A Phase IIa Randomized, Controlled, Open-label Clinical Trial to Assess the Efficacy, Safety, and Tolerability of the Investigational Medicinal Product MBK-01, FSPIM (Full Spectrum & Purified Intestinal Microbiota) Oral Capsules, as Well as to Determine the Optimal Dosage in the Treatment of Patients With Recurrent Diverticulitis (DIREBIOT)
Patients with diverticulitis experience a prolonged course of the disease and report a variety of physical, psychological and social symptoms, which highly impacts in their quality of life. Although antibiotic therapy has been the preferred treatment option for acute diverticulitis, it does not control the disease in 40 percent of the patients with complicated diverticulitis and 13 to 23 percent of the patients with non-complicated diverticulitis, which results in chronic and recurrent episodes of diverticulitis. As the episodes repeat, the outpatient conservative treatment has worse success rates and the incidence of complicated diverticulitis with abscess increases up to five times. Therefore, it is of great importance to establish new treatments in order to avoid the recurrences of the disease. As of today, there is not enough evidence of the efficacy of current treatment options to prevent recurrences in patients with diverticulitis, but recent approaches suggest the modification of intestinal microbiota as a preventive strategy. Microbial imbalance (dysbiosis) has been proposed as a mechanism involved in the transition from diverticulosis to diverticulitis, inflammation and some of the symptoms of the disease. In this way, fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) could have an important role in the prevention of new episodes, as it can modify the composition of the intestinal microbiota in a less invasive and more physiological way. Until now the efficacy of FMT in patients with recurrent diverticulitis has not been assessed; however, its benefits and safety have been demonstrated in studies for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), a pathology with similarities to diverticulitis in its symptoms and underlying inflammation. The objective of the present clinical trial is to assess the efficacy of MBK-01 (heterologous lyophilized intestinal microbiota oral capsules) in reducing the frequency of episodes in recurrent diverticulitis, its safety and tolerability and to determine the optimal dosing regimen.
• Patients of both sexes aged 18-70 (both included).
• Three or more episodes compatible with a diagnosis of acute diverticulitis of the left or sigmoid colon in the 3 years prior to signing the informed consent. The diagnosis of each episode of diverticulitis must have been made by demonstrating inflammation in the colon compatible with diverticulitis in an imaging test (computed tomography or ultrasound) and presenting at least one of the following analytical or clinical alterations :abdominal pain, vomiting, intestinal obstruction, body temperature over 38ºC, constipation (less than one bowel movement every 3 days), elevated acute-phase reactants (leukocytes higher than 11,000 cells/µL and/or C-reactive protein (CRP) higher than 5mg/dL and/or procalcitonin higher than 0.2), rectal bleeding.
• Not having had any symptomatic episode of acute diverticulitis in the 30 days prior to signing the informed consent.
• In the case of women and men of reproductive age, for safety, those who agree to follow the required contraceptive measure from the signing of the informed consent until the penultimate visit of the follow-up period.
• Patients who have signed the informed consent, either autonomously or through a legal representative.