Member, Scientific Advisory Committee
Dr Adrian Soto-Mota
MD, PhD, FACP
Physician scientist, Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Médicas y Nutrición Salvador Zubirán, Mexico City
Dr Adrian Soto-Mota is a physician scientist and internal medicine specialist at the Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Médicas y Nutrición Salvador Zubirán in Mexico City, where he leads the Metabolic Diseases Research Unit. He completed his doctorate at the University of Oxford on ketone esters for diabetes. His research includes the Lipid Energy Model, which explains why some lean people see large rises in LDL cholesterol on low carbohydrate diets, and reanalyses of landmark diet trials. He is a member of the National Academy of Medicine of Mexico.
Areas of expertise
- Ketogenic and low carbohydrate diets
- Cholesterol and lipids
- Internal medicine and clinical prognosis
- Obesity and metabolic epidemiology
- Biostatistics, causal inference and trial reanalysis
Prevention areas their work supports
- Blood sugar & metabolic health
- Heart and stroke
Selected research
- The Lipid Energy Model: Reimagining Lipoprotein Function in the Context of Carbohydrate-Restricted Diets (opens in a new tab)
Metabolites, 2022
- Increased low-density lipoprotein cholesterol on a low-carbohydrate diet in adults with normal but not high body weight: A meta-analysis (opens in a new tab)
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2024
- Evidence for the carbohydrate-insulin model in a reanalysis of the Diet Intervention Examining The Factors Interacting with Treatment Success (DIETFITS) trial (opens in a new tab)
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2023
See all 77 publicationsHide the full publication list
Thesis and preprints
- A ketone ester for diabetes mellitus (opens in a new tab)
Soto Mota LA. DPhil thesis, University of Oxford (supervisors K. Clarke and R. Evans), 2020
- The Impact of Sustained LDL-C Elevation on Plaque Changes: Primary Coronary plaque progression results from the Keto CTA Study (opens in a new tab)
Budoff MJ, Kinninger A, Manubolu VS, Norwitz NG, Feldman D, Soto-Mota A. medRxiv preprint (not peer reviewed), January 2026
Peer reviewed papers
2026
- Increased LDL-C reduction with ezetimibe in ketogenic diet-induced hypercholesterolemia (opens in a new tab)
Gonzalez J, Kalayjian T, Calkins M, Saner E, Soto-Mota A, et al. Lipids in Health and Disease, 2026
- Association between perceived stress and metabolic parameters: a systematic review and meta-analysis (opens in a new tab)
Garcia-Ravelo KF, Martagon AJ, Galán-Ramírez GA, Morales-Esponda M, Soto-Mota A, et al. Diabetology & Metabolic Syndrome, 2026
- Seven Years of 700 Cholesterol Without Coronary Atherosclerosis: A Lean Mass Hyper-Responder Case Report (opens in a new tab)
Norwitz NG, Feldman D, Soto-Mota A. Diseases, 2026
- Postprandial response of leptin and adiponectin to standardized high-carbohydrate and high-fat meals in adults: A cross-sectional study (opens in a new tab)
Del Razo-Olvera FM, Cruz Bautista I, Martagón-Rosado AJ, Aguilar-Salinas C, Soto-Mota A, et al. PLoS One, 2026
- Outcomes in acute pulmonary embolism and their association with adherence to international recommendations around COVID-19 pandemic-induced hospital-strain: The experience in a Mexican tertiary care center (opens in a new tab)
Rodríguez-Crespo JJ, Gutiérrez-León E, Hernández-Gilsoul T, Soto-Mota A, Sifuentes-Osornio J, et al. PLoS One, 2026
- Concordance between nutritional cohorts and randomized trials: biological confirmation or statistical consequence? A re-analysis of Stadelmaier et al (opens in a new tab)
Calkins M, Núñez I, Soto-Mota A. BMC Medicine, 2026
- Insulin resistance and metabolic health predict cardiorespiratory fitness: cohort study (opens in a new tab)
Muñoz-Hernandez L, Rivera AL, Soto-Mota A, Cruz-Bautista I, Aguilar-Salinas CA, et al. European Heart Journal Open, 2026
