Walnuts and Healthy Aging

NCT ID: NCT01634841

Last Updated: 2021-06-24

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

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Recruitment Status

COMPLETED

Clinical Phase

NA

Total Enrollment

708 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2012-04-30

Study Completion Date

2016-05-31

Brief Summary

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This will be a systematic investigation of the role of walnuts in preventing or slowing age related cognitive decline and age related macular degeneration. 700 subjects will be recruited between 2 sites, Loma Linda University in California, USA and Hospital Clinic in Barcelona, Spain. Participants will be randomly assigned to either the walnut group or the control group for a 2 year intervention. Baseline and annual data will be collected and analyzed.

Detailed Description

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Epidemiological studies suggest that nutrients such as n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid, antioxidants and B-vitamins may protect against age related cognitive decline. Small human studies have shown beneficial effects of polyphenol rich foods on cognition and age related macular degeneration. Walnuts are a rich source of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid, alpha-linolenic acid, antioxidants, polyphenols and other bioactive compounds. A 2-year intervention will be conducted with healthy, elderly subjects to investigate the role of walnuts in preventing or slowing age related cognitive decline and age related macular degeneration.

350 subjects, age 63 to 79 years, will be recruited at each of 2 sites, Loma Linda University in California and Hospital Clinic in Barcelona. Participants will be randomly assigned to one of two groups: walnut group (habitual diet with 1 or 2 oz/d walnut supplement) or control group (habitual diet only). At baseline and yearly, cardiometabolic risk factors, red blood cell membrane fatty acids, urinary polyphenols and biomarkers of inflammation and oxidation will be measured. Eye exam, blood pressure and cognitive function tests will be measured at the beginning and end of 2 years. At the Barcelona site only, participants will be given a brain MRI and carotid ultrasound.

Descriptive results will be reported as mean plus/minus standard deviation. Primary analysis will be carried out on the basis of groups as randomly assigned. Results will be presented as appropriate effect sizes with a measure of precision (95% CI). Analysis of covariates gender, age, educational status will be conducted.

Conditions

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Age Related Cognitive Decline Age Related Macular Degeneration

Study Design

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Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

PARALLEL

Primary Study Purpose

PREVENTION

Blinding Strategy

SINGLE

Investigators

Study Groups

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Walnut group

This group will have their habitual diet supplemented with 30 to 45g (1 to 1.5 oz) of walnuts daily.

Group Type ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Walnuts

Intervention Type DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT

30 to 60g (1 to 2 oz) per day of walnuts

Control group

This group will eat their habitual diet and refrain from eating walnuts.

Group Type ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

habitual diet

Intervention Type OTHER

Dietary information will be provided

Interventions

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Walnuts

30 to 60g (1 to 2 oz) per day of walnuts

Intervention Type DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT

habitual diet

Dietary information will be provided

Intervention Type OTHER

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

* 63 to 79 years old
* healthy men and women
* able to attend clinic at a study sites

Exclusion Criteria

* illiteracy or inability to understand the protocol
* unable to undergo neurophysiological tests
* morbid obesity (BMI greater than or equal to ≥ 40 kg/m2)
* uncontrolled diabetes (HbA1c\>85)
* uncontrolled hypertension
* prior cerebrovascular accident
* any relevant psychiatric illness, including major depression
* advanced cognitive deterioration, dementia
* other neurodegenerative diseases (i.e. Parkinson's disease)
* any chronic illness expected to shorten survival (heart, liver, cancer, etc)
* bereavement in the first year of loss
* bad dentures unless fixable dental prostheses are used
* allergy to walnuts
* customary us of fish oil or flaxseed oil supplements
Minimum Eligible Age

63 Years

Maximum Eligible Age

79 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Sponsors

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University of Barcelona

OTHER

Sponsor Role collaborator

California Walnut Commission

OTHER

Sponsor Role collaborator

Loma Linda University

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

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Joan Sabate,DrPH, MD

Principal Investigator, Chair, Department of Nutrition

Responsibility Role PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

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Joan Sabate, MD, DrPH

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Chair, Department of Nutrition

Emilio Ros, MD, PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Director Lipid Clinic, Endocrinology & Nutrition Service

