Study on the Mechanism of Gut Microbiota Mediating Restless Legs Syndrome Through Iron Metabolism

December 30, 2025 updated by: Wenxia Jiang
The goal of this observational study is to collect fecal and serum samples from patients with restless legs syndrome (RLS) and healthy controls for differential microbiota analysis to identify key bacterial species involved in the pathogenesis of RLS. Subsequently, metabolomic analysis will be performed on fecal and serum samples from RLS patients to identify key regulatory molecules in iron metabolism disorder pathways. Finally, correlation analysis will be used to determine which specific bacterial species and metabolites are involved in the pathogenesis of RLS. The main question it aims to answer is: i) Do RLS patients exhibit gut microbiota dysbiosis compared to healthy controls? ii) Which specific bacterial species and metabolites are linked to iron metabolism abnormalities and the pathogenesis of RLS?

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Not yet recruiting

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.
Observational

Enrollment (Estimated)

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

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

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Sampling Method

Probability Sample

Study Population

We will recruit 50 patients with restless legs syndrome from among those attending the Sleep Medicine Center of Chongqing Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital during the period December 2025 to December 2026.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • ≥18 years old;
  • The diagnostic criteria all meet the five diagnostic criteria for restless legs syndrome established by the International Committee for the Study of Restless Legs Syndrome (IRLSSG) (2014 revised version)

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Suffering from serious physical illnesses, such as tumors, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, stroke, etc.;
  • Drug abuse, alcoholism, acute poisoning;
  • Antibiotic use within the 4 weeks preceding sampling;
  • Arobiotics or prebiotics use within the 4 weeks preceding sampling;
  • Iron supplements use within the 4 weeks preceding sampling.

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

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
Time Frame
There are differences in the abundance of gut microbiota between RLS and theThere are differences in the abundance of gut microbiota between RLS patients and the healthy controls.
Time Frame: 1 year
1 year

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.
Wenxia Jiang

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

  • 1. Yan, F., Y. Cheng, and S. Feng, Association between serum GFAP, BDNF and NfL levels and clinical symptoms in restless legs syndrome: a case-control study. Sleep Med, 2025. 134: p. 106694. 2. Holland, M.T., et al., Adaptive spinal cord stimulation improves restless legs syndrome: Case report, literature review, and mechanistic hypothesis. Sleep Med, 2025. 134: p. 106664. 3. Takahara, I., et al., Prevalence of Restless Legs Syndrome in Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease. Dig Dis Sci, 2017. 62(3): p. 761-767. 4. Loosen, S.H., et al., Association between Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Subsequent Development of Restless Legs Syndrome and Parkinson's Disease: A Retrospective Cohort Study of 35,988 Primary Care Patients in Germany. Life (Basel), 2023. 13(4). 5. Hackethal, S., et al., Restless Legs Syndrome During Pregnancy and Puerperium. Sleep, 2025. 6. Elangovan, P., et al., Prevalence of Restless Leg Syndrome and Its Association With Iron Deficiency in Patients With Chronic Kidney Disease: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study. Cureus, 2025. 17(6): p. e86188. 7. Schormair, B., et al., Genome-wide meta-analyses of restless legs syndrome yield insights into genetic architecture, disease biology and risk prediction. Nat Genet, 2024. 56(6): p. 1090-1099. 8. Manconi, M., et al., Restless legs syndrome. Nat Rev Dis Primers, 2021. 7(1): p. 80. 9. Guo, X., et al., Clinical feature and alpha-synuclein level of restless legs syndrome with leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 encoding gene mutation. Parkinsonism Relat Disord, 2025. 138: p. 107944. 10. Earley, C.J., et al., Altered brain iron homeostasis and dopaminergic function in Restless Legs Syndrome (Willis-Ekbom Disease). Sleep Med, 2014. 15(11): p. 1288-301. 11. Mizuno, S., et al., CSF iron, ferritin and transferrin levels in restless legs syndrome. J Sleep Res, 2005. 14(1): p. 43-7. 12. Ferré, S., et al., New Insights into the Neurobiology of Restless Legs Syndrome. Neuroscientist, 2019. 25(2): p. 113-125.

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 (Estimated)

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.
December 15, 2025

Primary Completion (Estimated)

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.
December 1, 2026

Study Completion (Estimated)

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.
December 1, 2026

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).
December 14, 2025

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.
December 14, 2025

First Posted (Estimated)

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.
December 29, 2025

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimated)

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.
January 2, 2026

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.
December 30, 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, 2025

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.
  • 2025-IIT-KS-23

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

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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