Infant Nutrition and Risk of Celiac Disease

Sponsor
Massachusetts General Hospital (Other)
Overall Status
Terminated
CT.gov ID
NCT00819819
Collaborator
(none)
80
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2
63
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Study Details

Study Description

Brief Summary

The study will identify a cohort of infants at risk for celiac disease that can be followed on a long term basis for investigating the natural history the celiac disease based on the pattern of early nutrition. The study will investigate possible early feeding patterns including the timing of introduction to gluten that may protect at least in part from CD development in at risk infants.

Condition or Disease Intervention/Treatment Phase
  • Dietary Supplement: Gluten
  • Dietary Supplement: Gluten free diet
N/A

Detailed Description

From weaning to age 12 months the clinical data, the adherence to the dietary protocol and the amount of intervention baby-food ingested will be checked every month. Following investigations will be performed at the time of recruitment, at time of weaning and at 12, 18, 24, 30,36, 42, 48, 54 and 60 months by taking a sample of blood (maximum 4 ml) from infants (a) quick test for IgA anti-tTG abs determination (few drops); (b) conventional ELISA for serum IgA and IgG anti-tTG determination (0.4 ml);(c) serum zonulin determination (0.1 ml); (e) serum sample for T1D-related autoantibodies (0.25 ml); (f) serum sample to be stocked in the sera bank (0.25 ml); (g) whole blood sample in EDTA for validation of the quick tests (0.5 ml). All the sera samples will be frozen, stored at -20 °C and sent (boxed in dry ice) in blocks to the centre responsible for the determinations every 2 months. Cases positive for the quick-test for anti-tTG the serum sample will be frozen and immediately shipped for confirmatory determination.

If infants develop symptoms during the intervention period (6 to 12 months) the group to which infant belongs will be decoded. Infants belonging to group A (on a gluten-containing diet) presenting symptoms suggestive of CD will undergo a complete diagnostic work-up for CD. These events will be reported in a form. After age 1 year, infants developing symptoms suggestive of active CD (chronic diarrhea, failure to thrive, etc) in-between the scheduled visits will undergo a supplementary serological investigation. A small intestinal biopsy will be recommended in cases showing either serum anti-tTG abs higher than the cut-off or IgG-AGA higher than cut-off in infants with selective IgA deficiency. (Standard medical care and not part of research).

The evolution of the composition of the intestinal microbiota will be evaluated in both groups at 7d, 30d, 4-6 months (prior to weaning), 12,18,24,30,36, 42, 48, 54 and 60 months. The bacterial composition of stool will also be analyzed in a sub-sample of children developing active CD and in non-CD controls. All patients who develop CD will continue in the study.

Definitions:

Active CD: Children showing positive serology and signs of immune-mediated damage of the small intestinal mucosa on biopsy (ranging from isolated increase of intraepithelial lymphocytes to villous atrophy with crypt hypertrophy.)

CD serological autoimmunity positive: Children positive for IgA anti-tTG abs on two consecutive occasions.

Disruption of the small intestinal barrier: Children with an increased ratio of serum lactulose/mannitol with or without increased levels of serum zonulin.

Study Design

Study Type:
Interventional
Actual Enrollment :
80 participants
Allocation:
Randomized
Intervention Model:
Parallel Assignment
Masking:
Double (Care Provider, Investigator)
Primary Purpose:
Prevention
Official Title:
Infant Nutrition and Risk of Celiac Disease: Proposal for an Intervention, Prospective Multicenter Study
Study Start Date :
Apr 1, 2008
Actual Primary Completion Date :
Jul 1, 2013
Actual Study Completion Date :
Jul 1, 2013

Arms and Interventions

Arm Intervention/Treatment
Active Comparator: 1 Gluten containing diet

Gluten added to diet at 6 months per American Academy of Pediatrics recommendations

Dietary Supplement: Gluten
Purified gluten from exaploid wheat introduced per American Academy of Pediatric Recommendations. Three grams from 6-9 months and 5 grams from 9-12 months. The 3-5 grams represents the mean daily intake of gluten during the second half of the first year in infants of different countries.

Active Comparator: 2 Gluten free diet

Non gluten containing food starch added to diet from 6-12 months

Dietary Supplement: Gluten free diet
Non gluten containing starch added to diet. Three grams from 6-9 months and 5 grams from 9-12 months. After the age of 1 year all children will be allowed age appropriate unrestricted diet.

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

  1. To evaluate the primary prevention of early onset celiac disease and related autoimmunity phenomena by comparing the frequency of disease development according to two different patterns of gluten introduction in at risk infants [5 years]

Eligibility Criteria

Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study:
N/A to 6 Months
Sexes Eligible for Study:
All
Accepts Healthy Volunteers:
No
Inclusion Criteria:
  • Newborns and infants less than 6 months of age

  • First-degree relatives of patients affected with biopsy-proven CD

  • On exclusive milk diet (breast milk or formula)

Exclusion Criteria:
  • Infants that have gluten introduced in their diet before 5-6 months of age

  • Infants older than 6 months of age

Contacts and Locations

Locations

Site City State Country Postal Code
1 Massachusetts General Hospital East Charlestown Massachusetts United States 02129

Sponsors and Collaborators

  • Massachusetts General Hospital

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Alessio Fasano, M.D., Center for Celiac Research MGH

Study Documents (Full-Text)

None provided.

More Information

Additional Information:

Publications

Responsible Party:
Alessio Fasano, Chief of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition, Massachusetts General Hospital
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:
NCT00819819
Other Study ID Numbers:
  • 2013P000287
First Posted:
Jan 9, 2009
Last Update Posted:
Mar 22, 2017
Last Verified:
Mar 1, 2017
Additional relevant MeSH terms:

Study Results

No Results Posted as of Mar 22, 2017