Pentadecanoic Acid Supplementation in Young Adults with Overweight and Obesity: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Background: Obesity and its associated comorbidities are major public health concerns for which nutrition is central to disease prevention and management. Pentadecanoic acid (C15:0) has the potential for beneficial effects on obesity, but supplementation has not been studied in humans.

Objectives: The primary objective was to investigate changes in plasma C15:0 levels after daily supplementation for 12 wk. Additionally, the study aimed to assess safety and tolerability as well as measure potential markers of physiologic response.

Methods: This was a single-center, double-blind, randomized, controlled, 2-arm trial of 200 mg C15:0 or placebo daily for 12 wk in young adults with overweight or obesity.

Results: A total of 30 participants with a mean age of 20.0 ± 2.1 y and a mean body mass index of 33.4 ± 5.3 kg/m² were included. In total, 20 participants received C15:0 supplement and 10 received placebo. The mean increase in circulating C15:0 for the treatment group was 1.88 μg/mL greater than that of the placebo group (P = 0.003). No significant adverse events occurred. Half of the participants in the treatment group had a posttreatment C15:0 level >5 μg/mL. In these individuals, there were significantly greater decreases in alanine aminotransferase (-29 U/L, P = 0.001) and aspartate aminotransferase (-6 U/L, P = 0.014), as well as a greater increase in hemoglobin (0.60 g/dL, P = 0.010), as compared with participants that did not reach a posttreatment level >5 μg/mL.

Conclusions: Daily C15:0 supplementation increased circulating C15:0 levels in young adults with overweight or obesity. End-of-treatment C15:0 >5 μg/mL was associated with potentially relevant improvements in clinical indices, warranting further study. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT04947176.