Is Nutrition the Answer to Long-COVID? A Clinical Trial Will Explore the Impacts of the Medical Food KetoCitra Together With a Low-Carbohydrate Diet

SANTA BARBARA, CA / ACCESSWIRE / October 9, 2023 / Santa Barbara Nutrients, Inc. is pleased to announce that our medical food product, KetoCitra®, will be utilized in a pilot clinical trial for patients with long-COVID. The trial will be led by faculty members of the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California (USC). They include Nuria Pastor-Soler, MD, PhD, who is an associate professor of medicine and nephrologist; Kenneth Hallows MD, PhD, who is a professor of medicine and nephrologist; and Adupa Purush Rao, MD, who is a clinical associate professor of medicine, pulmonologist, and critical care medicine specialist with Keck Medicine of USC’s COVID Recovery Clinic. (To learn more about the clinic or to schedule a visit, please visit this webpage: https://www.keckmedicine.org/covid-recovery-clinic/).

According to federal statistics, over 4 million Americans suffer from long-term, often disabling symptoms known as long-COVID. Currently, there are no established treatments for this condition, and the mechanisms that cause long-COVID are not fully understood. The hyper-inflammatory responses seen in acute COVID-19 are also a feature of long-COVID, which often lead to disabling, highly varied symptoms. Common symptoms include fatigue, brain fog, muscle and chest pains, migraines, shortness of breath, anosmia, muscle weakness, cognitive dysfunction, and decreased kidney function.

For this clinical study, investigators at USC will be implementing a protocol to evaluate the impacts of dietary interventions in long-COVID patients. The dietary interventions are aimed at lowering blood glucose levels and raising blood ketone (Beta-hydroxybutyrate, BHB) levels. The diet plan will recommend a low-carbohydrate diet supported by the medical food KetoCitra®, which will deliver exogenous BHB to raise blood ketone levels without adhering to a strict ketogenic diet.

The study will follow up to 50 long-COVID patients who will either undergo a 30-day dietary intervention or continue their standard care plan. Study endpoints will investigate the feasibility, tolerability, and safety of the diet in individuals with long-COVID, changes in metabolic health, kidney function, and inflammatory markers, and changes in long-COVID signs and symptoms between the two groups. To learn more about the clinical trial, visit: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT05836402

The study is funded by a generous gift of the Amy P. Goldman Foundation to USC.

KetoCitra® was developed by Santa Barbara Nutrients as a medical food that is currently marketed for the daily nutritional management of individuals with Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) and Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD) and is intended to be used under medical supervision. It is covered by granted patents (US Patent No. 11,013,705 & Mexican Patent No. 395975) and additional foreign patents pending. For more information about KetoCitra®, visit: https://santabarbaranutrients.com/ketocitra

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About Santa Barbara Nutrients, Inc.
Santa Barbara Nutrients, Inc. is a public benefit corporation headquartered in Santa Barbara, California. The company is committed to scientific and clinical research to develop science-backed products that support human health and address significant unmet medical needs. For more information, please visit https://santabarbaranutrients.com or contact info@sbnutrients.com

Contact Information

Emily Muensterman
Clinical Research Manager, Santa Barbara Nutrients
muensterman@sbnutrients.com
636-795-3093

Gregg Bretz
CEO, Santa Barbara Nutrients
betz@santabarbaranutrients.com
+36309418935

Mollee Rucker
Business Development, Santa Barbara Nutrients
rucker@sbnutrients.com

SOURCE: Santa Barbara Nutrients, Inc.

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