Effects of Fructan Prebiotics on the Intestinal Microbiota

March 9, 2015 updated by: Dan Ramdath

Evaluation of the Effects of Fructan Prebiotics on the Intestinal Microbiota in Humans: Human Clinical Feeding Trial.

Prebiotics are carbohydrate polymers believed to improve health by stimulating beneficial gastrointestinal microbial populations. Prebiotic health claims are currently not permitted in Canada due to a lack of validating scientific data. Currently, Health Canada considers 'prebiotic' to imply a health benefit that must be substantiated. Our goal is to conduct a human clinical trial to define the impacts of fructans on the colonic microbiome as well as the physiological, psychological and immunological effects on the host.

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

Current health claims for the fructan prebiotics focus on the bifidogenic properties of these substrates. While these claims appear to be widely accepted among nutritionists, the gut-microbiology community considers this an archaic view on these complex communities which contain in excess of 400 species of which the majority have yet to be cultivated or characterized. The bifidogenic effect associated with fructans also forms the basis of current prebiotic health claims in Canada, claims which up until now have not stood up to regulatory scrutiny The primary objective of this study is to assess the impact of frucans on the human microbiome, as well as the physiological, immunological health of the host. Information generated from this study will address both aspects of the current FOA definition of what constitutes a "prebiotic". New data generated from this study will be applicable for a new health claim for prebiotics and will provide a guide for industry demonstrating the requirements for a scientifically valid study for other submissions involving prebiotics.

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.
28

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.
  • Not Applicable

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

  • Canada
    • Ontario
      • Guelph, Ontario, Canada, N1G 0B4
        • Nutrasoource Diagnostic Inc

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 50 years (Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Age: 18 - 50 years
  • General good health
  • Participant understands the study procedures and provides informed consent (signed) to participate and authorizes the release of relevant protected health information to the study investigators

Exclusion Criteria:

  • History or presence of GI disorders (Irritable bowel syndrome, colitis, Crohn's disease, colon cancer or polyps)
  • Recent use of antibiotics
  • Regular use of high inulin containing food products.
  • Known intolerance or sensitivity to any ingredients in the study product.
  • BMI >30

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: Basic Science
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Crossover 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.
Placebo Comparator: Placebo
15g/day maltodextrin for 28 days
Dietary supplement: Prebiotic
Inulin-fructan 15mg/day for 28days
Dietary supplement: Prebiotic
Daily consumption of 15g inulin-fructan for 28 days
Active Comparator: Prebiotic
Consumption of 15g/day of inulin-fructan for 28 days
Dietary supplement: Prebiotic
Inulin-fructan 15mg/day for 28days
Dietary supplement: Prebiotic
Daily consumption of 15g inulin-fructan for 28 days

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Changes in gut microbiota
Time Frame: 28 days
various culture and non-culture methods, including molecular biology techniques will be used to determine the type and relative abundance of the gut microbione of persons fed a prebiotic compared with placebo.
28 days
Changes in Immunological Status
Time Frame: 28 days
Circulating levels of cytokines associated with pro-inflammatory status and regulatory activity as well as those associated with TH1 and TH2 activity will be measured. Effects of fructans on cell population profiles in the immune system will also be determined from whole peripheral blood samples, using antibodies against B and T cells, T cell subsets, Natural Killer cells, monocytes, neutrophils and dendritic cells (DC), (including CD3, CD14, CD16, CD19, CD20, CD56)and analyzing by flow cytometry.
28 days

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Blood lipids
Time Frame: 28 days
Blood samples will be used to assess cardiovascular disease profiles and standard biochemical biomarkers
28 days

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.
Dan Ramdath

Collaborators

Collaborators

An organization other than the sponsor that provides support for a clinical study. This support may include activities related to funding, design, implementation, data analysis, or reporting.
Health Canada
Advance Foods and Materials Network
University of Lethbridge
University of Ontario Institute of Technology

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.
  • Study Director: Dan Ramdath, PhD, Guelph Food Research Centre
  • Study Director: Martin Kalmokoff, PhD, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
  • Study Director: Steven Traplin, MD, Nutrasource Diagnostic Inc
  • Principal Investigator: Maggie Laidlaw, PhD, Nutrasource Diagnostic Inc

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

  • Gourgue-Jeannot et al. 2006. Can. J. Microbiol. 52:924-933. Brooks et al. 2009. Anaerobe 15:145-154. Costa et al. 2009 J. Microbiol. Methods 78:175-180. Lupton et al. J Nutr. 2004 134:479-82. Gibson and Roberfroid. 1995. J Nutr. 125:1401-12. Parracho et al. 2007. Proc. Nutr Soc. 66:405-11. Eckburg et al. 2005. Science 308:1635-8. Brooks et al. 2003. Can J. Microbiol. 49:589-601. Kelly et al. 2005 Trends Immunol. 26:326-33. Liu et al. 2008. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 105:3951-6. Tsuji et al. 2008. Semin Immunol. 20:59-66. Reigstad et al. 2009 PLoS One 4:e5842. Jenkins et al. 2005. Metabolism 54:103-12. Jenkins et al. 1999. J. Nutr. 129:1431S-1433S. Seidel et al, 2007. Br. J. Nutr. 97:349-356. DiPenta et al. 2007. Appl.Physiol. Nutr.Metabol. 32:1025-1035. Albers et al. 2005. Br. J. Nutr. 94:452-481. Suzuki et al. 2007. Sem. Imm. 19: 127-135. Macpherson et al. 2004. Science 303: 1662-1665. Maino et al. 2004. Clinical Immunol. 110: 222- 231. Coombes and Powrie 2008. Nature Reviews Immunology 8: 435-446. Bakkerk-Zierikzee et al. 2006. Pediatr Allergy Immunol 17:134-140. Svedlund et al. 1988. Digestive Dis. & Sci. 33:129-134. Francka et al., 2005. Allergy Immunol. 136:155-158.

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.
January 1, 2011

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.
March 1, 2011

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.
March 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).
January 14, 2011

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.
January 14, 2011

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.
January 17, 2011

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.
March 10, 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.
March 9, 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.
March 1, 2015

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

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.
  • 01B46-10-0156
  • NDI: 2510.10 (Other Grant/Funding Number: Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada)

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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