- Ketosis suppression and ageing (KetoSAge): the effect of suppressing ketosis on SHBG and sex hormone profiles in healthy premenopausal women, and its implications for cancer risk and therapy (opens in a new tab)
Cooper ID, Petagine L, Soto-Mota A, Seyfried TN, Kyriakidou Y, et al. Frontiers in Nutrition, 2026
- Distribution of triglyceride-rich lipoproteins and their remnants and their contribution to cardiovascular risk in the Mexican population (opens in a new tab)
Cruz-Bautista I, Escamilla-Núñez C, Mehta R, Aguilar-Salinas C, Soto-Mota A, et al. Journal of Clinical Lipidology, 2026 (published online 2024)
2025
- Editorial: Ultra-processed food addiction: moving toward consensus on mechanisms, definitions, assessment, and intervention (opens in a new tab)
Unwin J, Wiss DA, Soto-Mota A. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 2025
- Prospective patient navigation program for young women with breast cancer: assessment and referrals to address medical and supportive care needs (opens in a new tab)
Mesa-Chavez F, Rodriguez A, Soto-Mota A, Mohar A, Villarreal-Garza C, et al. The Oncologist, 2025
- Gastric reactance as a marker for major perioperative complications in high-risk cardiac surgery patients undergoing cardiopulmonary bypass (opens in a new tab)
Godinez-Garcia MM, Guillen-Dolores Y, Soto-Mota A, Alvarez R, Gordillo-Moscoso A, et al. Frontiers in Medical Technology, 2025
- Lipoprotein (a) levels and clinical decision-making: data from a Mexican cohort at a tertiary medical institution (opens in a new tab)
Cruz-Bautista I, Flores-Jurado Y, Mehta R, Soto Mota A, Aguilar-Salinas CA, et al. Lipids in Health and Disease, 2025
- Ketosis Suppression and Ageing (KetoSAge): The Effect of Suppressing Ketosis on GKI and Liver Biomarkers in Healthy Females (opens in a new tab)
Cooper ID, Petagine L, Soto-Mota A, Norwitz NG, Kyriakidou Y, et al. Livers, 2025
- TOWARD: a metabolic health intervention that improves food addiction and binge eating symptoms (opens in a new tab)
Saner E, Kalayjian T, Buchanan L, Calkins M, Soto-Mota A, et al. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 2025
- Differential gender bias in self-predicted performance in medical tests (opens in a new tab)
Soto-Mota A, Prado AC, Lara MFG, Ortiz LJ, Soto-Mota P. BMC Medical Education, 2025
- Testing the carbohydrate-insulin model: The data are supportive! (opens in a new tab)
Ludwig DS, Brand-Miller JC, Ebbeling CB, Norwitz NG, Soto-Mota A, et al. Cell Metabolism, 2025
- Reply: The Keto CTA Study (opens in a new tab)
Soto-Mota A, Norwitz NG, Manubolu VS, Feldman D, Budoff M, et al. JACC: Advances, 2025
- Clinical Heterogeneity and Transitions of Obesity in Mexico (opens in a new tab)
Soto-Mota A, Carrillo-Larco RM, Gregg E, Ezzati M, Aguilar-Salinas C, et al. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, 2025
- TOWARD, a metabolic health intervention, demonstrates robust 1-year weight loss and cost-savings through deprescription (opens in a new tab)
Buchanan L, Calkins M, Kalayjian T, Unwin D, Soto-Mota A, et al. Frontiers in Nutrition, 2025
- Exercise training in long COVID: the EXER-COVID trial (opens in a new tab)
Ramírez-Vélez R, Oteiza J, Correa-Rodríguez M, Soto-Mota A, Izquierdo M, et al. European Heart Journal, 2025
2024
- Case report: Carnivore-ketogenic diet for the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease: a case series of 10 patients (opens in a new tab)
Norwitz NG, Soto-Mota A. Frontiers in Nutrition, 2024
- Ketosis Suppression and Ageing (KetoSAge) Part 2: The Effect of Suppressing Ketosis on Biomarkers Associated with Ageing, HOMA-IR, Leptin, Osteocalcin, and GLP-1, in Healthy Females (opens in a new tab)
Cooper ID, Kyriakidou Y, Petagine L, Soto-Mota A, Elliott BT, et al. Biomedicines, 2024
- Reply to JT Gonzalez et al. and M Kamiński and P Jarecki (opens in a new tab)
Soto-Mota A, Flores-Jurado Y, Norwitz NG, Danaei G, Ludwig DS, et al. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2024
