Microbiota Transfer for Chronic Rhinosinusitis (SNMT)

July 15, 2022 updated by: Amin Javer

SinoNasal Microbiota Transfer (SNMT) to Treat Chronic Rhinosinusitis: A Randomized, Double-blind, Placebo-controlled Trial

Chronic sinusitis (CRS) is a common inflammatory condition of the sinuses that affects up to 2.5% of the Canadian population, and is thought to be caused by bacterial infection, resistant biofilms, chronic inflammation and possibly an unhealthy population of sinus microbes (or microbiota). Symptoms include nasal obstruction and discharge, facial pain, loss of smell and sleep disturbance, which all strongly impact quality of life. CRS treatment involves nasal or oral steroids, repeated rounds of antibiotic, and sinus surgery. Despite maximal treatment, some recalcitrant patients suffer with CRS for years.

The lack of new, effective therapies to treat CRS leads the investigators to test whether a SinoNasal Microbiota Transfer (SNMT) could trigger CRS recovery. SNMT is defined as the endoscopic transfer of a healthy sinus microbiota from a fully screened donor's sinus to a CRS patient's sinus(es). Similar to a fecal transplant used to treat Clostridioides difficile diarrhea, the sinonasal microbiota transfer may eliminate sinus pathogens and restore the sinus microbiota to a healthy state. SNMT will be combined with a one-time, high volume, high pressure "sinus power wash" pre-treatment to temporarily clear the way for the donor microbiota to establish itself. The investigators will conduct a proof-of-principle, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of 80 subjects to test whether a sinus power wash plus SNMT improves clinical outcomes in CRS patients.

Study Overview

Status

Recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) is a common inflammatory condition of the paranasal sinuses. CRS patients experience persistent facial pain/pressure, nasal discharge, nasal obstruction, and loss of smell. Initial treatment includes topical and systemic steroids and (often multiple rounds of) antibiotics; however, two thirds of patients remain symptomatic despite medical therapy and require endoscopic sinus surgery. Direct medical and indirect social costs of CRS are substantial, with 57% of patients reporting absenteeism and poor health and 28% experiencing associated anxiety and depression. These hard-to-treat patients are classified as recalcitrant CRS (rCRS), have limited treatment options available, and are the focus of this trial.

CRS was thought to occur due to impaired sinus ventilation and drainage however new evidence suggests that sinus mucosal inflammation, driven in part by microbiota disruptions and pathogen carriage, is the etiological factor behind CRS. Type of inflammation varies and cannot be predicted based on clinical variables alone. Several studies show that the microbiome composition of CRS patients is less diverse compared to healthy subjects, suggesting that community-level disruptions, and not individual opportunistic pathogens, may contribute to persistent inflammation.

The investigators will conduct a proof-of-principle, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of 80 subjects to test whether a sinus power wash plus SNMT improves clinical outcomes in CRS patients within 45 days compared to a sinus power wash and sham SNMT. The investigators will investigate the safety profile of SNMT and determine if SNMT-related CRS symptom improvement lasts up to 6 months. Finally, the investigators will investigate how SNMT contributes to CRS recovery, by tracking changes in the sinus microbiota and inflammation pre- and post-treatment. Results from our pilot study shows that SNMT produced CRS symptom improvement in 75% of patients. SNMT therapy may be a transformative strategy to address CRS, a chronic and debilitating illness.

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 Contact

Study Contact Backup

Study Locations

  • Canada
    • British Columbia
      • Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, V6Z 1Y6
        • Recruiting
        • St. Paul's Hospital
        • Contact:
        • Contact:
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Amin Javer, MD
        • Sub-Investigator:
          • Amee Manges, PhD

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

19 years and older (ADULT, OLDER_ADULT)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria for Patients:

  • Recalcitrant CRS patients
  • Able to provide informed consent
  • Diagnosed with CRS (with/without polyps) and have previously undergone functional endoscopic sinus surgery (Post-FESS)
  • Continued to fail despite receiving "maximal and adequate medical treatment" This is defined as patients who:
  • Have received topical nasal steroids in any form (Spray/ Rinse/ Atomized) for at least 3 months or at least one course of oral corticosteroids treatment (>0.5 mg/kg for 2 weeks tapering dose);
  • Had at least one course of antibiotic treatment either based on culture and sensitivity of nasal sinus secretions or as long-term low dose macrolide therapy (clarithromycin 500mg twice a day for 2 weeks then 250 mg once a day for 4 weeks) for at least one trial or have received a course of itraconazole 100mg twice daily for 6 weeks
  • Have deteriorating SNOT-22 Scores (≥20) or do not improve after surgery and appropriate maximal medical management (MLK score ≥ 2, with at least 2 points on the discharge subdomain)

Exclusion Criteria for Patients:

  • Diagnosed with sinonasal tumors
  • Autoimmune diseases affecting the upper airway (e.g., systemic lupus erythematosus, Sjögren's syndrome, systemic sclerosis)
  • Immune-compromised patients
  • Impairment in mucociliary function (e.g., cystic fibrosis, Kartagener syndrome)
  • Pregnant or planning to become pregnant or breastfeeding
  • Severe underlying disease with anticipated survival less than 6 months
  • Unable to tolerate SNMT for any reason

