Prevention of Neural Tube Defects by Inositol in Conjunction With Folic Acid (PONTI Study)

June 23, 2015 updated by: Institute of Child Health
The aim of the study is to develop a randomised, double blind clinical trial to compare (i) folic acid plus inositol, with (ii) folic acid plus placebo, for prevention of recurrent neural tube defects.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Completed

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

Women were eligible to join the PONTI pilot study if they had a history of previous NTD-affected pregnancy, were planning to become pregnant again, and were prepared to be randomised to one of the two study arms. Both study and control groups received 5 mg folic acid (the standard UK supplement for pregnancies at high risk of NTD); the study group additionally received 1 g inositol, whereas the control group was prescribed a placebo instead of inositol.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
100

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Phase 1

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United Kingdom
      • London, United Kingdom, WC1N 1EH
        • Neural Development Unit, Institute of Child Health

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years to 40 years (Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

Female

Description

Inclusion Criteria

1. Women with a history of one or more NTD pregnancies (spina bifida, anencephaly or encephalocele) who wished to embark upon a further pregnancy.

Exclusion criteria

  1. Women who were unable to give informed consent for any reason (language difficulties, low IQ).

    Funding was not available to translate the information leaflets or to employ interpreters for the telephone interviews. It was intended to take appropriate measures to include these groups in a definitive follow-up trial.

  2. Maternal age outside 18 - 40 years of age. An upper limit of forty years was stipulated because there is increased risk of a pregnancy being affected by chromosomal abnormality which may result in a NTD, but which may not be similarly susceptible to prevention by nutrient supplementation.
  3. Cases where the previous affected child had abnormalities other than NTD, which might be suggestive of another underlying genetic aetiology, a chromosomal abnormality or fetal valproate syndrome. In these cases the underlying pathology would be different from spontaneous, isolated NTDs, and folic acid or inositol would not be expected to influence recurrence risk.
  4. Women who were epileptic and/or taking anti-epileptic medications including valproate. It was recognised that some anti-epileptic drugs increase the predisposition to NTDs and, such NTDs might be unresponsive to inositol supplementation.
  5. Women who did not have a GP or obstetrician in the UK. We needed to be able to monitor the pregnancy, confirm there were no contraindications to inositol supplementation, and seek outcome data. We did not have the facilities to seek this information for cases outside the UK.

  6. Women would be required to stop participation in the trial if the following criteria were met whilst taking the prescribed drugs;

    • Diagnosed with epilepsy and were therefore required to take anti-epileptics.
    • Failed to conceive within one year of starting the trial.
    • They no longer wished to conceive .

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Prevention
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Double

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Experimental: Study Group
5 mg folic acid (the standard UK supplement for pregnancies at high risk of NTD) and 1 g inositol,
Drug: Folic Acid and inositol
Folic Acid and inositol
Other Names:
  • Study Group
Placebo Comparator: Control Group
5 mg folic acid (the standard UK supplement for pregnancies at high risk of NTD)and 1 g placebo
Drug: Folic acid and placebo
Folic acid and placebo
Other Names:
  • Control Group

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
Institute of Child Health

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Principal Investigator: Andrew Copp, Prof, Institute Of Child Health and Great Ormond Street Hospital

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
September 1, 2009

Primary Completion (Actual)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
June 1, 2013

Study Completion (Actual)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
June 1, 2013

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
March 27, 2007

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
March 27, 2007

First Posted (Estimate)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
March 28, 2007

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
June 24, 2015

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
June 23, 2015

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
June 1, 2015

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • 05ND07

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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