Studies how the gut handles fructose in healthy and obese adults
Compares fructose handling by the small intestine in people with obesity and healthy people.
Key facts
- Who runs it
- Touro University, California
- Where
- Vallejo, United StatesSee the site
- Trial code
- Registry title
- Fructose Intestinal Gluconeogenesis
- Status
- Recruiting
- People taking part
- 40 people, planned
- Started
- 2 Mar 2026
- Expected to end
- Jun 2030
- Type of study
- Interventional, 4 groups
- Treatments tested
- High fructose meal
- Low fructose meal
- 13C labeled fructose, oral
- 13C labeled fructose, intravenous
- Record updated
- 6 March 2026
Who can take part
AI summary
From the trial's eligibility criteria. Machine-read from the registry text on this page, so it can be wrong. The registry text below and the trial team decide who can take part.
The trial is looking for adults with obesity or lean adults who are otherwise healthy, to study how the gut and liver handle fructose.
- Age
- 20 Years to 55 Years
- Sex
- All sexes can join.
- Disease stage
- Two groups: BMI 30 to 38 kg/m2 (obese group) or BMI 19 to 25 kg/m2 (lean group).
- Earlier treatment
- No anti-diabetic or fat-lowering medicines in the past six months. No surgery for obesity.
Main reasons for not taking part
- Pregnancy or breastfeeding within the past six months
- Type 1 or 2 diabetes
- History of liver disease, kidney disease stage 3 or higher, or dialysis
- HIV or hepatitis B or C infection
- Hereditary fructose intolerance, galactosemia or fructose malabsorption
The registry criteria, word for word
Show all 13 criteriaShow less
Who can take part
- BMI 30 to 38 kg/m2 (obese group) or BMI 19 to 25 kg/m2 (lean group)
Who cannot take part
- Use of any anti-diabetic medications or hypolipidemic agents in the past six months
- Report of HIV or hepatitis B or C infection
- History of cancer, other than basal cell or squamous cell carcinoma or kidney disease stage 3 or higher or patients currently on dialysis
- History of surgical procedure for obesity
- History of other conditions known to affect insulin sensitivity and lipid metabolism (e.g., polycystic ovary syndrome), history of galactosemia, hereditary fructose intolerance, or who test positive for fructose malabsorption at screening
- Type 1 or 2 diabetes mellitus (including fasting glucose ≥126 mg/dL, HgbA1c ≥6.5%)
- History of liver disease or AST and ALT 2x above the upper limit of normal
- Fasting triglyceride > 300 mg/dl; total cholesterol levels above the 95th percentile for age and sex
- Hemoglobin (Hgb) <12.5g/d or hematocrit<3x Hgb value
- Pregnancy or lactation within the past six months
- Change in body weight >5% in the past six months (by self-report)
- Known intolerance to acetaminophen
Check if you might fit
Answer for yourself. This is not a decision: only the study team can say whether you can take part.
- Are you between 20 and 55 years old?
Where in United States
- Touro University CaliforniaVallejo, United StatesContact: Sally Chiu, PhDTaking people
About the trial
What the trial wants to find out
This study will test the hypothesis that within a defined range of fructose intake, the ability to convert fructose to glucose (via gluconeogenesis) in the small intestine plays a protective role for the liver, shielding it from the deleterious effects of fructose. We will investigate whether this protective effect of the intestine is impaired in individuals with obesity.
The 4 groups in the trial
- High fructose meals, oral 13C fructoseTreatment being tested
Liquid meals will be fed, containing 55% total carbohydrate (16% fructose), 30% fat, 15% protein, and a tracer amount of 13C fructose.
Treatment: High fructose meal and 13C labeled fructose, oral
- High Fructose Meals, IV 13C FructoseTreatment being tested
Liquid meals will be fed, containing 55% total carbohydrate (16% fructose), 30% fat, 15% protein. A tracer amount of 13C fructose will be administered intravenously.
Treatment: High fructose meal and 13C labeled fructose, intravenous
- Low fructose meals, oral fructose tracerTreatment being tested
Liquid meals will be fed, containing 55% total carbohydrate (6% fructose), 30% fat, 15% protein, and a tracer amount of 13C fructose.
Treatment: Low fructose meal and 13C labeled fructose, oral
- Low fructose meals, IV 13C fructose tracerTreatment being tested
Liquid meals will be fed, containing 55% total carbohydrate (6% fructose), 30% fat, 15% protein. A tracer amount of 13C fructose will be administered intravenously.
Treatment: Low fructose meal and 13C labeled fructose, intravenous
Questions to ask the study team
- How often do I need to come in, and for how long each time?
- Are travel costs paid?
- Can I keep my own doctor?
- What happens if I want to stop?
Contact the study team: see the registry record → Contacts and Locations
Print a page for my doctorData and sources
- Registry record
- Listed on ClinicalTrials.gov.
- Official title
- Fructose Metabolism Effects on the Liver: Unraveling the Role of Defective Intestinal GNG in Individuals With Obesity
- Plain-language title
- Studies how the gut handles fructose in healthy and obese adultsGenerated from the registry record. The registry title is the official one.
- AI summary
- From the trial's eligibility criteria. Read by machine on 12 November 2026.
- Fit questions
- Built from NCT07209202, who can take part
- Record updated
- 6 March 2026