NCT04700241 (NO-BRAINS) is a NA clinical trial of Potassium nitrate in Nitrate, sponsored by Maastricht University Medical Center.

Who is sponsoring NCT04700241?

NCT04700241 is sponsored by Maastricht University Medical Center.

What drugs are being tested in NCT04700241?

Interventions in NCT04700241: Potassium nitrate, Placebo.

What condition does NCT04700241 study?

NCT04700241 studies Nitrate, Brain Insulin-sensitivity, Vascular Function.

Is NCT04700241 still recruiting?

NCT04700241 is currently completed. Last updated 9 June 2021.

Last reviewed 2021-06-09 · How we verify

NCT04700241: NO-BRAINS

Name: Drug Landscape Pharmaceutical Database
Creator: Drug Landscape
Published: 2026-01-01
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Nitrate and Brain Insulin-Sensitivity

Completed NA Last updated 9 June 2021

What this trial tests

NA trial testing Potassium nitrate in Nitrate in 18 participants. Completed in 5 May 2021.

Timeline

21 January 2021

Primary endpoint
5 May 2021

5 May 2021

Quick facts

Lead sponsor	Maastricht University Medical Center
Phase	NA
Status	Completed
Study type	INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation	randomized
Design	crossover
Masking	triple
Primary purpose	prevention
Enrollment	18
Start date	21 January 2021
Primary completion	5 May 2021
Estimated completion	5 May 2021
Sites	1 location across Netherlands

Drugs / interventions tested

Potassium nitrate (POTASSIUM NITRATE) — full drug profile →
Placebo

Conditions studied

Nitrate — all drugs for Nitrate →
Brain Insulin-sensitivity — all drugs for Brain Insulin-sensitivity →
Vascular Function — all drugs for Vascular Function →

Sponsor

Maastricht University Medical Center

Who can join

Adults 18 to 60, male only, with Nitrate or Brain Insulin-sensitivity. Patients with the condition only — healthy volunteers not accepted.

Sponsor's own description

Disturbances in brain insulin-sensitivity are not only observed in abdominal obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D), but also during brain aging and in dementia. Inorganic nitrate may improve brain insulin-sensitivity, which can be quantified by measuring the gray-matter cerebral blood flow (CBF) response to intranasally administered insulin, through beneficial effects on brain vascular function. Therefore, we now hypothesize that inorganic nitrate, which can be found in several vegetables such as beetroot, improves brain insulin-sensitivity, as assessed by the gray-matter CBF response to intranasally administered insulin, in abdominally obese men.

Publications & conference data

2 peer-reviewed publications reference this trial (live from Europe PMC):

Acute inorganic nitrate intake increases regional insulin action in the brain: Results of a double-blind, randomized, controlled cross-over trial with abdominally obese men.
Kleinloog JPD, Mensink RP, Smeets ETHC, Ivanov D, et al · · 2022 · cited 5× · PMID 35843050 · DOI 10.1016/j.nicl.2022.103115
Acute Effects of Inorganic Nitrate Intake on Brachial and Femoral Flow-Mediated Vasodilation, and on Carotid Artery Reactivity Responses: Results of a Randomized, Double-Blinded, Placebo-Controlled Cross-Over Study in Abdominally Obese Men.
Smeets ETHC, Mensink RP, Kleinloog JPD, Joris PJ. · · 2022 · cited 4× · PMID 36079817 · DOI 10.3390/nu14173560

Verify or expand the search:

Other trials of Potassium nitrate

Trials testing the same drug.

NCT04755400 — The Effect of Orally Administrated Nitrate on Renal Parameters and Systemic Haemodynamics · NA · completed
NCT02533466 — In Vivo Investigation of Initial Stages of Enamel Erosion · NA · completed

Other Maastricht University Medical Center trials

Trials by the same sponsor.

NCT04603261 — Time to Excretion of Contrast, a Maastricht Prospective Observational Study · withdrawn
NCT04598516 — Maastricht Investigation of Renal Function in Absence of- and Post- Contrast in Patients With eGFR LEss Than 30 · withdrawn
NCT04597892 — Efficacy of Point-Of-Care Creatinine Assays in Patients With eGFR <30 Receiving Intravascular Contrast · withdrawn
NCT07287358 — Optimal Cerebral Perfusion Pressure Guided Therapy: Assessment of Target Effectiveness - II · NA · not yet recruiting
NCT07501780 — Real-world Evaluation of the Implementation of LC-OCT in Daily Clinical Practice · not yet recruiting

Verify against primary sources

ClinicalTrials.gov — authoritative US registry record
WHO ICTRP — international registry index
EU Clinical Trials Register
Sponsor press releases (Google)

Data sources for this page

Trial protocol + status: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04700241 (US National Library of Medicine, public domain)
Publications: Europe PMC API search by NCT ID, retrieved 10 June 2026
Drug + disease cross-links: matched in real time against Drug Landscape's normalised drug + company + condition tables
Sponsor: as reported to ClinicalTrials.gov by Maastricht University Medical Center
Last refreshed: 9 June 2021

Drug Landscape aggregates and links these public records for informational use only. Always verify against the primary source before clinical or regulatory decisions. Canonical URL: https://druglandscape.com/trial/NCT04700241.

Primary sources · FDA · ClinicalTrials.gov · EMA · SEC EDGAR · ChEMBL · Wikidata · full sourcing