Maternal Probiotic Intervention to Improve Gut Health - Trial II - Bangladesh
- Conditions
- Environmental Enteric Dysfunction
- Interventions
- Registration Number
- NCT06817031
- Brief Summary
Burden: Environmental Enteric Dysfunction (EED) is an enteropathic condition characterised by altered gut permeability, infiltration of immune cells and changes in villous architecture and cell differentiation. EED is a major reason of malnourishment, poor neurological development, stunting, oral vaccine failure, and infection. It is believed that EED is responsible for 40% of all childhood stunting.
Knowledge gap: To date the focus of research on childhood stunting has been on the young child. It is increasingly appreciated, however, that stunting often begins in utero and the focus has shifted to women's health and pregnancy. Results from rural Bangladesh reveal poor gestational weight gain that ultimately leads to intrauterine growth restriction, low birth weight and ultimately stunting and wasting. Another study recently completed in slum settlements of Dhaka, Bangladesh demonstrated a high prevalence of EED among undernourished women. Intestinal histopathology was abnormal in more than 80% of women. We postulate that growth retardation in utero is a consequence of EED in the mother during pregnancy and lactation. This leads to systemic inflammation, which lead to disadvantageous partitioning of nutrients, and reduced nutrient availability.
Relevance: This trial will explore the conceptual framework that a probiotic or live biotherapeutic product that can improve the composition of gut microbiota, can also displace enteropathogens and reduce biomarkers of intestinal inflammation to promote gut health. This will restore healthy microbial signalling to the host epithelium, ameliorate barrier function through secretion of mucus and antimicrobial factors, and improve nutrient availability.
Objectives: The primary objective is to assess if administration of oral vancomycin followed by VE818 to pregnant women colonised with at least 2 out of 11 selected bacterial enteropathogens results in a significant change in the mean count of these organisms between the baseline and 2 weeks after completion of the intervention (Study Day 35d +2), compared to oral vancomycin followed by placebo.
Methods: Pregnant women will be recruited in antenatal clinics and in the community in Matlab in Bangladesh, Matiari in Pakistan, Lusaka in Zambia and, and Bobo-Dioulasso in Burkina Faso. Study population will be women aged 18 years or older in the first trimester or early second trimester of pregnancy. Study procedures will be explained in detail and written consent will be taken before enrollment. Those women who give consent to participation will undergo a screening process which will check if any exclusion criteria are fulfilled. After consent and screening they will be randomised into either of the three arms: intervention arm (oral vancomycin followed by VE818), placebo-control arm (oral vancomycin followed by placebo), or observation-only arm. The allocation sequence will be generated by the trial statistician using a code with block permutation. The participant will remain free to withdraw at any time from the trial without giving reasons and without prejudicing her further treatment. Biological samples, including blood, saliva, urine, stool, vaginal swab, and intestinal luminal contents through CapScan. CapScan is a non-invasive device (capsule) that collects gastrointestinal samples along the gastrointestinal tract following ingestion and passes into stool.
Outcome measures/variables: The primary endpoint is the change in the mean count in the number of 11 selected fecal bacterial pathogen groups present between baseline and 2 weeks after completion of the 14-day course with Placebo or VE818 (Study arms 2 and 3), which corresponds to 35th day, +2 from the first dose of oral vancomycin.
The 11 enteropathogen targets will be detected by customized real-time quantitative PCR-based TaqMan Array Cards (TAC-qPCR) and include the following organisms: Aeromonas, Campylobacter coli, Campylobacter jejuni, Campylobacter Pan, Enteroaggregative Escherichia coli (E. coli), Enteropathogenic E. coli, Enterotoxigenic E. coli, Plesiomonas, Shigella_Enteroinvasive E. coli (EIEC), Salmonella and Klebsiella pneumoniae
- Detailed Description
Across the site pregnant women will be screened for eligibility in their first or early second trimester of pregnancy (13-17 weeks of GA) and will be enrolled and randomized into three arms (48 women per arm). Participants will be dosed depending on the randomized arm.
As per WHO recommendation, participants in all 3 arms will receive Multiple Micronutrient Supplements (MMS) as part of routine antenatal care, which they will begin taking at enrollment and continue throughout pregnancy.
Blinding will be implemented for the comparison between the Treatment arm and the Placebo arm. However, it is not feasible to apply blinding to the Observation-only arm as the participants in this group will receive no intervention and the arm solely serves as an observational arm.
After the end of the intervention, pregnant women will be followed up until birth to record birth and pregnancy outcomes. Mother-infant dyads will be sampled 7 days after birth. Maternal and Infant health outcomes will be followed up to 1 month after childbirth to record clinical outcomes during this period.
Recruitment & Eligibility
- Status
- NOT_YET_RECRUITING
- Sex
- Female
- Target Recruitment
- 144
Not provided
Not provided
Study & Design
- Study Type
- INTERVENTIONAL
- Study Design
- PARALLEL
- Arm && Interventions
Group Intervention Description oral vancomycin + placebo Placebo - oral vancomycin + placebo Oral Vancomycin - oral vancomycin + VE818 VE818 - oral vancomycin + VE818 Oral Vancomycin -
- Primary Outcome Measures
Name Time Method Change in the mean count in the number of 11 selected fecal bacterial pathogen groups present between baseline and endline Between baseline and 2 weeks after completion of the 14-day course with Placebo or VE818 The primary endpoint is the change in the mean count in the number of 11 selected fecal bacterial pathogen groups present between baseline and 2 weeks after completion of the 14-day course with Placebo or VE818 (Study arms 2 and 3), which corresponds to 35th day, +2 from the first dose of oral vancomycin.
