Probiotics for Infectious Diarrhea in Children in South India

Summary

The overall goal of this study is to investigate whether the modulatory effects of probiotics, which are used as food supplements (Lactobacillus GG marketed as Culturelle or yoghurt) in the gastrointestinal tract promote restoration of intestinal function and enhance the specific immune response in children with cryptosporidial or rotaviral infections in South India. Rotavirus and Cryptosporidium spp. are the most important viral and parasitic causes of gastroenteritis in children in south India. Both infections can lead to severe dehydrating gastroenteritis in young children and have no specific treatment. Repeated episodes of diarrhea can result in long term deleterious effects on nutritional status, possibly due to intestinal damage. Most episodes of infectious gastroenteritis resolve without specific therapy, the mainstay of treatment being rehydration. However, oral rehydration remains under-utilized, in part due to the lack of effect on frequency of bowel movements and duration of illness. Due to the interest in simple, safe and effective measures to ameliorate the long-term effects of diarrheal illness, there is a growing appreciation for the potential of certain microorganisms to offer direct benefits to the health of a host. Probiotics are known to beneficially modulate several host functions, the most important of which are immune responses and intestinal barrier integrity. The investigators propose to build on the investigators previous collaborative efforts to conduct pilot studies to provide a mechanistic understanding of the effect of probiotic supplementation in children with rotaviral and cryptosporidial diarrhea.

Based on the established efficacy of LGG for the treatment of a variety of diarrheal diseases and the documented modulation of immune responses and strengthening of intestinal epithelial barrier function by probiotics, the investigators propose to conduct a Phase I/II double-blind randomized placebo controlled clinical trial to assess the preliminary efficacy and safety of LGG vs. placebo in the resolution of symptoms and restoration of intestinal function in children with either rotaviral or cryptosporidial diarrhea and no other detected enteric infection. Promising results in this Phase I/II study will provide preliminary data to power a future randomized trial on these critical outcomes following rotaviral or cryptosporidial infection.

Conditions

• Infectious Gastroenteritis

Interventions

DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT

Lactobacillus GG

10 Billion Organisms Given Mixed In Milk As Food Supplement Once Daily For Four Weeks

DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT

Inulin

Identical appearing capsules containing a powder resembling the LGG to be given as for intervention

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Indian Council of Medical Research

  collaborator OTHER_GOV

• Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)

  collaborator NIH

• Tufts Medical Center

  collaborator OTHER

• Christian Medical College, Vellore, India

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Gagandeep Kang, MD, PhD · Christian Medical College, Vellore, India

• Honorine D Ward, MD · Tufts Medical Center

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Masking

QUADRUPLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

6 Months

Max Age

5 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2010-05-31

Primary Completion

2011-07-31

Completion

2011-07-31

Countries

• India

Study Locations