Investigation of Synbiotic Treatment in NAFLD (INSYTE)

January 19, 2021 updated by: University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust

Investigation of the Effects of a Synbiotic on Liver Fat, Disease Biomarkers and Intestinal Microbiota in Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a liver condition in which fat builds up in the liver not caused by alcohol. The liver is an organ that is not designed to build up fat. NAFLD is common in people who have too much body fat in their abdomen or who have diabetes (high blood sugar), but does not always exist with these conditions. NAFLD can also occur in thin people too. NAFLD can be harmful to the liver and may cause the liver to fail over time. NAFLD may also cause adult (or type 2) diabetes and also heart disease. In people who already have diabetes, NAFLD can cause glucose (sugar) levels to be too high.

Our intestines (guts) contain healthy bacteria and some harmful bacteria (bugs). This balance of healthy and harmful bugs is essential for the normal workings of our intestine to digest food. Providing these bacteria do not leak out into the blood they do not cause harm. If the balance of healthy to harmful bugs is upset, the harmful can cause problems and leak out into the blood. Because the liver is connected to the intestine by blood vessels the harmful bacteria can get to the liver and cause problems. These bacteria can cause the liver and the body to build up too much fat and might cause NAFLD and obesity. In this study, we will test the effects of a supplement (synbiotic) taken during the day, that contains a mixture of 'good' healthy bacteria (probiotic) and a sugar (prebiotic) that is not broken down and absorbed into the blood. We will test whether the synbiotic supplement has beneficial effects on the NAFLD liver condition and on factors linked to too much body fat, diabetes and heart disease.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

We will recruit people with NAFLD who have been diagnosed as part of their NHS (National Health Service) care with having this condition. At present there is no treatment for this condition.

Purpose and design:

We are asking the research question: "Does the modulation of gut microflora with a synbiotic improve non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and the related risk factors for heart disease and type 2 diabetes?"

Presently there is no treatment for this liver condition. Research evidence suggests that a synbiotic supplement might be beneficial for this condition.

To address this research question we want to undertake a randomised double blind placebo controlled trial recruiting people who have been diagnosed with NAFLD.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

104

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

  • United Kingdom
    • Hants
      • Southampton, Hants, United Kingdom, SO166YD
        • Southamption General 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

18 years and older (ADULT, OLDER_ADULT)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Both men and women
  • Age > 18 years
  • Liver fat diagnosed on normal clinical grounds including in most cases liver assessed by Kleiner scoring system to classify severity, with no known aetiological factors for underlying liver disease (e.g. exclusion of hepatitis A, B & C, primary biliary cirrhosis, autoimmune hepatitis, haemochromatosis). Last liver biopsy will be within 3 years of recruitment to the study.
  • Liver fat diagnosed by ultrasound, CT or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in patients who also have either diabetes and/or features of the metabolic syndrome, without evidence of known aetiological factors for underlying liver disease (e.g. exclusion of hepatitis A, B & C, primary biliary cirrhosis, autoimmune hepatitis, haemochromatosis).
  • Alcohol consumption ≤ 14 units / week for women ≤ 21 units / week for men.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Alcohol consumption > 15 units /week for women and > 22 units /week for men.
  • Decompensated acute or chronic liver disease.
  • A history of viral hepatitis, diarrhoea, diverticulosis, irritable bowel syndrome, inflammatory bowel diseases, coeliac disease (seropositivity for anti-endomysial immunoglobulin A antibodies; immunoglobulin A (IgA) EMA).
  • Previous bariatric or other abdominal surgery.
  • Continuous use of antibiotics that may change gut microflora, probiotics, or antisecretory drugs capable of causing achlorhydria within the 2 months preceding enrolment, or evidence of immunoglobulin A or immunoglobulin deficiency (both of which produce confounding effects during assessments of intestinal permeability and small intestinal bacterial overgrowth).

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
  • Masking: DOUBLE

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
ACTIVE_COMPARATOR: Synbiotic
Fructo-oligosacharide with a degree of polymerization < 10 at 4 g/twice a day (two sticks a day) plus Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis (BB-12) as minimum of 10 billion colony forming unit (CFU)/day (1 capsule a day).
Dietary supplement: Synbiotic
The synbiotic to be used is fructo-oligosacharide with a degree of polymerization < 10 at 4 g/twice a day (two sticks a day) plus Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis BB-12 as minimum of 10 billion CFU/day (1 capsule a day).
PLACEBO_COMPARATOR: Maltodextrin
4 grams of maltodextrin daily.
Dietary supplement: Maltodextrin

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in Liver Fat
Time Frame: baseline and 12 months
Change in liver fat percent was calculated as the percent liver fat at the end of the study, minus the percent of liver fat prior to the intervention. Change in liver fat percent ranged from -60.6% (good) to + 33.7% (bad).
baseline and 12 months
Change in Enhanced Liver Fibrosis Score (ELF)
Time Frame: baseline and 12 months

Change in Enhanced Liver Fibrosis score (ELF) was calculated as ELF score at the end of the study minus ELF score prior to the intervention (at baseline). A decrease in the ELF score was considered good as it reflected a decrease in liver fibrosis, and an increase in ELF score was considered bad as it reflected an increase in liver fibrosis.

Change in ELF scores ranged from -0.56 (good) to + 0.68 (bad).
baseline and 12 months
Change in NAFLD Fibrosis Score
Time Frame: baseline and 12 months

Change in NAFLD Fibrosis Score (NFS) was calculated as the NFS score at the end of the study, minus NFS score prior to the intervention (at baseline). A decrease in the NFS score was considered good because it reflected a decrease in liver fibrosis, and an increase in NFS score was considered bad, as it reflected an increase in liver fibrosis.

Change in NFS scores ranged from -2.07 (good) to + 1.75 (bad)
baseline and 12 months
Change in Bifidobacterium Spp.
Time Frame: baseline and 12 months

The change in percent of Bifidobacteria spp was computed as the percent of Bifidobactera spp at the end of the study minus the percent of Bifidobacteria prior to the intervention (at baseline).

A positive change in percent (e.g +0.1 to 7.0%) in Bifidobacteria spp. was considered good and a negative change in percent (e.g. -0.1 to -0.5%) in Bifidobacteria spp. considered bad. (Minimum = -0.5% (bad) and Maximum = +7.0% (good)).
baseline and 12 months

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust

Collaborators

National Institute for Health Research, United Kingdom

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Christopher D Byrne, MBBCh, PhD, University of Southampton/University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust

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

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

December 1, 2013

Primary Completion (ACTUAL)

January 1, 2019

Study Completion (ACTUAL)

January 1, 2019

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

August 24, 2012

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 6, 2012

First Posted (ESTIMATE)

September 7, 2012

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (ACTUAL)

February 5, 2021

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 19, 2021

Last Verified

October 1, 2020

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • RHM MED1071

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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