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ICITRU : Randomized Trial of Immunonutrition With L-citrulline in Patients Hospitalized in Intensive Care for Sepsis or Septic Shock

ICITRU : Randomized Trial of Immunonutrition With L-citrulline in Patients Hospitalized in Intensive Care for Sepsis or Septic Shock

Status
Recruiting
Phases
NA
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT04513288
Acronym
ICITRU
Enrollment
130
Registered
2020-08-14
Start date
2022-05-20
Completion date
2026-11-20
Last updated
2024-10-08

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

Conditions

Sepsis, Septic Shock

Brief summary

Immunonutrition in intensive care has not yet demonstrated a beneficial effect on organ failure, the acquisition of nosocomial infections, or mortality. It did not correct for acquired immunosuppression in intensive care patients. Despite numerous methodological problems (use of several pharmaconutrients, very heterogeneous set of patients) and the absence of clinical data, deleterious effects have been attributed to immunonutrition in intensive care, in particular in septic patients and patients in intensive care . Arginine (ARG) is a semi-essential amino acid involved in many immunological mechanisms. It is synthesized in sufficient quantity under normal conditions but quickly becomes insufficient under catabolic conditions such as in severe sepsis. Arginine is not only the precursor of nitrogen monoxide (NO) but also an essential substrate for numerous enzymatic reactions which participate in the maintenance of immune homeostasis, in particular T lymphocyte function. Depletion of the cellular medium in arginine will induce an abnormality in the metabolism of immune cells responsible for a dysfunction of these cells (lymphopenia linked to early apoptosis) and thus expose patients to organ failure and nosocomial infections. It has been found that hypoargininemia in intensive care patients is associated with the persistence of organ dysfunction (SOFA score), the occurrence of nosocomial infections and mortality. Also, it has been demonstrated that in these patients, enteral administration of ARG was not deleterious and increased ornithine synthesis, suggesting a preferential use of ARG via the arginases route, without significant increase in argininaemia or effect on immune functions. L-citrulline (CIT), an endogenous precursor of ARG, constitutes an interesting alternative for increasing the availability of ARG. Sponsor recent data demonstrate that the administration of CIT in intensive care is not deleterious and that it very significantly reduces mortality in an animal model of sepsis, corrects hypoargininemia, with convincing data on immunological parameters such as lymphopenia, which is associated with mortality, organ dysfunction and the occurrence of nosocomial infections. The availability of ARG directly impacts the mitochondrial metabolism of T lymphocytes and their function. Our hypothesis is therefore that CIT supplementation is more effective than administration of ARG in correcting hypoargininemia, reducing lymphocyte dysfunction, correcting immunosuppression and organ dysfunction in septic patients admitted to intensive care.

Detailed description

Strategy : Enteral administration of citrulline for 5 days versus iso-nitrogenous placebo. Amino acid assay and immunological parameters (monocytic expression of HLA-DR, MDSCs, cytokines / chemokines, lymphocyte number and phenotype, apoptosis and lymphocyte proliferation and mitochondrial function and T lymphocyte repertoire) will only be carried out on patients included in Rennes (60 patients).

Interventions

DIETARY_SUPPLEMENTExperimental treatment L-citrulline (Protéocit®)

Enteral administration of citrulline for 5 days.

OTHERPlacebo treatment

Enteral administration of iso-nitrogenous placebo for 5 days.

Sponsors

Rennes University Hospital
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
SINGLE (Subject)

Masking description

Prospective, multicenter, placebo-controlled, randomized, double-blind study on two parallel groups.

Intervention model description

Prospective, multicenter, placebo-controlled, randomized, double-blind study on two parallel groups.

