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Intravesical Lactobacillus for Urinary Symptoms Among People With NLUTD Who Use Indwelling Catheters

Intravesical Lactobacillus for Urinary Symptoms Among People With NLUTD Who Use Indwelling Catheters

Status
Active, not recruiting
Phases
Phase 2
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT04323735
Enrollment
182
Registered
2020-03-26
Start date
2020-01-10
Completion date
2026-09-01
Last updated
2026-08-21

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Neurogenic Bladder

Keywords

Indwelling catheter, Foley catheter, Suprapubic Catheter

Brief summary

The objectives of the proposed research among this population are: 1) to define clinically meaningful change (i.e. differentiating states of health and illness) with respect to urinary symptoms, urine inflammation, cultivable bacteria, and the urine ecosystem; and 2) to determine the optimal intravesical Lactobacillus RhamnosusGG (LGG®) dose to be used to reduce urinary symptoms in a future clinical trial.

Detailed description

Urinary tract infection (UTI) is the most common outpatient infection world-wide, and for people with spinal cord injury (SCI) and neurogenic bladder (NB), it is the most common infection, secondary condition, cause for emergency room visits, and infectious cause of hospitalization. Despite its prevalence, attempts to ameliorate UTI among people with SCI are stymied by long-standing diagnostic challenges which arise from evidence gaps around "gold standard" diagnostic tests (urinalysis and urine culture) that have lower sensitivity and specificity for UTI in this population. A high prevalence of chronic inflammation leading to persistence of white blood cells (WBC) in the urine confounds the utility of WBC count, pyuria, and leukocyte esterase as biomarkers for UTI; nitrites in urine indicate the presence of only specific (but not all) organisms, many of which are present to a greater extent in the urine of people with SCI; and people with SCI have a high prevalence of asymptomatic bacteriuria. These physiologic changes render the gold standard diagnostic tests less useful for identifying UTI in persons with SCI. SA1. Estimate healthy, asymptomatic state variability of urine NGAL (uNGAL), white blood cells (uWBC), nitrite, cultivable bacteria, and the urinary microbiome. SA2. Estimate the effect of intravesical LGG dose on urinary symptoms (primary outcome), uNGAL, uWBC, nitrites, cultivable bacteria, and the urine microbiome (secondary outcomes).

Interventions

DRUGCulturelle 10 Billion CFU Capsule

LGG® (Culturelle Probiotic with Lactobacillus RhamnosusGG, shown to produce the largest amount of antibacterial substances against pathogenic bacteria) will be used. For the LGG® instillation, participants will be instructed to mix the contents of 1 LGG capsule into 45 cc sterile 0.9% saline. After mixing, participants will draw up the 45cc liquid LGG mixture into a 60cc syringe and instill via the indwelling catheter (the catheter will not be changed as this would represent 2 interventions). Participants will be instructed the plug their catheter for 1 hour. Participants will receive 2 or 4 LGG capsules (depending on randomization group) and will repeat this process the following day ("Low" dose) or twice daily for a total of four doses ("High" dose) according to randomization group.

Sponsors

Medstar Health Research Institute
Lead SponsorOTHER
Children's National Research Institute
CollaboratorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
PREVENTION
Masking
NONE

Intervention model description

Design: Prospective, randomized pilot intervention clinical trial. Target Enrollment: 182 subjects with NLUTD at least 6 months and who use IDC for bladder management. Setting: National sample (N=114 intervention only, no urine collection) and local Washington, DC metropolitan area (N=68 intervention + urine collection). Controls: This is a 2-arm dose-finding pilot clinical trial, as such there is no control group

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

* Neurogenic bladder for at least 6 months; * Utilizing indwelling catheterization for bladder management; * Women must be premenopausal and not currently menstruating; * Community dwelling * physical disability

Exclusion criteria

* Use of prophylactic antibiotics; * Instillation of intravesical antimicrobials to prevent UTI; * Psychologic or psychiatric conditions influencing the ability to follow instructions; * Use of oral or IV antibiotics within the past 2 weeks; * Sexual activity within the previous 72 hours; * Participation in another study with which results could be confounded.

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Urinary Symptom Questionnaire for Neurogenic Bladder- Indwelling catheter(SA 1) day of urine collectionWill measure change in urinary symptoms for those that use an indwelling catheter. Higher score may mean worse outcomes. (local urine collection participants only)
Change in Urine white blood cell count(SA 1) day 1 post urine collectionurinalysis. (local urine collection participants only)
Change in Urine Nitrite(SA 1) day 1 post urine collectionurinalysis. (local urine collection participants only)
Change in Urine NGAL(SA 1) day 1 post urine collectionUrine NGAL. (local urine collection participants only)
Change in Cultivable Bacteria(SA 1) day 1 post urine collectionurine culture. (local urine collection participants only)
Change in Urine microbiome composition and function(SA 1) day 1 post urine collectionNext generation sequencing for microbiome composition. (local urine collection participants only)
NINDS Medical History CDE:BaselineA brief medical history using body system categories
Medical History FormBaselineMedical history of participant
International SCI Lower Urinary Tract Function Basic Data SetBaselineA tool to describe urinary tract impairment, awareness of need to empty the bladder, main bladder emptying method, medications used for bladder management, surgeries, and change in urinary symptoms in the past year.
NINDS Prior and Concomitant Medications CDEBaselineContains whether or not the participant is taking a medication during the study protocol, name of medication, reason for medication, medication dose, frequency, start and end dates, and free text

Countries

United States

Contacts

PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATORSuzanne Groah, MD, MSPH

MedStar National Rehabilitation Hospital

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Aug 22, 2026