Probiotics for Clostridium Difficile Infection in Older Adults (PICO)

December 1, 2015 updated by: University of Wisconsin, Madison

A Pilot Study to Examine the Role of Probiotics for Improving Outcomes of C. Difficile

The purpose of this study is to determine whether a probiotic, when used together with standard treatment, is effective in reducing duration of symptoms and preventing recurrence of infection in older adults with a first episode of C. difficile infection.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Probiotics are live microorganisms that are available over the counter, widely used as dietary supplements or nutritional foods, and represent a low-cost, well tolerated, safe, non-antibiotic based strategy that may have efficacy as adjunctive treatment of infections without the attendant risks of promoting antimicrobial resistance. Certain probiotics have demonstrated inhibition of adherence of pathogenic bacteria and stimulation of systemic immune functions, possibly enhancing the body's ability to eradicate C. difficile in the gastrointestinal tract. However, limited data is available on the efficacy of probiotics for ameliorating C. difficile symptoms and reducing recurrence of C. difficile infection (CDI). The investigators propose a pilot randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial in older adult inpatients with a first episode of CDI to evaluate the efficacy of a probiotic combination, in conjunction with standard treatment, for reducing duration of diarrhea and recurrence of CDI.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

33

Phase

  • Phase 2

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 States
    • Wisconsin
      • Madison, Wisconsin, United States, 53792
        • University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics

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:

  • Adult of either gender, 18 years or older with a first episode of C. difficile infection
  • Meets the case definition of C. difficile infection-diarrhea associated with a positive stool test for C. difficile toxin(s) in the 2 days prior to enrollment treated with metronidazole or vancomycin

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Severe disease defined as any of the following: WBC > 30,000 or < 1000 cells/mm^3, elevated creatinine > 1.5 times the premorbid level, ICU patient at time C. difficile infection diagnosed
  • Has other known etiology of diarrhea (e.g. other enteric pathogen, other intestinal disease)
  • Has a history of chronic intestinal disease (e.g. Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis)
  • Has a presence of toxic megacolon or ileus
  • Has a presence of colostomy or nasogastric tube
  • Has a history of abdominal surgery within the previous 3 months (from time of enrollment)
  • Is enrolled in another investigational drug trial
  • Is unavailable for follow-up visits
  • History of multiple C. difficile infection
  • Willing not to take other probiotics for duration of study
  • Is severely immunocompromised.

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
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Probiotic

This arm will receive a probiotic combination which will consist of equal amounts of Lactobacillus acidophilus NCFM® (ATCC 700396), Lactobacillus paracasei Lpc-37 (ATCC SD5275), Bifidobacterium lactis Bi-07 (ATCC SC5220), and Bifidobacterium lactis Bl-04 (ATCC SD5219).

The probiotic will be taken orally, once a week, for 4 weeks.
Dietary supplement: Probiotic
The intervention will consist of the subject taking the study medication once a day for 4 weeks. During hospitalization, patients will be followed daily for diarrhea history, record of concomitant medications, adverse effects (AEs), and their response to treatment using a stool diary. Upon discharge from the hospital, patients will be contacted through weekly phone calls to assess diarrhea history, record of concomitant medications, adverse effects (AEs), and their response to treatment using a stool diary. At weeks 4 and 8, a stool sample will be collected, and the stool diary will be reviewed.
Other Names:
  • Lactobacillus acidophilus NCFM®
  • Lactobacillus paracasei Lpc-37
  • Bifidobacterium lactis Bi-07
  • Bifidobacterium lactis Bl-04
  • ATCC 700396
  • ATCC SD5275
  • ATCC SD5220
  • ATCC SD5219
Placebo Comparator: Placebo
A placebo will be taken orally, once a day, for 4 weeks.
Dietary supplement: Placebo
The intervention will consist of the subject taking the placebo once a day for 4 weeks. day for 4 weeks. During hospitalization, patients will be followed daily for diarrhea history, record of concomitant medications, adverse effects (AEs), and their response to treatment using a stool diary. Upon discharge from the hospital, patients will be contacted through weekly phone calls to assess diarrhea history, record of concomitant medications, adverse effects (AEs), and their response to treatment using a stool diary. At weeks 4 and 8, a stool sample will be collected, and the stool diary will be reviewed.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Duration of diarrhea
Time Frame: 4 weeks
Duration of diarrhea, as indicated by a stool diary kept by the patient
4 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Density of C. difficile toxin in stool
Time Frame: 8 weeks
8 weeks
Stool cytokines
Time Frame: 8 weeks
8 weeks
Fecal lactoferrin
Time Frame: 8 weeks
8 weeks
Functional assessment using Barthel Index
Time Frame: 8 weeks
8 weeks
Recurrence of CDI
Time Frame: 8 weeks
Diagnosis with a recurrent episode of C. difficile infection
8 weeks

Other Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Infection with Lactobacillus
Time Frame: 8 weeks
Fever and other signs of infection with Lactobacillus, and infection confirmed through blood cultures
8 weeks
Infection with Bifidobacterium
Time Frame: 8 weeks
Fever and other signs of infection with Bifidobacterium, and infection confirmed through blood cultures
8 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

University of Wisconsin, Madison

Collaborators

National Institutes of Health (NIH)
National Institute on Aging (NIA)

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Nasia Safdar, MD, University of Wisconsin Department of Medicine (Infectious Disease)

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

February 1, 2013

Primary Completion (Actual)

February 1, 2015

Study Completion (Actual)

February 1, 2015

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

September 4, 2012

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 6, 2012

First Posted (Estimate)

September 7, 2012

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

December 3, 2015

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

December 1, 2015

Last Verified

December 1, 2015

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 2012-0462
  • R03AG040669-01 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

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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