sulforaphane supplementation study
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Fatty Acid MetabOlism in individuals Undergoing Sulforaphane supplementation (FAMOUS).
IRAS ID
261744
Contact name
Leanne Hodson
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Oxford
Duration of Study in the UK
3 years, 11 months, 31 days
Research summary
Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is increasing in the population, and is associated with heart disease and diabetes. At present there are no licensed drugs for treatment of NAFLD, therefore changes in diet and increased physical activity leading to decreased body fatness is the recommended management/treatment strategy. However, these are difficult to achieve and maintain for many individuals. A potential compound gaining interest in regards treatment/prevention NAFLD is sulforaphane, which is found in vegetables such as Broccoli. Animal studies suggest supplementing with sulforaphane can increase fat oxidation. This increased “fat burning” may result in lower levels of fat in the liver and overall in the body.
We will ask volunteers to undergo two intervention phases in a random order; one intervention will involve consuming two sulforaphane tablets a day for approximately 3 weeks, whilst the other intervention phase will involve consuming a placebo for approximately 3 weeks. Volunteers will be asked to maintain all other aspects of their lifestyle throughout these intervention phases. We will measure and compare volunteers whole-body and liver fat oxidation in response to a standardised test meal at the end of these intervention phases by taking blood and breath samples. We will also measure the amount of fat in volunteers liver and heart using a non-invasive technique known as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) before and after both intervention phases.
Lay summary of study results: It has previously been suggested that a specific component found in vegetables of the Brassicaceae family, such as broccoli, called sulforaphane, may play a beneficial role in a person’s health and lower their risk of fatty liver disease by increasing the use of fat in the body to produce energy (called fatty acid oxidation). We found, when humans consumed sulforaphane, in the form of a broccoli supplement for 3 weeks, there was no difference in the amount of fat the used to produce energy between the baseline measure (before taking the supplement) and after taking the supplement. There was also no change in the amount of other blood metabolites, like sugars and no change in the amount of fat in the liver between the baseline measurement and after taking the supplement for 3 weeks. Overall, taking a broccoli supplement had very little impact on an individual’s markers of their metabolic health.
REC name
Wales REC 5
REC reference
19/WA/0211
Date of REC Opinion
22 Jul 2019
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion