Effect of Vitamin A in the Treatment of Neonatal Sepsis and Necrotizing Enterocolitis

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

Get a concise snapshot of the trial, including recruitment status, study phase, enrollment targets, and key timeline milestones.

Recruitment Status

COMPLETED

Clinical Phase

PHASE3

Total Enrollment

424 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2006-12-31

Study Completion Date

2012-06-30

Brief Summary

Review the sponsor-provided synopsis that highlights what the study is about and why it is being conducted.

The purpose of the study is to determine whether vitamin A can improve survival and facilitate recovery from sepsis and necrotizing enterocolitis in hospitalized neonates.

Detailed Description

Dive into the extended narrative that explains the scientific background, objectives, and procedures in greater depth.

Sepsis and necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) are leading causes of morbidity and mortality in neonates. Studies have shown that early reversal of the signs associated with severe disease is an important prognostic factor during acute illness. Vitamin A deficiency is widespread among children, including neonates, in developing countries. Vitamin A plays an important role in mediating immune responses and in maintaining epithelial integrity. For this reason vitamin A supplementation during the acute phase of neonatal infection could work synergistically with present antibiotic regimens in promoting early reversal of signs associated with adverse outcome and shorten the total duration of clinical illness. The purpose of the proposed hospital-based clinical trial is to evaluate the efficacy of vitamin A supplementation on reducing the morbidity and mortality among neonates hospitalized with sepsis (n=366) and NEC(n=150). Enrolled subjects will be randomized at the time of hospitalization to receive one dose of either 50,000 IU of vitamin A or placebo at enrollment, in addition to standard antibiotic therapy. We will compare the proportion of treatment failures in sepsis patients, the frequency of disease progression and mortality in NEC patients, and the time to clinical recovery and discharge between treatment groups. In addition, the study will determine whether vitamin A reduces pro-inflammatory cytokine levels; elevated host inflammatory cytokines are thought to contribute to the severity of both conditions. If vitamin A is found to be efficacious in the treatment of sepsis and NEC it could present a needed cost-effective approach to decreasing the global morbidity, mortality and the economic cost associated with neonatal sepsis and NEC in the developing world.

Conditions

See the medical conditions and disease areas that this research is targeting or investigating.

Sepsis Necrotizing Enterocolitis Meningitis Pneumonia

Keywords

Explore important study keywords that can help with search, categorization, and topic discovery.

vitamin A Treatment neonates newborn sepsis necrotizing enterocolitis meningitis pneumonia

Study Design

Understand how the trial is structured, including allocation methods, masking strategies, primary purpose, and other design elements.

Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

PARALLEL

Primary Study Purpose

TREATMENT

Blinding Strategy

QUADRUPLE

Participants Caregivers Investigators Outcome Assessors

Study Groups

Review each arm or cohort in the study, along with the interventions and objectives associated with them.

1

Sepsis - vitamin A

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL