Recruiting

Low-Sodium Diet

Sponsor:

UCLA

Code:

NCT07447063

Conditions

Eczema

Atopic Dermatitis

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18+

Healthy Volunteers: Accepted

Interventions

Sodium chloride tablets

Placebo Tablets

Study Details

Brief summary:

The goal of this clinical trial is to evaluate the feasibility of low-sodium diet to improve eczema severity. The main questions it aims to answer are:

  • Does a low-sodium diet improve eczema severity?
  • How does a low-sodium diet impact skin sodium concentration?
  • Is skin sodium concentration associated with eczema severity?

Researchers will ask all participant to follow a low-sodium diet, then compare sodium tablets to a placebo (a look-alike substance that contains no drug) to specifically examine the impact of altering sodium intake.

Participants will:

  • Follow a low-salt diet for the duration of the 24-week study
  • Take sodium chloride tablets every day for 5 weeks followed by a placebo every day for 5 weeks after a 2-week washout period, or vice versa
  • Complete up to 4 virtual check-in visits
  • Visit the clinic 4 times to answer questionnaires, provide bio samples, complete dietary recalls, and undergo non-contrast sodium MRI

Conditions

Eczema

Atopic Dermatitis

Study ID

NCT07447063

Start date

Aug 10, 2026

Status verified date

Sep, 2026

Completion date

May 5, 2028

Anticipated

Primary completion date

Mar 5, 2028

Anticipated

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18+

Healthy Volunteers: Accepted

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Participants ages 18 years
  • Willing and able to undergo non-contrast MRI.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Contraindications to MRI (such as cardiac pacemakers, claustrophobia, non-compatible intracranial vascular clips, IUDs, or other implants)
  • A cardiac event in the past 6 months
  • Impaired function of the liver or kidney (glomerular filtration rate <60 mL/min)
  • Medications that influence sodium excretion (e.g., diuretics or SGLT2 inhibitors)
  • Antibiotic or immunomodulatory medications within the last month
  • Contraindications to sodium tablets

(Topical medications used exclusively on the head/neck or hands/feet (e.g., antifungal nail treatment, antidandruff shampoo, acne cleansers) are acceptable. Topical and systemic eczema treatments are acceptable if the participant has been on a stable dose for at least 2 months and still meets the severity entry criteria. Patients on dupilumab will not be excluded if they have been on dupilumab for at least two months and still meet the disease severity inclusion criteria.)

Study Design

Enrollment

40 participants

Anticipated

Allocation

Randomized

Intervention Model

Crossover

Primary purpose

Prevention

Interventions and Outcome Measures

Arms

experimental: Sodium tablets first

Participants will be randomized to receive sodium tablets for weeks 13-17, no tablets for a washout period during weeks 18-19, then placebo tablets for weeks 20-24.

experimental: Placebo tablets first

Participants will be randomized to receive placebo tablets for weeks 13-17, no tablets for a washout period during weeks 18-19, then sodium tablets for weeks 20-24.

Interventions

Sodium chloride tablets

During the 5-week long sodium tablet intervention period, participants will receive five 1 g sodium chloride tablets each morning and four 1 g sodium chloride tablets each evening. Each sodium chloride tablet will contain 0.394 g or 17 mmol of sodium.

Placebo Tablets

During the 5-week long placebo period, participants will receive five placebo tablets each morning and four placebo tablets each evening

Primary outcome measure

  • Eczema severity [ Time Frame: 6 months ]

Central Contacts and Locations

Central contacts

Alicia Hamblin, BS

925-549-7889Alicia.Hamblin@ucsf.edu

Katrina Abuabara, MD

415-514-9769katrina.abuabara@ucsf.edu

Locations

San Francisco VA Medical Center

Recruiting

San Francisco, California, United States, 94115

Contacts

Alicia Hamblin, BS

Alicia.Hamblin@ucsf.edu

Katrina Abuabara, MD

415-514-9769katrina.abuabara@ucsf.edu

UCSF Mt Zion Campus

Recruiting

San Francisco, California, United States, 94511

Contacts

Alicia Hamblin, BS

Alicia.Hamblin@ucsf.edu

Katrina Abuabara, MD

415-514-9769katrina.abuabara@ucsf.edu

More Information

Sponsor

University of California, San Francisco

Last update posted

Sep 10, 2026

Last verified

Sep, 2026

Keywords

  • sodium
  • salt
  • diet

Trial information was received from ClinicalTrials.gov and was last updated on 2026-09-11. This information was provided to ClinicalTrials.gov by University of California, San Francisco on 2026-09-10.