 18 years. * Blood collection must be indicated with medical conditions. * Signed informed consent. Inclusion Criteria (applies to specific cohorts of patients): * The diagnosis of CD should be set up according to the current guidelines (based on serology and histology in adults or as per the European Society for Paediatric Gastroenterology Hepatology and Nutrition (ESPGHAN) guideline in children). * The newly diagnosed CD patients should be on a gluten-containing diet. * Patients following a GFD for at least 1 year should exhibit good dietary adherence. * In the randomized controlled trial (RCT), strict dietary adherence will be established based on CD-specific serology (normal level of antibodies), urine gluten immunogenic peptides (negative urine test), and dietary interview (convincing knowledge on the GFD and positive attitude towards strict adherence). Adherence to the mediterranean diet should be suboptimal (≤ 8 Medietrranean Diet Score). RCT-patients must have internet access and must be capable to attend the online sessions for 1 year. * Control subjects should be free from CD according to the recent guidelines and should be on a gluten-containing diet.

Exclusion criteria

* Chronic conditions: * Estimated glomerular filtration rate calculated with the Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology Collaboration (CKD-EPI) formula is \<60mL/min/1.73m2 (CKD3 or more severe kidney failure). * Liver cirrhosis in Child-Pugh class B-C. * Heart failure (New York Heart Association (NYHA) III-IV). * Active malignant diseases. * Any acute diseases or acute deterioration of underlying chronic conditions. * Diseases that may be associated with clinically relevant malabsorption. * Refractory CD. * Pregnancy, lactation. * Patients unable to understand the essentials of the informed consent. * Lack of consent or withdrawal of consent.

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Percent body fat1 yearPercent body fat in percentage measured by an InBody 770 body composition analyzer.

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Calcium level1 yearCalcium level in mmol/L.
Vitamin D1 yearVitamin D level in ng/mL.
Vitamin B121 yearVitamin B12 level in pg/mL.
Folic acid level1 yearFolic acid level in µg/L.
Iron level1 yearIron level in µmol/L.
Ferritin level1 yearFerritin level in µg/L.
Alanine aminotransferase level1 yearAlanine aminotransferase in U/L.
Fibrosis-4 (FIB-4) Index1 yearFIB-4 Index for liver fibrosis.
Total protein level1 yearTotal protein level in g/L.
Albumin level1 yearAlbumin level in g/L.
Immunoglobulins1 yearImmunoglobulins in U/mL.
Ghrelin levels1 yearGhrelin levels in pg/mL.
Adiponectin levels1 yearAdiponectin levels in µg/mL.
Galectin-3 levels1 yearGalectin-3 levels in ng/mL.
High-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) level1 yearhs-CRP level in mg/L.
Fibrinogen level1 yearFibrinogen level in g/L.
Blood counts1 yearBlood counts in Giga/L.
Homocysteine levels1 yearHomocysteine levels in µmol/L.
Interleukin-6 levels1 yearInterleukin-6 levels in ng/L.
Leptin levels1 yearLeptin levels in ng/mL.
Transferrin level1 yearTransferrin level in g/L.
Transferrin saturation1 yearTransferrin saturation in percentage.
International Normalized Ratio (INR)1 yearINR
Aspartate aminotransferase level1 yearAspartate aminotransferase level in U/L.
Sarcopenia1 yearSarcopenia will be assessed based on body composition and handgrip strength via handgrip dynamometer.
Triglyceride level1 yearTriglyceride level in mmol/L.
Cholesterol level1 yearCholesterol (total, HDL and LDL lipoproteins) level in mmol/L.
Fasting glucose level1 yearFasting glucose level in mmol/L.
Fasting insulin level1 yearFasting insulin level in mmol/L.
Haemoglobin (Hb) A1c level1 yearHbA1c level in percentage.
Homeostasis Model Assessment (HOMA) index1 yearHOMA index
Bilirubin level1 yearBilirubin level in µmol/L.
Uric acid level1 yearUric acid µmol/L.
Urea level1 yearUrea level in mmol/L.
Creatinine level1 yearCreatinine level in µmol/L.
Waist circumference1 yearCV risk assessment will be performed by measuring waist circumference in centimeters.
Blood pressure1 yearCV risk assessment will be performed by measuring blood pressure in Hgmm.
Fatty liver disease1 yearTransabdominal ultrasonography will be used to assess the extent of fatty liver disease (based on non-alcoholic fatty liver disease-liver fat score (NAFLD-LFS), with a score range of 0-3).
Cardiovascular risk assessment1 yearCV risk assessment will be performed by the Systematic Coronary Risk Evaluation (SCORE) chart.
Coeliac disease-related symptoms1 yearCD-related symptoms will be assessed by the Celiac Symptom Index (CSI).
Coeliac disease-specific quality of life1 yearCD-specific quality of life questionnaire will be also used (Celiac Disease Quality of Life (CD-QoL).
Disease activity1 yearDisease activity will be estimated by tissue transglutaminase (tTG) levels.
Sodium level1 yearSodium level in mmol/L.
Dietary interview1 yearDietary adherence will be determined by dietary interview provided by an expertise dietitian.
Celiac Disease Adherence Test1 yearDietary adherence will be determined by the Celiac Disease Adherence Test (CDAT).
Coeliac-specific antibodies1 yearDietary adherence will be determined by coeliac-specific antibodies (tissue transglutaminase (tTG) immunoglobulin (Ig) A/IgG and endomysium antibody levels (EMA) IgA) in U/mL.
Urine gluten immunogenic peptide1 yearDietary adherence will be determined by urine gluten immunogenic peptide (GIP) measurement.
Diet composition1 yearThe composition of a GFD will be evaluated with the indicator of adherence to the Mediterranean diet, the Mediterranean Diet Score (MDS).
Potassium level1 yearPotassium level in mmol/L.
Body weight1 yearWeight in kilograms measured by an InBody 770 body composition analyzer.
Body mass index1 yearBody mass index in kg/m2 calculated by an InBody 770 body composition analyzer.
Body fat mass1 yearBody fat mass in kilograms measured by an InBody 770 body composition analyzer.
Skeletal muscle mass1 yearSkeletal muscle mass in kilograms measured by an InBody 770 body composition analyzer.
Visceral fat area1 yearVisceral fat area in cm2 measured by an InBody 770 body composition analyzer.
Total body water1 yearTotal body water in liters measured by an InBody 770 body composition analyzer.
Body height1 yearHeight in centimeters measured by a stadiometer.

Countries

Hungary

Contacts

Primary ContactJudit Bajor, MD, PhD
bajor.judit@pte.hu+36 72 536 000

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 8, 2026