- Secondary Outcome Measures
Name Time Method Change in prevalence of specific enteropathogens not included in the primary endpoint in pregnant women Baseline, day 6, day 21, day 35, day 63 and 7 day post-partum Change in prevalence of specific enteropathogens (i.e., rotavirus, norovirus, Giardia, Cryptosporidium, and bacterial pathogens not included in the primary endpoint) in pregnant women detected in feces by TAC-qPCR between baseline (Day 0), end of oral vancomycin treatment (Day 6) the last dose of the 14-day VE818 intervention (21st day, +2), 14 days after the last dose of VE818 (35th day, +2), 42 days after the last dose of VE818 (63rd day, +2), and 7 day post-partum in the Treatment arm compared to Placebo arm and Observation-only arm (comparable timepoints)
Change in alpha and beta diversity of oral microbiome in pregnant women Baseline and day 35 Change in alpha and beta diversity of oral microbiome in pregnant women as measured by shotgun metagenomics sequencing between baseline (Day 0) (and 14 days after the last dose of the 14-day VE818 intervention (35th day, +2), in the Treatment arm, compared to Placebo arm and Observation-only arm (comparable timepoints)
Engraftment of VE818 strains in pregnant women day 21, day 35, day 63 and 7 day post-partum Engraftment of VE818 strains in pregnant women as measured by shotgun metagenomic sequencing of fecal samples collected at the end of the 14-day VE818 intervention (21st day, +2), 14 days after the last dose of VE818 (35th day, +2), 42 days after the last dose of VE818 (63rd day, +2) and 7 days post-partum
Change in intestinal permeability as measured by Lactulose/Rhamnose (LR) ratio in pregnant women Baseline and day 35 Change in intestinal permeability as measured by Lactulose/Rhamnose (LR) ratio in pregnant women between baseline and 14 days after the last dose of 14-day VE818 intervention (35th day, +2) in the Treatment arm, compared to Placebo arm and Observation-only arm (comparable timepoints)
Change in alpha and beta diversity of fecal microbiome in pregnant women Baseline, day 6, day 21, day 35, day 63 and 7 day post-partum Change in alpha and beta diversity of fecal microbiome in pregnant women as measured by shotgun metagenomics sequencing between baseline (Day 0), end of oral vancomycin treatment (Day 6), the last dose of the 14-day VE818 intervention (21st day, +2), 14 days after the last dose of VE818 (35th day, +2 day), 42 days after the last dose of VE818 (63rd day, +2), and 7 day post-partum in the Treatment arm, compared to Placebo arm and Observation-only arm ( comparable timepoints)
Change in metabolome (plasma and stool) in pregnant women Baseline, day 6, day 21, day 35, day 63 and 7 day post-partum Change in metabolome (plasma, and stool) in pregnant women between baseline (Day 0), end of oral vancomycin treatment (Day 6), the last dose of the 14-day VE818 intervention (21st day +2; stool only), 14 days after the last dose of VE818 (35th day+2) 42 days after the last dose of VE818 (63rd day +2) and 7 days post birth (stool only) in the Treatment arm, compared to Placebo arm and Observation-only arm (comparable timepoints)
Change in a panel of plasma biomarkers in pregnant women as measured by ELISA Baseline, day 6, day 35, and day 63 Change in a panel of plasma biomarkers (CRP, AGP, sCD14, LBP, CD163 and iFABP) in pregnant women as measured by ELISA between baseline (Day 0), end of oral vancomycin treatment (Day 6), 14 days after the last dose the of 14-day intervention (35th day, +2) and, 42 days after the last dose of VE818 (63rd day, +2) in the Treatment arm compared to Placebo arm and Observation-only arm (comparable timepoints)
Change in a panel of fecal biomarkers in pregnant women as measured by ELISA Baseline, day 6, day 21, day 35, day 63 and 7 day post-partum Change in a panel of fecal biomarkers (myeloperoxidase, neopterin, calprotectin and lipocalin) in pregnant women as measured by ELISA between baseline (Day 0) , end of oral vancomycin treatment (Day 6), the last dose of the 14-day VE818 intervention (21st day, +2), 14 days after the last dose of VE818 (35th day, +2) 42 days after the last dose VE818 (63rd day, +2), and 7 day post-partum in the Treatment arm, compared to Placebo arm and Observation-only arm (comparable timepoints)
Change in alpha and beta diversity of vaginal microbiome in pregnant women Baseline, day 6, day 35, and day 63 Change in alpha and beta diversity of vaginal microbiome in pregnant women as measured by shotgun metagenomics sequencing between baseline, end of oral vancomycin treatment (Day 6), 14 days after the last dose of the 14-day VE818 intervention (35th day, +2), and 42 days after the last dose of VE818 (63rd day, +2), in the Treatment arm, compared to Placebo arm and Observation-only arm (comparable timepoints)
Related Research Topics
Explore scientific publications, clinical data analysis, treatment approaches, and expert-compiled information related to the mechanisms and outcomes of this trial. Click any topic for comprehensive research insights.
Trial Locations
- Locations (1)
International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b)
🇧🇩Matlab, Bangladesh
International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b)🇧🇩Matlab, BangladeshS. M. Tafsir Hasan, MBBS, MSContactTahmeed Ahmed, MBBS, PhDContactAmena Al Nishan, MBBSContactShaumik Islam, MScContactChandra Shakhar Das, MBBSContactMd. Alfazal Khan, MBBS, PhDContact