The Effect of Probiotics in Infantile Colic (CSUB0214)

November 5, 2026 updated by: Roberto Berni Canani, MD, PhD, Federico II University

Double-blind, Randomized, Placebo-controlled, Parallel-group Study to Evaluate the Effect of L. Reuteri on Crying and Fussing Time in Infants With Infantile Colic

Academic, independent, non-commercial, multicenter study sponsored by the Department of Translational Medical Sciences (DISMET), University of Naples Federico II. The study evaluates whether daily oral supplementation with L reuteri reduces crying and fussing time more rapidly than an indistinguishable placebo in otherwise healthy infants with Rome IV infantile colic.

Study Overview

Status

Status

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

Detailed Description

Eligible participants will meet the clinical description for having infant colic. Participants will be assessed for eligibility at the screening visit and must meet all specified inclusion and exclusion criteria. Based on screening examinations, the individual Family Pediatrician (PLS) is solely responsible for determining clinical eligibility and making the final enrollment decision, which will be documented on the Participant Screening and Enrolment Log. The Scientific Coordinator will exclusively monitor aggregate screening logs and enrollment targets across all active sites, without direct involvement in the clinical selection. Fifty infants will be randomized 1:1 to probiotic or placebo. Each participant will complete a 7-day run-in, 21 days of treatment and 7 days of safety follow-up.

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 (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.
50

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 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: Robeto Berni Canani, PhD, MD
  • Phone Number: +390817462680
  • Email: berni@unina.it

Study Locations

  • Italy
      • Naples, Italy, 80100
        • Recruiting
        • Family pediatricians
        • Contact:
          • Roberto Berni Canani, MD, PhD
          • Phone Number: +390817462680
          • Email: berni@unina.it

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

3 weeks to 2 months (Child)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Age 3-12 weeks at screening;
  • gestational age 37+0 to 42+0 weeks;
  • birth weight appropriate or large for gestational age;
  • parent/caregiver/legal guardian older than 18 years;
  • exclusive or predominant breastfeeding (>50%);
  • willingness to maintain feeding pattern and complete diaries and questionnaires;
  • physician-confirmed Rome IV infantile colic, parental report of ≥3 hours of crying/fussing per day on ≥3 days in the prior week, and ≥3 hours in at least one 24-hour period documented in the run-in diary;
  • written informed consent; mother available for scheduled visits; infant otherwise clinically healthy.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Severe gastroesophageal reflux (as defined in the protocol);
  • failure to thrive;
  • intrauterine growth restriction;
  • hematochezia;
  • significant diarrhea or fever ≥38 °C;
  • congenital heart disease, immunodeficiency, asplenia, malignancy, cystic fibrosis or liver disease;
  • probiotic or systemic/oral antibiotic use in the 7 days before screening or anticipated use during the study;
  • use of treatments for infantile colic; including proton pump inhibitors; in the 7 days before screening or during the study.
  • Infant and mother must not participate concurrently in another interventional clinical study.

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: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Quadruple

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.
Active Comparator: Probiotic

Probiotic: L. reuteri total 2 × 10⁸ CFU/day, 5 oral drops once daily for 21 days
Dietary supplement: Probiotic: L. reuteri total 2 × 10⁸ CFU/day

5 oral drops once daily for 21 days.
Placebo Comparator: Placebo

Placebo: matching oil formulation without L. reuteri, 5 oral drops once daily for 21 days.
Dietary supplement: Placebo: matching oil formulation without L. reuteri

5 oral drops once daily for 21 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
Daily total crying and fussing time at day 7
Time Frame: 7 days after initiation of intervention

Total infant crying and fussing time, expressed as hours per 24-hour period, recorded daily by parents on baby's day diary
7 days after initiation of intervention

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
Change in daily total crying and fussing time from baseline to day 7
Time Frame: At Day 0 and at day 7 of intervention

Total infant crying duration and fussing time, expressed as hours per 24-hour period, recorded daily by parents on baby's day diary
At Day 0 and at day 7 of intervention
Change in daily total crying and fussing time from baseline to every day during 21days of treatment
Time Frame: During 21 days of treatment

Total infant crying duration and fussing time, expressed as hours per 24-hour period, recorded daily by parents on baby's day diary
During 21 days of treatment
Proportion of responder patients assessed using a parent-completed daily sleep diary (Baby's Day Diary)
Time Frame: During the first 21 days of treatment

Proportion of patients responders to the treatment, defined as the number of infants with ≥50% reduction in crying and fussing time, expressed as hours per 24-hour period, recorded daily by parents on baby's day diary
During the first 21 days of treatment
Sleeping time
Time Frame: During the first 21 days of treatment

Total infant sleep duration, expressed as hours per 24-hour period, recorded daily by parents on baby's day diary
During the first 21 days of treatment
PedsQL Family Impact Module
Time Frame: During 21 days of treatment

Changes in PedsQL Family Impact Module range 0-100 (with higher scores reflecting better functioning) from baseline to Days 7 and 21
During 21 days of treatment
Maternal Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale score
Time Frame: During 21 days of treatment

Changes in Maternal Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale score evaluation Total score range: 0 to 30 (higher score on the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) indicates a greater severity of symptoms) from baseline to Days 7 and 21
During 21 days of treatment
Number of participants experiencing adverse events and serious adverse events.
Time Frame: From initiation of the intervention (Day 1) through Day 28.Adverse events, serious adverse events

Number of participants experiencing at least one adverse event (AE) or serious adverse event (SAE) during the study. Events will be recorded and characterized according to type, severity, seriousness, and relationship to the study intervention.
From initiation of the intervention (Day 1) through Day 28.Adverse events, serious adverse events
Body temperature
Time Frame: At day 0 and 21

body temperature (°C)
At day 0 and 21
Heart rate
Time Frame: At day 0 and 21

heart rate (BPM)
At day 0 and 21
Respiratory rate
Time Frame: At day 0 and 21

Respiratory rate/minute
At day 0 and 21
Blood pressure
Time Frame: At day 0 and 21

blood pressure (mmHg)
At day 0 and 21
Height
Time Frame: At day 0 and 21

Height in cm
At day 0 and 21
Weight
Time Frame: At day 0 and 21

Weight in Kg
At day 0 and 21

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.
Federico II University

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.
September 23, 2026

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.
July 1, 2027

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.
September 1, 2027

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).
September 24, 2026

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.
October 23, 2026

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.
October 26, 2026

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.
November 9, 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.
November 5, 2026

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.
November 1, 2026

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.
  • 204/26

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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