Administration of Arginine Supplementation in Preterm Infants

April 15, 2011 updated by: Alexandra Hospital, Athens, Greece

Administration of Arginine Supplementation in Preterm Infants and Measurement of Fecal Calprotectin as an Inflammatory Marker of the Intestine

Calprotectin is a cytosolic component of neutrophils .Fecal calprotectin(FC) is a useful marker for exacerbation of inflammatory bowel disease in children .FC may be a useful marker for necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC).

NEC is one of the most common ,deadliest and enigmatic intestinal problems encountered mostly in premature infants. The precise pathophysiology of NEC is unclear ,but major factors thought to play an important role include an immature intestine ,an inflammatory response to intestinal microbes,enteral feedings and intestinal ischemia-reperfusion injury.Diagnosis of NEC is not easy clinically and up to now there is not a simple laboratory test to differentiate NEC at an early stage from other conditions in the neonate.

Arginine is the substrate for NO production in the gut and its deficiency may cause vasoconstriction and gut injury and thus predispose to NEC. In previous studies arginine supplementation was found to reduce the incidence of NEC in premature infants but more studies are needed for the use of arginine supplementation for the prevention of NEC.

The investigators aim is to measure the fecal calprotectin in very low birth weight (VLBW) infants during the first month of life as an inflammatory marker of the bowel and evaluate whether premature infants receiving arginine supplements had lower calprotectin values compared to the premature infants that did not .

The investigators hypothesize that arginine supplementation in preterm infants reduces the inflammation of the gut which will be shown by the lower fecal calprotectin values of the premature infants receiving arginine supplementation.

Study Overview

Status

Unknown

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Anticipated)

80

Phase

  • 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

  • Greece
      • Athens, Greece, 11528
        • Alexandra 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

Ages Eligible for Study

No older than 3 days (Child)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • preterm neonates born at Alexandra hospital during the study period
  • < 34 weeks gestational age
  • < 1500gr birth weight

Exclusion Criteria:

  • major congenital abnormalities
  • inborn errors of metabolism
  • parents not consent

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: Quadruple

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
fecal calprotectin levels
Time Frame: first 28 days of life
first 28 days of life

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
necrotizing enterocolitis
Time Frame: first 3 months of life
the incidence of necrotizing enterocolitis in the study group
first 3 months of life

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Alexandra Hospital, Athens, Greece

Collaborators

University of Athens

Investigators

  • Study Chair: Kostalos Chistos, MD Phd, Alexandra Hospital neonatal intensive care unit

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

June 1, 2009

Primary Completion (Anticipated)

June 1, 2011

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

April 15, 2011

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 15, 2011

First Posted (Estimate)

April 18, 2011

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

April 18, 2011

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 15, 2011

Last Verified

April 1, 2011

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • ALEXANDRA 9159

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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