Could a High-Fat diet help Alzheimer's patients?
NCT ID NCT06681948
First seen Jun 27, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026
Summary
This completed trial tested a ketogenic diet (high-fat, low-carb) in 32 people with mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease. Participants followed the diet or a placebo for 26 weeks. Researchers measured changes in cognitive function using a standard test. The goal was to see if the diet is safe and can slow memory decline.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- ketogenic diet (high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet)
- What this could lead to
- If it works, this could point toward a dietary approach to slow cognitive decline in Alzheimer's disease.
- What could go wrong
- This is a very small, early-phase trial with only 32 participants. The results may not be conclusive or generalizable. Dietary interventions can be hard to maintain long-term.
This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.
Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
-
Not a phased trial
Phase numbers describe drug development. The registry uses this when they do not apply, as it does for trials of devices, procedures or behaviour changes, and for observational studies.
- Participants
-
32 people
The number who actually took part.
- Started
-
Feb 2024
- Finished
-
Nov 2025
- Lead sponsor
-
Other sponsor
The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
- Ages
-
50 to 85 years
- Sex
-
Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
-
Not accepted
This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.
Show the full entry requirements Hide the full entry requirements
Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria: 1. Subject is between the ages of 50 - 85; 2. Subject must have completed the sixth grade of primary school (or its equivalent) and capable of completing the cognitive ability assessments and other tests as stipulated in the protocol; 3. Meeting the diagnostic criteria for probable AD dementia of the National Institute on Aging and the Alzheimer's Association (NIA-AA) (2011); 4. Having experienced memory decline for at least 12 months and a slow progressive trend; 5. Subject with mild to moderate disease severity, specifically those who meet the following criteria at the screening visit and baseline: 11 points ≤ Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) total score \< 26 points (for subjects with primary school education, 11 points ≤ MMSE total score ≤ 22 points); 1 point ≤ Clinical Dementia Rating Scale (CDR) total score ≤ 2 points; 6. Total score on the Hachinski Ischemic Scale (HIS) ≤ 4 points; 7. Total score on the Hamilton Depression Scale (HAMD, 17-item version) ≤ 17 points; 8. At the screening visit or within the past 6 months, subject must undergo a brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) plain scan and oblique coronal hippocampal scan: ①Showing high likelihood of AD (Visual Rating Scale of Medial Temporal Lobe Atrophy \[MTA Scale\] grade: Grade 1 or higher is considered abnormal); ②No infarct lesions in key areas such as the thalamus, hippocampus, entorhinal cortex, parahippocampal cortex, angular gyrus, cortex, and other subcortical gray matter nuclei; ③The grade on the Brain White Matter Lesion Rating Scale (Fazekas Scale) ≤ 2. If the patient can provide the results of the brain MRI oblique coronal hippocampal scan that meet the protocol requirements within 6 months prior to the screening visit, it can be used as the basis for enrollment and does not need to be repeated. If the researcher is unable to determine whether the subject's condition has changed, additional brain MRI plain scan and oblique coronal hippocampal scan can be conducted prior to enrollment. 9. Female patients must be postmenopausal women (postmenopause ≥ 24 weeks), have undergone surgical sterilization, or fertile women who agree to take effective contraceptive measures during the study. Fertile women or patients with a postmenopausal period shorter than 24 weeks must undergo a urine pregnancy test during the screening period, and the result must be negative; 10. Subjects are required to be receiving stable and regular anti-dementia drug treatment for more than 1 month at the first screening; 11. The subject should have a stable and reliable caregiver who can provide care for at least 4 days per week, with at least 4 hours per day. The caregiver will assist the subject throughout the study and must accompany the subject to each study visit, ensuring sufficient interaction and communication with the subject to facilitate the researcher in completing the relevant scale evaluations. 12. Prior to the screening visit examination, the subject must sign a written informed consent form. If the subject cannot sign due to limited cognitive ability or other reasons, the signature may be left blank, and the rationale must be stated. The legal guardian should provide the reason, sign the name, date, and time in the reason description area, and also sign the name, date, and time in the legal guardian column. Exclusion Criteria: 1. Dementia caused by other factors: vascular dementia, central nervous system infections (such as AIDS, syphilis, etc.), Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, Huntington's disease and Parkinson's disease, Lewy body dementia, traumatic brain injury dementia, other physical and chemical factors (such as drug poisoning, alcohol poisoning, carbon monoxide poisoning, etc.), significant somatic diseases (such as hepatic encephalopathy, pulmonary encephalopathy, etc.), intracranial space-occupying lesions (such as subdural hematoma, brain tumors), endocrine system disorders (such as thyroid diseases, parathyroid diseases) and dementia caused by vitamin deficiency or any other known causes; 2. Fasting blood glucose \> 7.0 mmol/L or patients previously diagnosed with diabetes; 3. Having suffered from neurological diseases other than Alzheimer's disease, including cerebrovascular