Inclusion Criteria for Donors:

  • 19 years of age or older
  • Able to provide informed consent, complete donor screening, and adhere to SNMT mucus collection and testing procedures

Exclusion Criteria for Donors:

  • If they are positive for any of the following: (i) from blood or mucus testing, human Immunodeficiency virus (HIV) I/II, hepatitis A IgM, hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), hepatitis C, human T- lymphotropic virus (HTLV) I/II, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, multidrug resistant bacteria, and/or SARS-CoV-2
  • A history of sinonasal or lower airway disease within the last 2 years other than the common cold; diagnosed with CRS; diagnosed with acute rhinosinusitis within the last six months; asthma; and/or clinical findings of sinonasal disease at the inclusion visit and immunodeficiency; any history of active cancer, or risk factors for acquisition of HIV, syphilis, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, prion, or relevant neurological disease, receipt of blood transfusion from a country other than Canada in the preceding 6 months, any type of antibiotic treatment or any systemic immunosuppressive agents in the 3 months prior to the donation, or any current or previous medical or psychosocial condition or behaviours, which in the opinion of the investigator, may pose a risk to the recipient or the donor

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: QUADRUPLE

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
EXPERIMENTAL: Sinonasal Microbiota Transfer
The transfer site for patients will be prepared by endoscopically removing any visible crusting, mucin, and purulent discharge from the sinuses and via manual high-volume (>60 ml), high-pressure saline wash on day 0. The donor mucus sample will be homogenized using sterile, disposable rotor-stator homogenizer tips for 30 seconds and 5 ml of donor mucus will be instilled into the affected sinus cavity(ies) using a masked syringe under endoscopic visualization, with the recipient's head in a dependent position. Patients will remain in this position for 15 minutes to facilitate transfer.
Procedure: Sinonasal Microbiota Transfer
Pre-screened donor mucus, up to 15mL, will be transplanted into each diseased sinus via nasal lavage.
SHAM_COMPARATOR: Sham Sinonasal Microbiota Transfer
Sterile saline will replace the SNMT donor mucus in the masked syringe and will be delivered in an identical manner to the SNMT intervention.
Procedure: Sham Sinonasal Microbiota Transfer
Saline, up to 15mL, will be transplanted into each diseased sinus via nasal lavage.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Modified Lund-Kennedy (MLK) endoscopic scoring
Time Frame: Baseline to 45 days
Change in endoscopic score, where points to each sinus are assigned based on discharge (0 - no discharge; 1 - clear discharge; 2 - purulent discharge), edema (0 - edema; 1 - mild edema; 2 - severe edema), and polyps (0 - no polyps; 1 - confined to the middle meatus; 2 - beyond the middle meatus) for a maximum of 6 points per side (12 total). A 1-point difference in the total MLK score is considered clinically meaningful since it signifies a change in either polyp size, edema severity, or type of discharge.
Baseline to 45 days

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Sinonasal Outcome Test (SNOT-22) questionnaire
Time Frame: Baseline to 45 days, 90 days, 180 days
Disease specific quality of life improvement, which includes 22 questions that encompass 4 subdomains of CRS (nasal, sleep, otologic/facial pain, and emotional symptoms).
Baseline to 45 days, 90 days, 180 days
Smell Test
Time Frame: Baseline to 45 days, 90 days, 180 days
Smell test using Sniffin' Sticks (scores range from 0-48).
Baseline to 45 days, 90 days, 180 days
Adverse and serious adverse events
Time Frame: Baseline to any time until the end of the study period
The safety of SNMT will be examined by identifying any adverse events, including serious adverse events.
Baseline to any time until the end of the study period
Microbiome analysis of patients and donor samples
Time Frame: Baseline to 45 days, 90 days, 180 days
Metagenome sequencing will be performed to construct metagenome-assembled genomes of CRS pathogens in donor and recipient mucus, to unambiguously describe strain-specific eradication or reinfection; determine donor sinus microbiota engraftment; detect evidence for (or not) resistance gene and resistant organism transfer via SNMT from donor to recipient; and investigate microbiome compositional and functional features associated with SNMT success or failure.
Baseline to 45 days, 90 days, 180 days
Immune markers
Time Frame: Baseline to 45 days, 90 days, 180 days
To assess immune activation and inflammation-related responses to SNMT CRS-specific structured histological analysis will be performed to detect a reduction in tissue eosinophilia and/or neutrophilia, mucosal ulceration, and squamous metaplasia; cytokine/chemokine testing to detect a decrease in inflammation; and antibody testing and blood work to measure sustained reductions in serum eosinophils and IgE levels
Baseline to 45 days, 90 days, 180 days

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Amin Javer

Investigators

  • Study Director: Amin Javer, MD, University of British Columbia

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 (ACTUAL)

June 15, 2022

Primary Completion (ANTICIPATED)

June 1, 2024

Study Completion (ANTICIPATED)

June 1, 2025

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

July 7, 2022

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 7, 2022

First Posted (ACTUAL)

July 12, 2022

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (ACTUAL)

July 19, 2022

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 15, 2022

Last Verified

July 1, 2022

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • H18-02263-A013

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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