FMT for Post-acute COVID-19 Syndrome

NCT ID: NCT05556733

Last Updated: 2023-10-31

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

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Recruitment Status

UNKNOWN

Clinical Phase

NA

Total Enrollment

60 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2022-09-28

Study Completion Date

2024-06-30

Brief Summary

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In recovered COVID-19 patients, emerging global data have reported the presence of long COVID, that is, at least one symptom that an alternative diagnosis cannot explain has been persistent for four or more weeks after the initial infection. We demonstrated previously that almost 80% of recovered COVID-19 patients in Hong Kong suffer from Long COVID for more than 6 months, affecting multiple body systems.

In a recent study, the five most common Long COVID symptoms were fatigue, memory problem, difficulty sleeping, anxiety and hair loss. One promising hypothesis is the involvement of the gut microbiota, a collection of the trillions of gut microorganisms that play important immunomodulatory roles against infections.

Faecal microbiota transplantation (FMT), which is the infusion of processed faeces from healthy donors to the gut of affected subjects, has shown impressive therapeutic effects for recurrent Clostridioides difficile infection and other emerging indications. Gut microorganisms together with the metabolites in the donated faeces could potentially modulate the gut microbiota of the recipient and treat the dysbiosis associated with pathological health conditions. To date, no study has yet to assess the therapeutic effects of FMT in post-COVID-19 neuropsychiatric conditions.

Detailed Description

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Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is the disease caused by a novel coronavirus SARS- CoV-2. In recovered COVID-19 patients, emerging global data have reported the presence of Long COVID, a condition where at least one symptom that cannot be explained by alternative diagnosis has been persistent for four or more weeks after the initial infection. We demonstrated previously that almost 80% of recovered COVID-19 patients in Hong Kong suffer from Long COVID for more than 6 months, affecting multiple body systems.

In a recent study, the five most common Long COVID symptoms were fatigue, memory problem, difficulty sleeping, anxiety and hair loss. Current treatment for Long COVID only involves symptomatic care, as the exact mechanisms underlying the pathogenesis are still largely unknown. One promising hypothesis is the involvement of the gut microbiota, a collection of the trillions of gut microorganisms that play important immunomodulatory roles against infections. Our recently published findings have shown that patients with Long COVID had a less diverse gut microbiota with significantly fewer health-associated commensal bacteria than those without Long COVID. Previous studies have also proved the association between the gut microbiota and insomnia, circadian disturbance and affective disorders. Thus, gut microbiota modulation could be a novel therapeutic strategy for these neuropsychiatric conditions.

Faecal microbiota transplantation (FMT), which is the infusion of faeces from healthy donors to the gut of affected subjects, has shown impressive therapeutic effects for various diseases. To date, no study has yet to assess the therapeutic effects of FMT in post-COVID-19 neuropsychiatric conditions. In this pilot open-label study, we aim to explore the efficacy of FMT in improving neuropsychiatric symptoms including but not limited to insomnia severity, sleep quality, anxiety and fatigue in recovered COVID-19 patients. FMT will be administrated via Oesophago-gastro-duodenoscopy (OGD) and Flexible Sigmoidoscopy (FS). Two arms will be recruited in a 1:1 ratio. The intervention group will receive FMT while the control group will not receive FMT. Both groups will have the same assessments. Subjects will receive FMT via OGD at week 0, week 2, week 4 and week 8, and via FS at week 0. Final follow-up will be scheduled at weeks 8 and 12 for clinical assessment. To assess the efficacy of FMT in improving neuropsychiatric symptoms, subjects will have to fill in study questionnaires at baseline, week 8 and week 12. Subjects will also be asked to fill in a sleep diary daily until week 12.

Conditions

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Post-Acute COVID19 Syndrome COVID-19

Study Design

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Allocation Method

NON_RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

PARALLEL

The intervention group will receive FMT while the control group will not receive FMT.
Primary Study Purpose

TREATMENT

Blinding Strategy

NONE

Study Groups

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Faecal Microbiota Transplantation

Subjects will receive Faecal Microbiota Transplantation

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Faecal Microbiota Transplantation

Intervention Type PROCEDURE

FMT at baseline, week 2, week 4, week 8

Control

The control subjects will not receive FMT

Group Type NO_INTERVENTION

No interventions assigned to this group

Interventions

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Faecal Microbiota Transplantation