- Corrigendum to "Physiologic Adaptation to Macronutrient Change Distorts Findings from Short Dietary Trials: Reanalysis of a Metabolic Ward Study" (opens in a new tab)
Soto-Mota A, Jansen LT, Norwitz NG, Ebbeling CB, Ludwig DS, et al. Journal of Nutrition, 2024
- Reply to P Phalak et al (opens in a new tab)
Soto-Mota A, Flores-Jurado Y, Norwitz NG, Danaei G, Ludwig DS, et al. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2024
- Reply to C M Sciarrillo et al (opens in a new tab)
Soto-Mota A, Jansen LT, Norwitz NG, Ebbeling CB, Ludwig DS, et al. Journal of Nutrition, 2024
- Increased low-density lipoprotein cholesterol on a low-carbohydrate diet in adults with normal but not high body weight: A meta-analysis (opens in a new tab)
Soto-Mota A, Flores-Jurado Y, Norwitz NG, Danaei G, Ludwig DS, et al. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2024
- Physiologic Adaptation to Macronutrient Change Distorts Findings from Short Dietary Trials: Reanalysis of a Metabolic Ward Study (opens in a new tab)
Soto-Mota A, Jansen LT, Norwitz NG, Ebbeling CB, Ludwig DS, et al. Journal of Nutrition, 2024
2023
- Evaluation of the safety and tolerability of exogenous ketosis induced by orally administered free beta-hydroxybutyrate in healthy adult subjects (opens in a new tab)
Pimentel-Suarez LI, Soto-Mota A. BMJ Nutrition, Prevention & Health, 2023
- Thyroid markers and body composition predict LDL-cholesterol change in lean healthy women on a ketogenic diet: experimental support for the lipid energy model (opens in a new tab)
Cooper ID, Sanchez-Pizarro C, Norwitz NG, Feldman D, Soto-Mota A, et al. Frontiers in Endocrinology, 2023
- Ketosis Suppression and Ageing (KetoSAge): The Effects of Suppressing Ketosis in Long Term Keto-Adapted Non-Athletic Females (opens in a new tab)
Cooper ID, Kyriakidou Y, Seyfried TN, Soto-Mota A, Elliott BT, et al. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 2023
- Dermatoscopic Patterns in Childhood Vitiligo and Their Association With Reflectance Confocal Microscopy Findings (opens in a new tab)
Godínez-Chaparro JA, Roldán-Marín R, Soto-Mota A, Calzada-Mendoza CC. Dermatology Practical & Conceptual, 2023
- Hemodynamic Evaluation of Right-Sided Congestion With Doppler Ultrasonography in Pulmonary Hypertension (opens in a new tab)
Gómez-Rodríguez C, Tadeo-Espinoza H, Soto-Mota A, Verbrugge FH, Argaiz ER, et al. American Journal of Cardiology, 2023
- Causal diagrams to compare randomized trials: The case of Early Goal-Directed Therapy for sepsis (opens in a new tab)
Núñez I, Soto-Mota A. European Journal of Internal Medicine, 2023
- Acute Leukemia Relapse after Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of Isolated Extramedullary Relapse in a Latin American Population (opens in a new tab)
Arias-Espinosa L, Acosta-Medina AA, Colunga-Pedraza PR, Soto-Mota A, Bourlon C, et al. Transplantation and Cellular Therapy, 2023
- Uneven Resources Threaten Causal Consistency in Randomized Trials (opens in a new tab)
Núñez I, Soto-Mota A. Epidemiology, 2023
- Defining metabolic migraine with a distinct subgroup of patients with suboptimal inflammatory and metabolic markers (opens in a new tab)
Gross EC, Putananickal N, Schoenen J, Fischer D, Soto-Mota A, et al. Scientific Reports, 2023
- Albuminuria, Disease Duration, and Glycated Hemoglobin Are Related With Bone Mineral Density in Type 1 Diabetes: A Cross-sectional Study (opens in a new tab)
López-Prieto RS, Reza-Albarrán AA, Clark P, Soto-Mota A, Almeda-Valdes P, et al. Endocrine Practice, 2023
- Evidence for the carbohydrate-insulin model in a reanalysis of the Diet Intervention Examining The Factors Interacting with Treatment Success (DIETFITS) trial (opens in a new tab)
Soto-Mota A, Pereira MA, Ebbeling CB, Aronica L, Ludwig DS. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2023
- Impact of healthcare strain on access to mechanical ventilation and mortality of hospitalized COVID-19 patients: a retrospective cohort study (opens in a new tab)
