Role of Probiotics in Treatment of Pediatric NAFLD Patients by Assessing With Fibroscan

Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease Clinical Trial

Official title:

Role of Probiotics in Treatment of Pediatric Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) Patients by Assessing With Fibroscan

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT04671186
• Other study ID #: 20-0198
• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: September 7, 2020
• Est. completion date: March 1, 2023

Study information

• Verified date: April 2023
• Source: Northwell Health
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

The goal of this study is to evaluate the role of probiotics in the treatment of pediatric NAFLD by evaluating for steatosis and fibrosis with a Fibroscan machine. This will be done by performing a fibroscan during each visit and comparing patients' ALT at various intervals. This is an important study as current pediatric guidelines only recommend lifestyle modifications for the treatment of NAFLD and the use of ALT and sonogram to assess improvement as standard of care. Investigators hypothesized that treatment with a probiotic will demonstrate an improvement in NAFLD as assessed by a fibroscan of liver which is good for the monitoring of steatosis and fibrosis. Additionally, analysis of fecal microbiome results may offer insight into targeted therapy in the future.

Description:

The goal/objective of this study is to evaluate the role of probiotics in the treatment of NAFLD by assessing with fibroscan in both newly diagnosed and known pediatric patients with NAFLD. This will be done by performing a fibroscan during each visit and comparing patient ALT and fecal microbiome at various intervals.

The primary endpoint is to assess the effect of probiotic treatment in liver steatosis and fibrosis by assessing with fibroscan using CAP score and TE staging. The higher the CAP score (S1, S2, S3) so worse the steatosis. TE staging (F0-F4), higher the staging indicates worsening of fibrosis.

Secondary endpoints include:

• The rate of decline of ALT over 3 month time interval and through whole study starting at initial diagnosis.

• The rate of decrease in hepatic steatosis and BMI

This study will target pediatric patients with NAFLD. Participants will be new and previously diagnosed NAFLD patients between the ages of 5 years and 18 years.

This is single center study. Investigators will enroll patients from The Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Liver Disease and Nutrition.

Participants will be blindly randomized into one of two groups: probiotic or placebo.

Investigators expect the study to run for 1 year from 09/15/2020 to 09/14/2021. Investigators will enroll patients over a 6 month period. After randomization into two separate groups (probiotic vs placebo), Investigators plan to collect data for the subsequent 6 months following enrollment.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 47
• Est. completion date: March 1, 2023
• Est. primary completion date: September 6, 2021
• Accepts healthy volunteers: No
• Gender: All
• Age group: 5 Years to 18 Years

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• This study will target pediatric patients with NAFLD. Participants will be new and previously diagnosed NAFLD patients between the ages of 5 years and 18 years. Diagnosis must be made by elevated serum ALT (two times above the sex specific upper limit of normal) and a sonogram consistent with steatosis

Exclusion Criteria:

• Exclusion criteria for both groups

• Concomitant underlying liver disease such as but not limited to autoimmune hepatitis

• Concomitant infectious hepatitis

• Medication use of steroids, methotrexate, metformin, and therapeutic dose of Vit. E

• Recent antibiotic use in last 4 weeks

• Clinically significant weight loss (at least 5% reduction in weight from baseline level [18]) on follow up NAFLD patients who were on life style modification intervention

• Cirrhosis (Fibroscan score =14.0)>

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Fatty Liver
• Liver Diseases
• Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

Intervention

Dietary Supplement:
• Culturelle (Lactobacillus rhamnosus strain GG)
Culturelle probiotics are typically sold over the counter as dietary supplements Probiotics group will take 1 capsule of probiotics orally once daily

Other:
• Placebo
Placebo group will take 1 capsule of placebo orally once daily

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
United States	Cohen Children's Medical Center	New Hyde Park	New York

Sponsors (1)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
Northwell Health

Country where clinical trial is conducted

United States, 

References & Publications (21)

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Comparison of Controlled Attenuation Parameter and Liver Biopsy to Assess Hepatic Steatosis in Pediatric PatientsAuthor links open overlay panel NiravK.DesaiMD1,SarahHarneyBA1,RoshanRazaMD1,AlyaaAlIbraheemiMD2, NickShillingfordMD2, Paul D.MitchellMS3, Maureen M.JonasMD1

Draijer L, Benninga M, Koot B. Pediatric NAFLD: an overview and recent developments in diagnostics and treatment. Expert Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2019 May;13(5):447-461. doi: 10.1080/17474124.2019.1595589. Epub 2019 Apr 4. — View Citation

Ferolla SM, Armiliato GN, Couto CA, Ferrari TC. Probiotics as a complementary therapeutic approach in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. World J Hepatol. 2015 Mar 27;7(3):559-65. doi: 10.4254/wjh.v7.i3.559. — View Citation

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Henao-Mejia J, Elinav E, Jin C, Hao L, Mehal WZ, Strowig T, Thaiss CA, Kau AL, Eisenbarth SC, Jurczak MJ, Camporez JP, Shulman GI, Gordon JI, Hoffman HM, Flavell RA. Inflammasome-mediated dysbiosis regulates progression of NAFLD and obesity. Nature. 2012 Feb 1;482(7384):179-85. doi: 10.1038/nature10809. — View Citation

