A Study of Microbiome Transplantation for the Treatment of Constipation and/or Significant Bloating in Patients With Systemic Sclerosis

Trial statusRecruiting
Trial phasePhase 2
Trial typeInterventional
Biological sexAll
Age18+
SponsorThe University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston

About this trial

The purpose of this study is to characterize the intestinal flora in subjects with systemic sclerosis-related constipation and/or significant bloating and to determine safety and trends in improvements in the diversity of colonic microbiome and patient symptoms following the administration of either frozen or lyophilized PRIM-DJ2727 microbiota.

Eligibility criteria

This trial does not accept healthy volunteers

Qualifiers

Are seen in the UT Houston Scleroderma Center (UTHSC)

Meet 2013 American college of rheumatology (ACR)/European league against rheumatism (EULAR) criteria or CREST criteria for SSc

Meet Rome IV criteria for constipation and/or significant bloating

Subject willing to sign an informed consent form

Disqualifiers

Subjects with constipation and/or significant bloating from causes not attributed to SSc as determined by the treating physician (e.g., inflammatory bowel disease, medication, significant diabetes, or hypothyroidism, etc.)

Subjects unwilling to stop taking probiotic supplements during the duration of the study

Subjects that have post-total or hemicolectomy or the presence of a colostomy

Subjects unable to tolerate microbiome transplant via enema for any reason or swallow capsules

Trial design

Design model

Parallel

Treatments tested in this trial

  • PRIM-DJ2727

    Drug

    For oral administration, each dose will contain the number of capsules needed to deliver the lyophilized intestinal bacteria powder derived after lyophilization of 60 g of filtered stool in 300 mL 0.85% NaCl and 2% mannitol. Participants will take the capsules (5-6 capsules twice weekly) from week 2 through week 10. Capsules will be taken over a period of up to one hour to maximize tolerance and ensure the capsules are not expelled by vomiting. For administration via retention enema, which will be done at baseline and week 11, 50 g of filtered, frozen stool in 250 mL of 0.85% sodium chloride (NaCl) will be used.

  • Placebo

    Drug

    Placebo will be administered as capsules from week 2-10 and as enema at baseline and week 11.

Treatment groups

21 Participants
are divided into 2 treatment groups
Group A: PRIM-DJ2727Experimental treatment 1 intervention
Group B: PlaceboPlacebo comparator 1 intervention

Trial outcomes

Primary outcomes

1

Change in symptoms and signs of constipation and/or significant bloating as assessed by total score on the University of California, Los Angeles Gastrointestinal Tract Questionnaire, version 2.0 (UCLA GIT 2.0)

This consists of 34 questions covering domains such as diarrhea, constipation, abdominal pain, nausea, bloating, gastroesophageal reflux, fecal incontinence, and emotional well-being related to GI symptoms. Each item is scored on a Likert scale ranging from 0 to 3 (0 = none, 1 = mild, 2 = moderate, 3 = severe), with higher scores indicating greater symptom severity. Domain scores are calculated as the sum of responses to items within the domain, and a total score is calculated by summing all domain scores, representing the overall GI symptom burden. Total score will be reported, and the total score ranges from 0-102.

Time frame
pre-transplant, post-treatment within weeks 11 to 12
2

Change in Pelvic Floor Distress as Assessed by the Pelvic Floor Distress Inventory Questionnaire-20 (PFDI-20 summary score)

The Pelvic Floor Distress Inventory Questionnaire-20 (PFDI-20) is composed of 3 subscales: the Urinary Distress Inventory-6 (UDI-6), the Pelvic Organ Prolapse Distress Inventory-6 (POPDI-6), and the Colorectal-Anal Distress Inventory-8 (CRADI-8). For each question, the participant must indicate how much bowl, bladder, or pelvic symptoms have been bothering them in the past 3 months on a 4-point scale that ranges from "not at all" (0) to "quite a bit" (4). Total score for each subscale ranges from 0 to 100, with a higher score indicating worse distress. The sum of the 3 subscales are added together to get the PFDI-20 summary score, which ranges from 0 to 300, with a higher score indicating worse distress.

Time frame
pre-transplant, post-treatment within weeks 11 to 12
3

Change in Pelvic Floor Distress as Assessed by the Pelvic Floor Distress Inventory Questionnaire-20 (UDI-6 subscale score)

The Pelvic Floor Distress Inventory Questionnaire-20 (PFDI-20) is composed of 3 subscales: the Urinary Distress Inventory-6 (UDI-6), the Pelvic Organ Prolapse Distress Inventory-6 (POPDI-6), and the Colorectal-Anal Distress Inventory-8 (CRADI-8). For each question, the participant must indicate how much bowl, bladder, or pelvic symptoms have been bothering them in the past 3 months on a 4-point scale that ranges from "not at all" (0) to "quite a bit" (4). Total score for each subscale ranges from 0 to 100, with a higher score indicating worse distress. The sum of the 3 subscales are added together to get the PFDI-20 summary score, which ranges from 0 to 300, with a higher score indicating worse distress.

Time frame
pre-transplant, post-treatment within weeks 11 to 12
4

Change in Pelvic Floor Distress as Assessed by the Pelvic Floor Distress Inventory Questionnaire-20 (POPDI-6 subscale score)

The Pelvic Floor Distress Inventory Questionnaire-20 (PFDI-20) is composed of 3 subscales: the Urinary Distress Inventory-6 (UDI-6), the Pelvic Organ Prolapse Distress Inventory-6 (POPDI-6), and the Colorectal-Anal Distress Inventory-8 (CRADI-8). For each question, the participant must indicate how much bowl, bladder, or pelvic symptoms have been bothering them in the past 3 months on a 4-point scale that ranges from "not at all" (0) to "quite a bit" (4). Total score for each subscale ranges from 0 to 100, with a higher score indicating worse distress. The sum of the 3 subscales are added together to get the PFDI-20 summary score, which ranges from 0 to 300, with a higher score indicating worse distress.

Time frame
pre-transplant, post-treatment within weeks 11 to 12

Secondary outcomes

1

Change in alpha diversity of the microbiome

Species richness and evenness within a single sample will be measured.

Time frame
pre-transplant, post-treatment within weeks 11 to 12
2

Change in beta diversity of the microbiome

Time frame
pre-transplant, post-treatment within weeks 11 to 12

Other outcomes

Sponsors and contacts

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