CClinicalTrials.gg
CompletedNCT02423967Updated Mar 6, 2019

Fresh Versus Frozen Stool for Fecal Transplant in Children

A Phase 1 interventional study of Transplant uses frozen anonymous stool and Transplant uses fresh familial stool in Clostridium Difficile, sponsored by Mayo Clinic. Completed at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 1 Year to 18 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2019-03-06.

Sponsored by Mayo Clinic · Phase 1, Interventional, and Treatment

Phase
Phase 1
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
28
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
1 Year to 18 Years
Sex
All
01

Study summary

The primary goal of this study will be to assess whether stool collected and frozen from anonymous screened unrelated donors can be as effective as stool freshly collected from recipient's parents when used in Fecal Microbial Transplant for the eradication of recurrent Clostridium difficile infections in children. In the current protocols, which are more than 90% effective, each child who is receiving a fecal transplant has to provide their own donor stool, usually from a parent or close relative. This requires considerable screening costs for each case and is logistically complicated as the donor must be present and must stool just prior to the transplant. The investigators hope to show that a small number of healthy donors can provide stool samples which can be frozen and banked and then thawed for use in numerous patients. The primary goal is to show that Clostridium difficile will be eradicated as effectively (Greater than 90% success) when using the stool from the frozen donors.

The study will also evaluate the inflammatory response and intestinal microbiome in young children aged 1-3 years with Clostridium difficile infections to better predict which ones will respond to fecal transplantation and which ones have incidental infections. For this question the investigators will gather stool samples to check for lactoferrin, calprotectin, and alpha1antitrypsin, and 16s ribosomal RNA analysis in children before and after the fecal transplants. The goal is to see if there is an intestinal microbiome that predisposes some children to getting sick from Clostridium difficile versus just having it incidentally.

Read the detailed description

The study is designed to enroll forty children aged 1-18 with recurrent Clostridium difficile Infection (CDI). Recurrent CDI is defined as an infection that persists after three rounds of appropriate antibiotics. Enrollees will be randomly assigned to receive Fecal Microbial Transplant using stool from either a screened relative as per current protocols versus using frozen stool that has been collected from healthy volunteers.

Primary outcome will be the eradication of the Clostridium difficile as defined by elimination of diarrhea with a negative Clostridium difficile toxin stool test.

Secondary outcomes will include a measure of quality of life pre and post Fecal Microbial Transplant using a validated quality of life survey instrument, the Health Act Child Health Questionnaire. The investigators will also assess for inflammation in the stool using lactoferrin and calprotectin and evaluate the stool microbiome in recipients pre and post transplant using sequencing to look for any pattern that predicts successful eradication.

02

Conditions studied

  • Clostridium Difficile
03

In context

Clostridium Infections

310 studies on the registry are indexed under Clostridium Infections; 50 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 28 is below the median of 65 across 233 interventional studies indexed under Clostridium Infections.

Browse Clostridium Infections studies →

Lead sponsor

Mayo Clinic is the lead sponsor of 3,218 studies on the registry; 670 are open to participants now.

Of its 445 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 313 (70%) have results posted.

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

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
1 Year to 18 Years
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Eligible children between aged 1 and 18 years must have had Clostridium difficile infection that has not been eradicated despite at least two courses of antibiotics ( either metronidazole or vancomycin).

Inclusion criteria

Inclusion criteria:

  • Age 1-18 years
  • Diarrhea
  • Positive Clostridium difficile infection using stool toxin testing
  • Diarrhea that has improved on antibiotics but recurs when antibiotics are stopped.
  • Willingness to undergo Fecal Microbial Transplant using frozen stool from anonymous screened donors.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Age under 1 or over 18
  • No diarrhea
05

Study design

Phase
Phase 1
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
28 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Active comparator
    Transplant uses fresh familial stool

    Undergoes Fecal Microbial Transplant using fresh stool from a screened family member Followed up and assessed for eradication of Clostridium difficile Quality of life assessed Stool assessed for inflammation and microbiome

    Biological: Transplant uses fresh familial stool

  • Experimental
    Transplant uses frozen anonymous stool

    Undergoes Fecal Microbial Transplant using stool collected from screened anonymous donor that has been frozen until time of Fecal Microbial Transplant Followed up and assessed for eradication of Clostridium difficile Quality of life assessed Stool assessed for inflammation and microbiome

    Biological: Transplant uses frozen anonymous stool

Interventions

  • BiologicalTransplant uses frozen anonymous stool

    The intervention is using frozen anonymous donor stool instead of fresh stool from family members for the fecal microbial transplant to treat recurrent CDI.

    Also known as: fecal microbial transplant

  • BiologicalTransplant uses fresh familial stool

    The intervention is using fresh familial donor stool for the fecal microbial transplant to treat recurrent CDI

    Also known as: fecal microbila transplant

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Clostridium difficile (CD) Eradication; percentage of patients with negative CD toxin in stool following Fecal Microbiota Transplant

    Will analyze stool sample collected 4 weeks after fecal microbiota transplant (FMT) for presence or absence of Clostridium difficile toxin. In addition, will note whether presenting symptoms improved or not after FMT.

    Time frame: 4 weeks

Secondary outcomes

  1. Changes in quality of life questionnaire scores after Fecal Microbiota Transplant

    Will assess quality of life using standardized Child health Questionnaire which provides a raw score of 0-100. Investigators will compare scores of all patients before Fecal Transplant and 12 weeks after in order to mark the impact of procedure outcome on children's physical and psychological health

    Time frame: 12 weeks

  2. percentage of patients with stool Calprotectin levels exceeding 50 mcg/g after Fecal Microbiota Transplant

    Will assess fecal Calprotectin levels in stools prior to fecal transplant and 4 weeks after

    Time frame: 4 weeks

  3. percentage of patients with positive Lactoferrin inflammatory marker in stools after Fecal Microbiota Transplant

    Analyze stool samples for presence or absence Lactoferrin before Fecal transplant and 4 weeks after

    Time frame: 4 weeks

07

Study locations

1 site
  • Mayo Clinic in Rochester
    Rochester, Minnesota 55905, United States
08

References and documents

09

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Mar 6, 2019, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT02423967
Lead sponsor
Mayo Clinic
Responsible party
Mark G. Bartlett, M.D. (PI, Mayo Clinic) — Principal investigator
First posted
Apr 22, 2015
Start date
Apr 2015
Primary completion
Mar 4, 2019
Completion
Mar 4, 2019
Last update
Mar 6, 2019

Study contacts

Mark Bartlett, MD
principal investigator · Mayo Clinic

Oversight

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

Not currently enrolling

This study is completed, as verified in Mar 2019. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

Follow this study

Get an email when the registry record changes — status, dates, results — or when someone posts here.

Sign in to follow

Discussion

Questions and observations about this study, from anyone following it. Not medical advice, and not a channel to the study team — their contact details are on the registry record.

Sign in to join the discussion. Reading takes no account; posting does. You choose a display name, and a pseudonym is the default.

Nothing here yet. If you are running this trial, taking part in it, or weighing whether to, this is the place to say so.

Start the discussion