diseases, neurodegenerative diseases, central nervous system infections, demyelinating diseases, movement disorders, epilepsy, spinal cord diseases, peripheral neuropathy, autonomic nervous system diseases, neuromuscular junction and muscle diseases; 4. Patients diagnosed with psychiatric conditions according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5), including schizophrenia or other mental illnesses, bipolar disorder, moderate to severe depression or delirium; 5. Abnormal laboratory tests at screening visit and baseline: including liver function tests (alanine aminotransferase \[ALT\], aspartate aminotransferase \[AST\]) exceeding twice the upper limit of normal; and renal function (creatinine \[Cr\]) exceeding 1.5 times the upper limit of normal. Slight exceedances that are not clinically significance, as judged by the investigator, may not be excluded; 6. Fasting triglycerides ≥ 5.7 mmol/L or total cholesterol ≥ 10.34 mmol/L at the screening visit and baseline; 7. Presence any of the following infections at the screening visit: Positive human immunodeficiency virus antibody (HIV Ab); Positive Treponema pallidum antibody (TP Ab); 8. Other active and poorly controlled systemic severe bacterial, viral, fungal or parasitic infections (excluding fungal nail infections) that the investigator deems unsuitable for participation in this clinical study, such as sepsis, pyemia, bacteremia, and pneumonia caused by novel coronavirus infection; 9. Gastrointestinal diseases that could affect the absorption or metabolism of the investigational product as judged by the investigator, within 2 months before the screening visit; 10. Having undergone major surgeries deemed unsuitable for enrollment by the investigator within 6 months before the screening visit or those planning to undergo major surgeries during the study period (The definition of major surgeries refers to Grade 3 and Grade 4 surgeries as outlined in the "Administrative Measures for Grading of Surgeries in Medical Institutions (Trial)" implemented on December 6, 2022); 11. Patients who have suffered from malignant tumors within 3 years prior to the screening visit (excluding basal cell carcinoma of the skin that has been radically cured, squamous cell carcinoma of the skin and/or carcinoma in situ that has been radically resected); 12. Having a history of alcohol or drug abuse within 1 year prior to the screening visit; 13. Known allergy to any components of the investigational product in this study; 14. Having uncorrectable visual or auditory impairments or any other conditions that would affect the assessment of the scale; 15. Lactating women; 16. Contraindications to JT821: Absolute contraindications: 1. Type 1 diabetes 2. Primary carnitine deficiency (Laboratory tests: Hypoglycemia with low ketone levels, elevated creatine kinase (CK), etc.) 3. Carnitine palmitoyltransferase (CPT) I and II deficiency (Laboratory tests: Hypoglycemia with low ketone levels, elevated transaminases, CK, elevated blood ammonia, tandem mass spectrometry for measurement of blood acylcarnitine profile, etc.) 4. Carnitine translocase deficiency (Laboratory tests: Hypoglycemia with low ketone levels, elevated transaminases, CK, elevated blood ammonia, tandem mass spectrometry for measurement of blood acylcarnitine profile, etc.) 5. β-Oxidation disorders (Laboratory tests: Blood glucose, electrolytes, blood lipids, coagulation, liver function, kidney function) 6. Medium-chain acyl dehydrogenase deficiency (MCAD) (Laboratory tests: Hypoglycemia with low ketone levels, elevated transaminases, CK, elevated blood ammonia, metabolic acidosis, tandem mass spectrometry for measurement of blood acylcarnitine profile, etc.) 7. Long-chain acyl dehydrogenase deficiency (LCAD) (Laboratory tests: Hypoglycemia with low ketone levels, elevated transaminases, CK, elevated creatine kinase isoenzyme (CK-MB) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), tandem mass spectrometry for measurement of blood acylcarnitine profile) 8. Short-chain acyl dehydrogenase deficiency (SCAD) (Laboratory tests: Tandem mass spectrometry for measurement of blood acylcarnitine profile, determination of SCAD enzyme activity) 9. Long-chain 3-hydroxyacyl-CoA deficiency (Laboratory tests: Hypoglycemia with low ketone levels, elevated transaminases, CK, elevated CK-MB and LDH, analysis of blood acylcarnitine profile, etc.) 10. Medium-chain 3-hydroxyacyl-CoA deficiency (Laboratory tests: Hypoglycemia with low ketone levels, elevated transaminases, CK, elevated CK-MB and LDH, analysis of blood acylcarnitine profile, etc.) 11. Pyruvate carboxylase deficiency (Laboratory tests: Hypoglycemia with low ketone levels, elevated transaminases, CK, elevated CK-MB and LDH, analysis of blood acylcarnitine profile, etc.) 12. Porphyria (Laboratory tests: Sunlight test of urinary porphobilinogen) Relative contraindications: (Fasting blood glucose \< 2.8 mmol/L, blood ketone \> 0.5 mmol/L) Patients who cannot maintain adequate nutrition (17) Any other situations that the investigator considers unsuitable for participating in this study; (18)Currently participating in other drug/device clinical trials.
Get updates
Get notified about this study
Sign up to get updates when this study changes or when new studies for Alzheimer disease are added.
Genom att skicka in godkänner du våra Användarvillkor
Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
Contacts and locations
Locations
-
Capital Medical University Xuanwu Hospital
Beijing, Beijing Municipality, 100053, China
More trials for these conditions
Other studies related to the condition(s) this trial covers.
- Gut bacteria may hold clues to dozens of diseases
- Can a massive data registry crack the code of Parkinson's and related brain diseases?
- Can a gentle electric current calm the mind in Alzheimer's?
- Alzheimer's vaccine aims to clear amyloid before memory fades
- Blood, eye, and brain scans team up to spot Alzheimer's earlier
- Can a home device slow Alzheimer's? pilot study tests pulsed electromagnetic therapy