Eligibility

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

Inclusion criteria

* Septic patients in accordance with the definition of sepsis and septic shock published in 2016 (JAMA) and whose use is recommended by the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine; * Initial aggression dated less than 4 days before admission to intensive care (selection of community patients). The onset of aggression will be defined by the onset of clinical signs of infection; * Patients hospitalized for less than 48 hours before admission to intensive care (selection of patients without malnutrition and immunosuppression acquired in hospital) \*; * Patients under invasive mechanical ventilation with a foreseeable ventilation duration\> 2 days \*\*; * Exclusive enteral nutrition; * Affiliation to a social security scheme; * Consent signed by the patient, relative or legal representative or inclusion under emergency procedure Non Inclusion Criteria: * Progressive Sars-CoV2 infection * Pregnancy in progress; * Morbid obesity (BMI\> 40); * State of immunosuppression defined by at least one of these criteria: continuous administration of steroids at any dose for more than one month before hospitalization, steroids at high doses (\> 0.5 mg / kg / day of methylprednisolone or equivalent), radiotherapy or chemotherapy in the previous year, proven humoral or cellular deficiency; * Contraindication to enteral nutrition (SRLF 2016 recommendations: Enteral nutrition should probably not be used upstream of a high flow digestive fistula in cases of intestinal obstruction, ischemia of the small intestine or digestive hemorrhage. active (Strong agreement) ); * Participation in intervention research on a drug, or intervention research that could impact the immune system

Exclusion criteria

\- Institution of immunosuppressive therapy such as chemotherapy, cyclophosphamide, high dose corticosteroid therapy (\> 0.5 mg / kg / day ; hydrocortisone used in the management of septic shock is not considered an exclusion criterion).

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
SOFA scoreBaseline and day 7 or last known SOFA score if the patient died or left intensive care before day 7.SOFA score for organ failure (5 parameters ranged from 0 to 4 each)

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Exposure to each antibioticUp to Day 28 maximumNumber of days of exposure to each antibiotic per 1000 days of hospitalization (maximum Day 28)
Mortality in intensive careUp to Day 28 maximumMortality in intensive care
Hospital mortalityUp to Day 28 maximumHospital mortality
Number and phenotypes of lymphocytesDay 1, 3 and 7Number and phenotypes of lymphocytes on Day 1, Day 3 and Day 7
HLA-DR monocytic expressionDay 1, 3 and 7HLA-DR monocytic expression (flow cytometry) on Day 1, Day 3 and Day 7
Number of Myeloid-derived suppressor cellsDay 1, 3 and 7Number of Myeloid-derived suppressor cells (flow cytometry) at on Day 1, Day 3 and Day 7
Plasma cytokines / chemokinesDay 1, 3 and 7Plasma cytokines / chemokines (IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IL-7, CXCL10, G-CSF, TNF-alpha, IFN-β) on on Day 1, Day 3 and Day 7
Nosocomial infectionsFrom Inclusion up to Day 28 maximumIncidence of nosocomial infections during the stay in intensive care (maximum Day 28). The diagnosis of nosocomial infections will be made by following the definitions of nosocomial infections of the CDC (Centers for Disease Control). An independent committee of experts will validate or not the infections.
T lymphocyte exhaustionDay 1, 3 and 7T lymphocyte exhaustion: measurement of lymphocytic apoptosis and lymphocyte proliferation on Day 1, Day 3 and Day 7
Mitochondrial activityDay 1, 3 and 7Measurement of mitochondrial activity (measurement of the number of mitochondria and their membrane potential, measurement of Beclin1 expression) on Day 1, Day 3 and Day 7
Plasma amino acidsDay 1, 3 and 7Plasma amino acids (arginine and its metabolites (ornithine, glutamate, glutamine, citrulline, proline) and tryptophan / kynurenine) on Day 1, Day 3 and Day 7
SOFA scoreDay 3 and Day 5SOFA score for organ failures on Day 3 and Day 5 (5 parameters ranged from 0 to 4 each)
Duration of hospitalization in intensive careUp to Day 28 maximumDuration of hospitalization in intensive care (days), up to Day 28 maximum
Duration of hospitalization at the hospitalUp to Day 28 maximumHospital stay at the hospital (days), up to Day 28 maximum
Duration of mechanical ventilationUp to Day 28 maximumDuration of mechanical ventilation (days), up to Day 28 maximum.
T repertoireDay 1, 3 and 7Diversity of the T repertoire at Day 1, Day 3 and Day 7

Countries

France

Contacts

Primary ContactMathieu Lesouhaitier, MD
mathieu.lesouhaitier@chu-rennes.fr0033299284321
Backup ContactJean-Marc Tadié, MD
jean-marc.tadie@chu-rennes.fr0033299284321

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026