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CompletedNCT00304356Updated Dec 15, 2017Results posted

Compassionate Use of Nitazoxanide for the Treatment of Clostridium Difficile Infection

A Phase 3 interventional study of Nitazoxanide in Clostridium Enterocolitis and Pseudomembranous Colitis, sponsored by Daniel M. Musher MD. Completed at 2 sites in United States. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2017-12-15.

Sponsored by Daniel M. Musher MD · Phase 3, Interventional, and Treatment

Phase
Phase 3
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
22
Allocation
Not applicable
Ages
18 Years and older
Sex
All
01

Study summary

The purpose of this study is for compassionate use of nitazoxanide in the treatment of diarrheal disease due to Clostridium difficile infection when the patient has failed previous treatment with metronidazole or vancomycin.

Read the detailed description

Clostridium difficile is the leading cause of nosocomial diarrheal disease associated with antibiotic therapy. This is a debilitating condition with substantial morbidity and a mortality that may be around 2-3%. There has been an enormous increase in this disease at the VA Medical Center during the past two years, just as has occurred at other hospitals throughout the United States.

Currently recommended therapy for this condition is metronidazole, given orally. About 15-20% of patients fail to respond to initial therapy with metronidazole, and another 20% relapse after treatment. Relapses may be treated with another course of metronidazole; about one-half will respond to this therapy. The failures are treated with oral vancomycin, but this drug also has a failure rate of 10-20%. There is, at present, no other accepted therapy (although some articles in the literature favor vancomycin with ingested bacteria from benign species). Furthermore, there is a strong risk to the emergence of resistant bacteria when hospitalized patients are treated with oral vancomycin.

Nitazoxanide is an FDA approved drug that is marketed in the U.S. and has been widely used throughout the world to treat parasitic diseases of the gastrointestinal tract; several million children have been treated with this drug during the past decade. Nitazoxanide has been approved as an antiprotozoal agent for oral administration in pediatric patients, ages 1 through 11, with diarrhea. The drug acts by interfering with anaerobic metabolic pathways, and it has been shown to have excellent in vitro activity against C. difficile. We hypothesized that this drug was both safe and effective as an alternative in patients who have diarrheal disease caused by C. difficile. The IRB approved a double-blind protocol to compare metronidazole with nitazoxanide, and we have treated a total of 16 patients so far under this protocol.

In our IRB-approved double blind study (by design, two thirds of the subjects have been randomized to the nitazoxanide), our patients have appeared to have a good response rate -- so good, in fact, that we think that nitazoxanide may be a better drug to treat this infection than either metronidazole or vancomycin.

02

Conditions studied

  • Clostridium Enterocolitis
  • Pseudomembranous Colitis

Keywords

  • Clostridium difficile Associated Diarrhea
03

In context

Enterocolitis, Pseudomembranous

43 studies on the registry are indexed under Enterocolitis, Pseudomembranous; 5 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 22 is below the median of 100 across 29 interventional studies indexed under Enterocolitis, Pseudomembranous.

Browse Enterocolitis, Pseudomembranous studies →

Lead sponsor

This is the only study on the registry with Daniel M. Musher MD as lead sponsor.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years and older
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.

Inclusion criteria

  • Patient must be > 18 years of age
  • Clinical diagnosis of C. difficile associated disease, based on the new onset of diarrhea, abdominal discomfort, or otherwise unexplained fever or leukocytosis
  • Diagnosis of C. difficile colitis proven by positive assay for C. difficile toxin in feces
  • Disease has been treated, and the symptoms failed to respond to treatment with metronidazole or vancomycin, or symptoms promptly after completing a course of therapy with either of these drugs
  • Able to take oral medication

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Patients with other recognized causes of diarrhea or colitis
  • Women of child bearing age who are pregnant, breast feeding, or not using
  • Patients taking coumadin, phenytoin, celecoxib, or losartan
  • Patients with renal insufficiency (BUN or creatinine >2 times baseline)
  • Serious systemic disorder incompatible with the study
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(2)

Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.

Relapsed and refractory

Relapsed: the illness came back after treatment had worked. Refractory: it did not respond to treatment, or stopped responding while still on it.

Contraception

Ways of preventing pregnancy. “Highly effective” methods fail less than 1% of the time a year when used correctly — for example an IUD or an implant.

Criteria usually say which methods count and how long to keep using them after the last dose, sometimes for male participants too. Some studies accept a partner’s vasectomy if it was confirmed successful and that person is the participant’s only sexual partner.

05

Study design

Phase
Phase 3
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Not applicable
Intervention model
Single group
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
22 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Other
    active drug

    500 mg nitazoxanide bid given to patient

    Drug: Nitazoxanide

Interventions

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Nitazoxanide

    stopping of diarrhea

    Time frame: 30 days

07

Results

Posted Dec 15, 2017

Participant flow

Chart review at the Houston VA for patients treated with Nitazoxanide who have failed previous therapy.

Nitazoxanide
Participant flow — Nitazoxanide
MilestoneNitazoxanide
Started27
Completed22
Not completed5
Withdrew: Physician decision5
Nitazoxanide
Participant flow — Nitazoxanide
MilestoneNitazoxanide
Started27
Completed22
Not completed5
Withdrew: Physician decision1
Withdrew: Number is 01
Withdrew: Physician decision1
Withdrew: Physician decision1
Withdrew: Physician decision1

Outcome measures

PrimaryNitazoxanide

stopping of diarrhea

Time frame:
30 days
Reported as:
Number · participants
Nitazoxanide
participantsNitazoxanide
Nitazoxanide27

Adverse events

Collected over 30 days. Non-serious events are listed at a 0% frequency threshold.

Adverse event summary by group
GroupDeathsSeriousOther
Nitazoxanide—0/27 (0%)0/27 (0%)

Baseline characteristics

Age, Categorical
Age, Categorical(Participants)Nitazoxanide
<=18 years0
Between 18 and 65 years27
>=65 years0
Age, Continuous
Age, Continuous(years)Nitazoxanide
Mean27 ± 27
Sex: Female, Male
Sex: Female, Male(Participants)Nitazoxanide
Female0
Male27
Region of Enrollment
Region of Enrollment(participants)Nitazoxanide
United States27
08

Study locations

2 sites
  • Baylor College of Medicine
    Houston, Texas 77030, United States
  • Michael E. Debakey VA Medical Center
    Houston, Texas 77030, United States
09

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Dec 15, 2017, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT00304356
Lead sponsor
Daniel M. Musher MD
Responsible party
Daniel M. Musher MD (PI, Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center) — Sponsor-investigator
First posted
Mar 17, 2006
Start date
Jan 2004
Primary completion
Jan 2007
Completion
Jan 2007
Results posted
Dec 15, 2017
Last update
Dec 15, 2017

Study contacts

Daniel M Musher, M.D.
principal investigator · Baylor College of Medicine, Houston VA Medical Center

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

Not currently enrolling

This study is completed, as verified in May 2017. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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