Locations

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Loma Linda University, Department of Nutrition

Loma Linda, California, United States

Site Status

Hospital Clinic, University of Barcelona

Barcelona, , Spain

Site Status

Countries

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United States Spain

References

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Cofan M, Checa A, Serra-Mir M, Roth I, Valls-Pedret C, Lopez-Illamola A, Domenech M, Rajaram S, Lazaro I, Sabate J, Ros E, Wheelock CE, Sala-Vila A. A Walnut-Enriched Diet for 2 Years Changes the Serum Oxylipin Profile in Healthy Older Persons. J Nutr. 2024 Feb;154(2):395-402. doi: 10.1016/j.tjnut.2023.12.007. Epub 2023 Dec 9.

Reference Type DERIVED
PMID: 38081585 (View on PubMed)

Fjell AM, Sorensen O, Wang Y, Amlien IK, Baare WFC, Bartres-Faz D, Boraxbekk CJ, Brandmaier AM, Demuth I, Drevon CA, Ebmeier KP, Ghisletta P, Kievit R, Kuhn S, Madsen KS, Nyberg L, Sole-Padulles C, Vidal-Pineiro D, Wagner G, Watne LO, Walhovd KB. Is Short Sleep Bad for the Brain? Brain Structure and Cognitive Function in Short Sleepers. J Neurosci. 2023 Jul 12;43(28):5241-5250. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2330-22.2023. Epub 2023 Jun 26.

Reference Type DERIVED
PMID: 37365003 (View on PubMed)

Nyberg L, Magnussen F, Lundquist A, Baare W, Bartres-Faz D, Bertram L, Boraxbekk CJ, Brandmaier AM, Drevon CA, Ebmeier K, Ghisletta P, Henson RN, Junque C, Kievit R, Kleemeyer M, Knights E, Kuhn S, Lindenberger U, Penninx BWJH, Pudas S, Sorensen O, Vaque-Alcazar L, Walhovd KB, Fjell AM. Educational attainment does not influence brain aging. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2021 May 4;118(18):e2101644118. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2101644118.

Reference Type DERIVED
PMID: 33903255 (View on PubMed)

Fjell AM, Sorensen O, Amlien IK, Bartres-Faz D, Brandmaier AM, Buchmann N, Demuth I, Drevon CA, Duzel S, Ebmeier KP, Ghisletta P, Idland AV, Kietzmann TC, Kievit RA, Kuhn S, Lindenberger U, Magnussen F, Macia D, Mowinckel AM, Nyberg L, Sexton CE, Sole-Padulles C, Pudas S, Roe JM, Sederevicius D, Suri S, Vidal-Pineiro D, Wagner G, Watne LO, Westerhausen R, Zsoldos E, Walhovd KB. Poor Self-Reported Sleep is Related to Regional Cortical Thinning in Aging but not Memory Decline-Results From the Lifebrain Consortium. Cereb Cortex. 2021 Mar 5;31(4):1953-1969. doi: 10.1093/cercor/bhaa332.

Reference Type DERIVED
PMID: 33236064 (View on PubMed)

Sorensen O, Brandmaier AM, Macia D, Ebmeier K, Ghisletta P, Kievit RA, Mowinckel AM, Walhovd KB, Westerhausen R, Fjell A. Meta-analysis of generalized additive models in neuroimaging studies. Neuroimage. 2021 Jan 1;224:117416. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2020.117416. Epub 2020 Oct 2.

Reference Type DERIVED
PMID: 33017652 (View on PubMed)

Hooper L, Martin N, Jimoh OF, Kirk C, Foster E, Abdelhamid AS. Reduction in saturated fat intake for cardiovascular disease. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2020 Aug 21;8(8):CD011737. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD011737.pub3.

Reference Type DERIVED
PMID: 32827219 (View on PubMed)

Hooper L, Martin N, Jimoh OF, Kirk C, Foster E, Abdelhamid AS. Reduction in saturated fat intake for cardiovascular disease. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2020 May 19;5(5):CD011737. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD011737.pub2.