Núñez I, Soto-Mota A. Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 2023
- Harm of early dexamethasone for COVID-19 and bias in randomized trials (opens in a new tab)
Núñez I, Caro-Vega Y, Soto-Mota A. European Journal of Internal Medicine, 2023
- Letter to the editor about "the effect of a fruit-rich diet on liver biomarkers, insulin resistance, and lipid profile in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: a randomized clinical trial" (opens in a new tab)
Soto-Mota A, Perichart-Perera O. Scandinavian Journal of Gastroenterology, 2023
2022
- Reply to the letter to the editor "Effects of vitamin D in patients with COVID-19 according to associated comorbidity" (opens in a new tab)
Martínez-Rodríguez EJ, Gutiérrez-Mejía J, Ríos-Castañeda C, Rojas-Maya S, Soto-Mota A. Gaceta Médica de México, 2022
- Comparison of gastric reactance with commonly used perfusion markers in a swine hypovolemic shock model (opens in a new tab)
Godinez-Garcia MM, Soto-Mota A, Catrip J, Gaitan R, Guillen Y, et al. Intensive Care Medicine Experimental, 2022
- Elevated LDL-cholesterol levels among lean mass hyper-responders on low-carbohydrate ketogenic diets deserve urgent clinical attention and further research (opens in a new tab)
Norwitz NG, Mindrum MR, Kontush A, Soto-Mota A, Krauss RM, et al. Journal of Clinical Lipidology, 2022
- A Company Is Only as Healthy as Its Workers: A 6-Month Metabolic Health Management Pilot Program Improves Employee Health and Contributes to Cost Savings (opens in a new tab)
Norwitz NG, Soto-Mota A, Kalayjian T. Metabolites, 2022
- Heterogeneity of hypoxemia severity according to pulse oximetry and blood gas analysis in COVID-19 pneumonia (opens in a new tab)
Núñez I, Soto-Mota A. Medicina Intensiva, 2022 (Spanish and English editions). and
- Reply to M Mindrum and J Moore et al (opens in a new tab)
Ludwig DS, Norwitz NG, Feldman D, Soto-Mota A, Kalayjian T. Current Developments in Nutrition, 2022
- Hospitalization as an outcome in ambulatory COVID-19 trials: not applicable in every setting (opens in a new tab)
Núñez I, Valdés-Ferrer SI, Soto-Mota A. Clinical Microbiology and Infection, 2022
- The Lipid Energy Model: Reimagining Lipoprotein Function in the Context of Carbohydrate-Restricted Diets (opens in a new tab)
Norwitz NG, Soto-Mota A, Kaplan B, Ludwig DS, Feldman D, et al. Metabolites, 2022
- The effects of endogenously- and exogenously-induced hyperketonemia on exercise performance and adaptation (opens in a new tab)
Dearlove DJ, Soto Mota A, Hodson L, Clarke K, Cox PJ, et al. Physiological Reports, 2022
- Case Report: Hypercholesterolemia "Lean Mass Hyper-Responder" Phenotype Presents in the Context of a Low Saturated Fat Carbohydrate-Restricted Diet (opens in a new tab)
Norwitz NG, Soto-Mota A, Feldman D, Parpos S, Budoff M. Frontiers in Endocrinology, 2022
- Serum-ascites albumin gradient: A false dichotomy in the approach to ascites (opens in a new tab)
Núñez I, Solis-Huerta F, Soto-Mota A. European Journal of Internal Medicine, 2022
- Evaluation of the usefulness of vitamin D as a predictor of mortality in patients with COVID-19 (opens in a new tab)
Martínez-Rodríguez EJ, Gutiérrez-Mejía J, Ríos-Castañeda C, Rojas-Maya S, Soto-Mota A. Gaceta Médica de México, 2022
- COVID-19 pandemic and the consequential effect on patients with endometriosis (opens in a new tab)
Ashkenazi MS, Huseby OL, Kroken G, Soto-Mota A, Kwiatkowski S, et al. Human Reproduction Open, 2022
- Evaluation of Acute Supplementation With the Ketone Ester (R)-3-Hydroxybutyl-(R)-3-Hydroxybutyrate (deltaG) in Healthy Volunteers by Cardiac and Skeletal Muscle 31P Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (opens in a new tab)
Cameron D, Soto-Mota A, Clarke K, Frenneaux MP, Valkovič L, et al. Frontiers in Physiology, 2022
- Response to: Correspondence on "Prospective predictive performance comparison between clinical gestalt and validated COVID-19 mortality scores" by Meza-Comparán (opens in a new tab)
