Associations Between the Oral and Intestinal Microbiome and Neovascular Age-related Macular Degeneration

May 13, 2025 updated by: KWANGSIC JOO, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital

Associations Between the Oral and Intestinal Microbiome and Neovascular Age-related Macular Degeneration and the Investigation on the Effect of Oral Probiotics as a Treatment - A Pilot Study

A pilot study for Associations between the oral and intestinal microbiome and neovascular age-related macular degeneration and the investigation on the effect of oral probiotics as a treatment

The investigators recruit the neovascular AMD patients and control patients.

  1. 15 neovascular AMD patients with anti-VEGF treatment and oral probiotics supplement
  2. 15 neovascular AMD patients with anti-VEGF treatment and no oral probiotics supplement
  3. 15 control patients and no oral probiotics supplement

The investigators will collect stool, blood, and saliva sample at the baseline and 6 months, and analyze the oral and intestinal microbiome changes.

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.

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.
45

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 3

Contacts and Locations

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

Study Contact

Study Contact

The name and contact information for the person who can answer enrollment questions for a clinical study. Each location where the study is being conducted may also have a specific contact, who may be better able to answer those questions.
  • Name: Kwangsic Joo, MD PhD
  • Phone Number: 82-31-787-7387
  • Email: namooj@snu.ac.kr

Study Locations

  • Korea, Republic of
      • Seongnam-si, Korea, Republic of
        • Seoul National University Bundang Hospital

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

40 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Normal BMI patients
  • Diagnosed as neovascular AMD (experimental & sham group)
  • Normal patients (control group)

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Obese (BMI > 30)
  • Past surgical history involving intestinal diseases
  • Previous oral antibiotic treatment before 1 week at the baseline enroll
  • Previous oral probiotics supplement
  • Previous ophthalmic retinal diseases except neovascular AMD

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: Supportive Care
  • 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.
No Intervention: Control patients, no oral probiotics supplement

Healthy, no retinal disease patients will be allocated. At the baseline and 6 months, the investigators will collect stool, saliva, and blood samples for microbiome analysis.

No Oral probiotics (The Perfect Probiotics®) supplement in this group.
Experimental: Neovascular AMD patients with anti-VEGF treatment, oral probiotics supplement

Neovascular AMD patients will be allocated. Regular intravitreal anti-VEGF injection treatment will be done. At the baseline and 6 months, the investigators will collect stool, saliva, and blood samples for microbiome analysis.

Oral probiotics (The Perfect Probiotics®) supplement will be given to the participants for 6 months.
Drug: Probiotic Combination Cap/Tab
The Perfect Probiotics® capsule will be given as an intervention, which is composed of mostly Lactobacillus acidophilus & Bifidobacterium lactis.
Other Names:
  • The Perfect Probiotics®
Drug: intravitreal Anti-VEGF injection
Intravitreal anti-VEGF injection treatment in the neovascular AMD patients.
Sham Comparator: neovascular AMD patients with anti-VEGF treatment, no oral probiotics supplement

Neovascular AMD patients will be allocated. Regular intravitreal anti-VEGF injection treatment will be done. At the baseline and 6 months, the investigators will collect stool, saliva, and blood samples for microbiome analysis.

No Oral probiotics (The Perfect Probiotics®) supplement in this group.
Drug: intravitreal Anti-VEGF injection
Intravitreal anti-VEGF injection treatment in the neovascular AMD patients.

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
Oral microbiome changes after oral probiotics supplement in neovascular AMD patients
Time Frame: 6 months after enrollment

The investigators will analyze the oral microbiome changes (baseline and 6 months after taking oral probiotics) in experimental, sham, and control groups.

Microbiome relative abundance changes in percentage (%) will be statistically analyzed between baseline and 6 months.
6 months after enrollment
Intestinal microbiome changes after oral probiotics supplement in neovascular AMD patients
Time Frame: 6 months after enrollment

The investigators will analyze the intestinal microbiome changes (baseline and 6 months after taking oral probiotics) in experimental, sham, and control groups.

Microbiome relative abundance changes in percentage (%) will be statistically analyzed between baseline and 6 months.
6 months after enrollment

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
Visual acuity changes after oral probiotics supplement
Time Frame: 6 months after enrollment

If possible, visual acuity difference between experimental and sham group (oral probiotics vs. no oral probiotics) in the neovascular AMD patients.

Visual acuity will be measured by the ETDRS eye chart (scale : letters).
6 months after enrollment

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.
Seoul National University Bundang Hospital

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: Kwangsic Joo, MD PhD, Seoul National University Bundang 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 (Actual)

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, 2023

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.
August 31, 2024

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.
November 30, 2024

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).
October 17, 2022

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.
November 1, 2022

First Posted (Actual)

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.
November 3, 2022

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

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.
May 16, 2025

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.
May 13, 2025

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.
December 1, 2024

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

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.
  • AMDMICROBIOME

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

No

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.

Cookie Settings

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. For more details carefully read our Privacy and Cookies Policy. ...>>>You can change your preferences or withdraw your consent at any time by deleting the cookies from your website or computer as described in the policy. Please accept it and choose your preferences by ticking the corresponding boxes in the "Manage Settings" section below. Please carefully read our Terms of Service before you proceed with using any part of this website.
«Manage Settings