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Le Roy T, Llopis M, Lepage P, Bruneau A, Rabot S, Bevilacqua C, Martin P, Philippe C, Walker F, Bado A, Perlemuter G, Cassard-Doulcier AM, Gerard P. Intestinal microbiota determines development of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in mice. Gut. 2013 Dec;62(12):1787-94. doi: 10.1136/gutjnl-2012-303816. Epub 2012 Nov 29. — View Citation

Leung C, Rivera L, Furness JB, Angus PW. The role of the gut microbiota in NAFLD. Nat Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2016 Jul;13(7):412-25. doi: 10.1038/nrgastro.2016.85. Epub 2016 Jun 8. — View Citation

Ley RE, Backhed F, Turnbaugh P, Lozupone CA, Knight RD, Gordon JI. Obesity alters gut microbial ecology. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2005 Aug 2;102(31):11070-5. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0504978102. Epub 2005 Jul 20. — View Citation

Ley RE, Peterson DA, Gordon JI. Ecological and evolutionary forces shaping microbial diversity in the human intestine. Cell. 2006 Feb 24;124(4):837-48. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2006.02.017. — View Citation

Mouzaki M, Comelli EM, Arendt BM, Bonengel J, Fung SK, Fischer SE, McGilvray ID, Allard JP. Intestinal microbiota in patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. Hepatology. 2013 Jul;58(1):120-7. doi: 10.1002/hep.26319. Epub 2013 May 14. — View Citation

Paolella G, Mandato C, Pierri L, Poeta M, Di Stasi M, Vajro P. Gut-liver axis and probiotics: their role in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. World J Gastroenterol. 2014 Nov 14;20(42):15518-31. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v20.i42.15518. — View Citation

Patton HM, Yates K, Unalp-Arida A, Behling CA, Huang TT, Rosenthal P, Sanyal AJ, Schwimmer JB, Lavine JE. Association between metabolic syndrome and liver histology among children with nonalcoholic Fatty liver disease. Am J Gastroenterol. 2010 Sep;105(9):2093-102. doi: 10.1038/ajg.2010.152. Epub 2010 Apr 6. — View Citation

Schwimmer JB, Newton KP, Awai HI, Choi LJ, Garcia MA, Ellis LL, Vanderwall K, Fontanesi J. Paediatric gastroenterology evaluation of overweight and obese children referred from primary care for suspected non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Aliment Pharmacol Ther. 2013 Nov;38(10):1267-77. doi: 10.1111/apt.12518. Epub 2013 Oct 1. — View Citation

Swift DL, Johannsen NM, Lavie CJ, Earnest CP, Blair SN, Church TS. Effects of clinically significant weight loss with exercise training on insulin resistance and cardiometabolic adaptations. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2016 Apr;24(4):812-9. doi: 10.1002/oby.21404. Epub 2016 Mar 3. — View Citation

Vajro P, Mandato C, Licenziati MR, Franzese A, Vitale DF, Lenta S, Caropreso M, Vallone G, Meli R. Effects of Lactobacillus rhamnosus strain GG in pediatric obesity-related liver disease. J Pediatr Gastroenterol Nutr. 2011 Jun;52(6):740-3. doi: 10.1097/MPG.0b013e31821f9b85. — View Citation

Vos MB, Abrams SH, Barlow SE, Caprio S, Daniels SR, Kohli R, Mouzaki M, Sathya P, Schwimmer JB, Sundaram SS, Xanthakos SA. NASPGHAN Clinical Practice Guideline for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease in Children: Recommendations from the Expert Committee on NAFLD (ECON) and the North American Society of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (NASPGHAN). J Pediatr Gastroenterol Nutr. 2017 Feb;64(2):319-334. doi: 10.1097/MPG.0000000000001482. — View Citation

Wong RJ, Aguilar M, Cheung R, Perumpail RB, Harrison SA, Younossi ZM, Ahmed A. Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis is the second leading etiology of liver disease among adults awaiting liver transplantation in the United States. Gastroenterology. 2015 Mar;148(3):547-55. doi: 10.1053/j.gastro.2014.11.039. Epub 2014 Nov 25. — View Citation

* Note: There are 21 references in all — Click here to view all references

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	The role of probiotics in the treatment of pediatric NAFLD by evaluating for steatosis with a Fibroscan machine.	The primary endpoint/outcome assesses the effect of probiotic treatment in liver steatosis by assessing with fibroscan using CAP score.	One year
Primary	The role of probiotics in the treatment of pediatric NAFLD by evaluating for fibrosis with a Fibroscan machine.	The primary endpoint/outcome assesses the effect of probiotic treatment in liver fibrosis by assessing with fibroscan using TE staging.	One year
Secondary	Rate of decline in ALT.	The rate of decline of ALT over 3 month time interval and through whole study starting at initial diagnosis.	One year
Secondary	Change in fecal microbiome	Compare changes in stool microbiome	One year
Secondary	Decrease in BMI	The rate of change in hepatic steatosis with change in BMI	One year