Reference Type DERIVED
PMID: 32428300 (View on PubMed)

Sala-Vila A, Valls-Pedret C, Rajaram S, Coll-Padros N, Cofan M, Serra-Mir M, Perez-Heras AM, Roth I, Freitas-Simoes TM, Domenech M, Calvo C, Lopez-Illamola A, Bitok E, Buxton NK, Huey L, Arechiga A, Oda K, Lee GJ, Corella D, Vaque-Alcazar L, Sala-Llonch R, Bartres-Faz D, Sabate J, Ros E. Effect of a 2-year diet intervention with walnuts on cognitive decline. The Walnuts And Healthy Aging (WAHA) study: a randomized controlled trial. Am J Clin Nutr. 2020 Mar 1;111(3):590-600. doi: 10.1093/ajcn/nqz328.

Reference Type DERIVED
PMID: 31912155 (View on PubMed)

Bartres-Faz D, Gonzalez-Escamilla G, Vaque-Alcazar L, Abellaneda-Perez K, Valls-Pedret C, Ros E, Grothe MJ. Characterizing the Molecular Architecture of Cortical Regions Associated with High Educational Attainment in Older Individuals. J Neurosci. 2019 Jun 5;39(23):4566-4575. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2370-18.2019. Epub 2019 Apr 8.

Reference Type DERIVED
PMID: 30962275 (View on PubMed)

Domenech M, Serra-Mir M, Roth I, Freitas-Simoes T, Valls-Pedret C, Cofan M, Lopez A, Sala-Vila A, Calvo C, Rajaram S, Sabate J, Ros E. Effect of a Walnut Diet on Office and 24-Hour Ambulatory Blood Pressure in Elderly Individuals. Hypertension. 2019 May;73(5):1049-1057. doi: 10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.118.12766.

Reference Type DERIVED
PMID: 30879358 (View on PubMed)

Freitas-Simoes TM, Cofan M, Blasco MA, Soberon N, Foronda M, Corella D, Asensio EM, Serra-Mir M, Roth I, Calvo C, Valls-Pedret C, Casaroli-Marano RP, Domenech M, Rajaram S, Sabate J, Ros E, Sala-Vila A. The red blood cell proportion of arachidonic acid relates to shorter leukocyte telomeres in Mediterranean elders: A secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial. Clin Nutr. 2019 Apr;38(2):958-961. doi: 10.1016/j.clnu.2018.02.011. Epub 2018 Feb 17.

Reference Type DERIVED
PMID: 29478886 (View on PubMed)

Rajaram S, Valls-Pedret C, Cofan M, Sabate J, Serra-Mir M, Perez-Heras AM, Arechiga A, Casaroli-Marano RP, Alforja S, Sala-Vila A, Domenech M, Roth I, Freitas-Simoes TM, Calvo C, Lopez-Illamola A, Haddad E, Bitok E, Kazzi N, Huey L, Fan J, Ros E. The Walnuts and Healthy Aging Study (WAHA): Protocol for a Nutritional Intervention Trial with Walnuts on Brain Aging. Front Aging Neurosci. 2017 Jan 10;8:333. doi: 10.3389/fnagi.2016.00333. eCollection 2016.

Reference Type DERIVED
PMID: 28119602 (View on PubMed)

Fernandez-Cabello S, Valls-Pedret C, Schurz M, Vidal-Pineiro D, Sala-Llonch R, Bargallo N, Ros E, Bartres-Faz D. White matter hyperintensities and cognitive reserve during a working memory task: a functional magnetic resonance imaging study in cognitively normal older adults. Neurobiol Aging. 2016 Dec;48:23-33. doi: 10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2016.08.008. Epub 2016 Aug 20.

Reference Type DERIVED
PMID: 27636672 (View on PubMed)

Vaque-Alcazar L, Sala-Llonch R, Valls-Pedret C, Vidal-Pineiro D, Fernandez-Cabello S, Bargallo N, Ros E, Bartres-Faz D. Differential age-related gray and white matter impact mediates educational influence on elders' cognition. Brain Imaging Behav. 2017 Apr;11(2):318-332. doi: 10.1007/s11682-016-9584-8.

Reference Type DERIVED
PMID: 27535872 (View on PubMed)

Other Identifiers

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670715-3833

Identifier Type: OTHER

Identifier Source: secondary_id

5120066

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id

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