FMT at baseline, week 2, week 4, week 8

Intervention Type PROCEDURE

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

* Individuals aged 18 and above
* Subjects who were recovered cases of COVID-19 confirmed by RT-PCR or rapid antigen test (RAT)
* Subjects who had insomnia symptoms of post-acute COVID-19 syndrome at screening visit

Exclusion Criteria

* Confirmed current active malignancy
* Had abdominal surgery
* Known history of severe organ failure (including decompensated cirrhosis), renal failure on dialysis, suffering from human immunodeficiency virus infection;
* Known pregnancy
* Mental retardation or inability to provide informed consent
* Contraindications to upper GI endoscopy
Minimum Eligible Age

18 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sponsors

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Chinese University of Hong Kong

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

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Siew Chien NG

Professor Siew Chien NG

Responsibility Role PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

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Siew Chien Ng, PhD, FRCP

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Chinese University of Hong Kong

Locations

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Prince of Wales Hospital

Hong Kong, , Hong Kong

Site Status

Countries

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Hong Kong

References

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Sudre CH, Murray B, Varsavsky T, Graham MS, Penfold RS, Bowyer RC, Pujol JC, Klaser K, Antonelli M, Canas LS, Molteni E, Modat M, Jorge Cardoso M, May A, Ganesh S, Davies R, Nguyen LH, Drew DA, Astley CM, Joshi AD, Merino J, Tsereteli N, Fall T, Gomez MF, Duncan EL, Menni C, Williams FMK, Franks PW, Chan AT, Wolf J, Ourselin S, Spector T, Steves CJ. Attributes and predictors of long COVID. Nat Med. 2021 Apr;27(4):626-631. doi: 10.1038/s41591-021-01292-y. Epub 2021 Mar 10.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 33692530 (View on PubMed)

Whitaker M, Elliott J, Chadeau-Hyam M, Riley S, Darzi A, Cooke G, Ward H, Elliott P. Persistent COVID-19 symptoms in a community study of 606,434 people in England. Nat Commun. 2022 Apr 12;13(1):1957. doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-29521-z.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 35413949 (View on PubMed)

Tran VT, Porcher R, Pane I, Ravaud P. Course of post COVID-19 disease symptoms over time in the ComPaRe long COVID prospective e-cohort. Nat Commun. 2022 Apr 5;13(1):1812. doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-29513-z.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 35383197 (View on PubMed)

Liu Q, Mak JWY, Su Q, Yeoh YK, Lui GC, Ng SSS, Zhang F, Li AYL, Lu W, Hui DS, Chan PK, Chan FKL, Ng SC. Gut microbiota dynamics in a prospective cohort of patients with post-acute COVID-19 syndrome. Gut. 2022 Mar;71(3):544-552. doi: 10.1136/gutjnl-2021-325989. Epub 2022 Jan 26.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 35082169 (View on PubMed)

Li Y, Hao Y, Fan F, Zhang B. The Role of Microbiome in Insomnia, Circadian Disturbance and Depression. Front Psychiatry. 2018 Dec 5;9:669. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2018.00669. eCollection 2018.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 30568608 (View on PubMed)

Allegretti JR, Mullish BH, Kelly C, Fischer M. The evolution of the use of faecal microbiota transplantation and emerging therapeutic indications. Lancet. 2019 Aug 3;394(10196):420-431. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(19)31266-8.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 31379333 (View on PubMed)

Khoruts A, Sadowsky MJ. Understanding the mechanisms of faecal microbiota transplantation. Nat Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2016 Sep;13(9):508-16. doi: 10.1038/nrgastro.2016.98. Epub 2016 Jun 22.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 27329806 (View on PubMed)

Lau RI, Su Q, Ching JYL, Lui RN, Chan TT, Wong MTL, Lau LHS, Wing YK, Chan RNY, Kwok HYH, Ho AHY, Tse YK, Cheung CP, Li MKT, Siu WY, Liu C, Lu W, Wang Y, Chiu EOL, Cheong PK, Chan FKL, Ng SC. Fecal Microbiota Transplantation for Sleep Disturbance in Post-acute COVID-19 Syndrome. Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2024 Dec;22(12):2487-2496.e6. doi: 10.1016/j.cgh.2024.06.004. Epub 2024 Jun 20.

Reference Type DERIVED
PMID: 38908733 (View on PubMed)

Other Identifiers

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FMT-PACS

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id

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