Soto-Mota A, Marfil-Garza BA. Journal of Investigative Medicine, 2022
- Evaluation of statistical illiteracy in Latin American clinicians and the piloting evaluation of a short course across multiple timepoints (opens in a new tab)
Soto-Mota A, Maravilla EC, Fragoso JLC, Herrero AG, Rosales SPL, et al. BMC Medical Education, 2022
- Exogenous d-β-hydroxybutyrate lowers blood glucose in part by decreasing the availability of L-alanine for gluconeogenesis (opens in a new tab)
Soto-Mota A, Norwitz NG, Evans RD, Clarke K. Endocrinology, Diabetes & Metabolism, 2022
- Prospective predictive performance comparison between clinical gestalt and validated COVID-19 mortality scores (opens in a new tab)
Soto-Mota A, Marfil-Garza BA, Castiello-de Obeso S, Tadeo-Espinoza H, Gutierrez-Mejia J, et al. Journal of Investigative Medicine, 2022
- Ketones: potential to achieve brain energy rescue and sustain cognitive health during ageing (opens in a new tab)
Myette-Côté É, Soto-Mota A, Cunnane SC. British Journal of Nutrition, 2022
2021
- Elevated LDL Cholesterol with a Carbohydrate-Restricted Diet: Evidence for a "Lean Mass Hyper-Responder" Phenotype (opens in a new tab)
Norwitz NG, Feldman D, Soto-Mota A, Kalayjian T, Ludwig DS. Current Developments in Nutrition, 2021
- Assessing the evidence on remdesivir (opens in a new tab)
Núñez I, Soto-Mota A. Lancet Infectious Diseases, 2021
- Restricting carbohydrates and calories in the treatment of type 2 diabetes: a systematic review of the effectiveness of "low-carbohydrate" interventions with differing energy levels (opens in a new tab)
Nicholas AP, Soto-Mota A, Lambert H, Collins AL. Journal of Nutritional Science, 2021
- Exogenous ketosis in patients with type 2 diabetes: Safety, tolerability and effect on glycaemic control (opens in a new tab)
Soto-Mota A, Norwitz NG, Evans R, Clarke K, Barber TM. Endocrinology, Diabetes & Metabolism, 2021
2020
- The low-harm score for predicting mortality in patients diagnosed with COVID-19: A multicentric validation study (opens in a new tab)
Soto-Mota A, Marfil-Garza BA, Martínez Rodríguez E, Santillán Doherty P, Gutiérrez Mejía J, et al. Journal of the American College of Emergency Physicians Open, 2020
- Stroke in systemic lupus erythematosus: epidemiology, mechanism, and long-term outcome (opens in a new tab)
Guraieb-Chahín P, Cantú-Brito C, Soto-Mota A, Chiquete E, Valdés-Ferrer SI, et al. Lupus, 2020
- Why a d-β-hydroxybutyrate monoester? (opens in a new tab)
Soto-Mota A, Norwitz NG, Clarke K. Biochemical Society Transactions, 2020
2019
- Safety and tolerability of sustained exogenous ketosis using ketone monoester drinks for 28 days in healthy adults (opens in a new tab)
Soto-Mota A, Vansant H, Evans RD, Clarke K. Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology, 2019
- Multi-Loop Model of Alzheimer Disease: An Integrated Perspective on the Wnt/GSK3β, α-Synuclein, and Type 3 Diabetes Hypotheses (opens in a new tab)
Norwitz NG, Soto Mota A, Norwitz SG, Clarke K. Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience, 2019
- LRP5, Bone Density, and Mechanical Stress: A Case Report and Literature Review (opens in a new tab)
Norwitz NG, Soto Mota A, Misra M, Ackerman KE. Frontiers in Endocrinology, 2019
2016 and earlier
- Oliver Sacks: the genius as neurologist, writer and patient (opens in a new tab)
(in Spanish). Soto-Mota A. Boletín Médico del Hospital Infantil de México, 2016
- Myocardial connexin-43 and N-Cadherin decrease during vanadium inhalation (opens in a new tab)
Fortoul TI, Soto-Mota A, Rojas-Lemus M, Montaño LF, Ustarroz-Cano M, et al. Histology and Histopathology, 2016
- Enfermedad de Fabry: evento vascular cerebral en un joven y su abordaje diagnóstico (Fabry's disease: ischemic stroke in a young patient and its diagnostic approach) (opens in a new tab)
Soto-Mota A, Díaz R B, De los Ríos D, García-Ramos G. Revista Mexicana de Neurociencia 11(5):359-362, 2010. No DOI