Daily Doxycycline for Early Syphillis

Status: Recruiting
Location: See location...
Intervention Type: Drug
Study Type: Interventional
Study Phase: Phase 2
SUMMARY

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if doxycycline taken as 200mg daily for 14 days is effective to treat early stage syphilis. This is different from how doxycycline is typically used for syphilis because the full doxycycline dose will be taken at the same time of day, rather than split up into a twice daily regimen. Lab data support that taking the medication as a single daily dose should be effective as treatment, but it has not been studied clinically. The main question this study aims to answer is: Is doxycycline taken as a single daily dose of 200mg for 14 days an effective treatment for early syphilis based on a combined outcome of clinical improvement and blood test improvement? Participants will: 1. Take doxycycline 200mg daily for 14 days 2. Submit oral and rectal swabs that test for syphilis bacteria every other day for 2 weeks, returned by mail 3. Complete 2 brief online surveys over the first 2 weeks 4. Return to the clinic for an interview and blood draw every 3 months for a maximum of 3 study visits, including the first visit The investigators will compare the percentage of participants in the study who have response to treatment by 6 months to that of persons who have received standard (CDC-recommended) regimens. To do this, the investigators will calculate response percentage estimates following a shot of long-acting penicillin or 14 days of doxycycline 100mg twice daily from 60-person samples from the sexual health program's records.

Eligibility
Participation Requirements
Sex: All
Minimum Age: 18
Healthy Volunteers: f
View:

⁃ Clinical diagnosis of syphilis (primary or secondary) or laboratory-confirmed early latent syphilis. Specifically: This will include persons meeting any one of the following criteria:

• Clinical diagnosis of primary syphilis (based on the presence of a chancre) and either a positive qualitative RPR in the absence of a prior positive RPR on their most recent serological test for syphilis or a positive darkfield microscope exam of material taken from a chancre, OR

• Clinical diagnosis of secondary syphilis with a positive qualitative RPR in the absence of a prior positive RPR on their most recent serological test for syphilis, OR

• A laboratory-confirmed diagnosis of early latent syphilis within one month (i.e. \<31 days prior).

Locations
United States
Washington
Public Health Sexual Health Clinic
RECRUITING
Seattle
Contact Information
Primary
Travis Hunt, MD
thunt91@uw.edu
206-685-4456
Backup
Matthew Golden, MD, MPH
golden@uw.edu
206-744-6829
Time Frame
Start Date: 2025-03-03
Estimated Completion Date: 2026-06-26
Participants
Target number of participants: 15
Treatments
Experimental: Doxycycline 200mg daily for 14 days
Participants diagnosed with early syphilis (primary, secondary, or early latent) with an RPR of 1:4 or greater will receive doxycycline 200mg daily to treat syphilis. Exclusions include pregnant persons, persons under 18 years of age, and persons on doxy PEP. During the two weeks of treatment, participants will perform oral and rectal swabs for syphilis, returned at the end of the 2 weeks by mail. Participants will submit brief online surveys twice over the two weeks of treatment. Repeat blood tests for syphilis, reactive plasma reagin (RPR), will be done at follow-up visits at 3 and 6 months to monitor serological response. Participants with response at the 3-month visit will not need to come to a 6-month visit.
Related Therapeutic Areas
Sponsors
Leads: University of Washington

This content was sourced from clinicaltrials.gov