ClinicalTrials.gg
WithdrawnNCT03342287Updated Aug 31, 2021

Cognitive and Psychiatric Effects of Linaclotide on Patients With Constipation

An observational study in Constipation and Irritable Bowel Syndrome, sponsored by McMaster University. Withdrawn at 1 site in Canada. Open to participants aged 18 Years to 65 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2021-08-31.

Sponsored by McMaster University · Observational

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Study type
Observational
Model
Cohort
Time perspective
Prospective
Enrollment
0
Ages
18 Years to 65 Years
Sex
All
01

Where this study stands

Counted across the records on this site · 2026-11-13

Among 50 studies in Constipation with a site in Canada — 5 open to participants now, 5 under way, 1 of them phase 3. Constipation · Canada.

Started
2016
the only one that year
Observational
2 of 50
none open now
Registered
35th of 50
by date
Lead sponsor
2 of 50
McMaster University

Among the 50 studies in Constipation with a site in Canada, this one is the only one that started in 2016, is one of 2 observational ones, and was the 35th registered.

Constipation

1,047 studies on the registry are indexed under Constipation; 161 are open to participants now.

Browse Constipation studies →

Open to participants now

5 of the 50 studies in Constipation with a site in Canada are open now. Recruiting first, the newest first:

All 5 open studies →

A study can be open while its sites in Canada have not opened yet or have stopped. Only those recruiting at a site in Canada →

Who these studies take

Of the 99 Constipation studies recruiting now, 32 (32%) set no upper age limit and 52 (53%) stop at 75 or younger; 17 take children under 18; 28 take healthy volunteers.

This study: 18 Years to 65 Years · all sexes · no healthy volunteers.

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02

Study summary

Irritable Bowel syndrome - constipation predominant (IBS-C) is a chronic and disabling,disorder of the gut that is characterized by abdominal pain or discomfort. Approximately 50% of patients with IBS-C will also meet criteria for anxiety or depression.

Anti depressant medication is widely used in the treatment of IBS. Linaclotide is a novel medication for IBS that is also effective at relieving pain associated with IBS, which may be in part to signalling between the gut and the brain. However, the impact of Linaclotide on the psychiatric symptoms of anxiety and depression on IBS has not been investigated.

Read the detailed description

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a chronic, disabling functional gastrointestinal disorder that is characterized by abdominal pain or discomfort and a disturbance in bowel habit. It has long been recognized that psychological factors can be important in IBS, and that bi-directional signaling between the gut and the brain is likely involved in the pathophysiology of the syndrome. Approximately 50% of patients with IBS at a tertiary center will also meet criteria for anxiety or depression. Anti-depressant medications are widely used in the treatment of IBS, even without psychiatric comorbidity, with good evidence for both tricyclic antidepressants and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. Unfortunately both classes of anti-depressants have significant gastrointestinal side effects and a large number of patients cannot tolerate the medications.

Linaclotide, a guanylate cyclase agonist, has emerged as an important, novel treatment for patients with constipation-predominant IBS (IBS-C) and Chronic Idiopathic Constipation (CIC). Linaclotide is effective at relieving pain associated with IBS, which may be in part mediated by modulation of signaling between the gut and the brain. In this study the investigators will study the effect of Linaclotide on anxiety, depression and cognitive functioning in patients with IBS-C and CIC. If Linaclotide is also effective in treating anxiety and depression and improving cognitive functioning in patients with IBS-C and CIC, this will be an important therapeutic advance for the 50% of IBS patients with psychiatric comorbidity.

The investigators also propose to investigate the mechanisms by which Linaclotide may effect psychiatric symptoms and neuropsychological functioning by measuring changes in the gut microbiome and inflammatory biomarkers. The gut and the brain are intimately connected by several, bidirectional, signaling pathways including neural, humoral and immune mechanisms. The concept of the "gut-brain axis" has recently been supplanted by the "microbiota-gut-brain axis," emphasizing the important role the gut microbiota plays in mediating brain responses. The gut microbiota communicate with the brain through immune and neuronal pathways and some microbiota can directly secrete neurotransmitters such as serotonin, dopamine and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) . In true bidirectional fashion, the brain can also influence the microbiota through the secretion of cortisol and sympathetic neurotransmission, changing gut motility, secretion and mucin production, which can affect the habitat of the resident microbiota and thereby alter the composition of the microbiota. Alterations in gut microbiota have been associated with irritable bowel syndrome in multiple studies.

Given the importance of the gut microbiota in mediating gut-brain responses, the investigators propose that the gut microbiota may play a direct role in the pathophysiology of anxiety and depression in patients with IBS. If Linaclotide is effective in reducing psychiatric and neuropsychological symptoms in patients with IBS, this may occur through changes in the gut microbiota, perhaps as a result of altered colonic motility and altered habitat of resident microbiota.

03

Conditions studied

  • Constipation
  • Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Keywords

  • gut microbiome
  • anxiety
  • depression
  • cognition
04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years to 65 Years
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No
Sampling method
Probability sample

Study population

Patients with IBS-C or CIC starting on Linaclotide

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

  • IBS-C or CIC as defined by Rome III criteria
  • able to provide and sign
  • age 18-65 years

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Previous diagnosis of bipolar, schizophrenia, or schizoaffective disorder
  • psychosis
  • active suicidal thoughts
  • presence of a major neurocognitive disorder, delirium or other cognitive disorder
  • active substance dependence ( including the use of cannabis more than 3 times per week
  • active eating disorder
  • pregnant or breastfeeding
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(1)

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.

Informed consent

Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.

You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.

05

Study design

Observational model
Cohort
Time perspective
Prospective
Enrollment
0 participants (actual)
Patient registry
No
Biospecimen retention
Samples with dna

Interventions

  • Otherquestionnaires

    Questionnaires rating IBS symptoms, constipation, anxiety and depression

  • Othercognitive evaluation

    Administration of online cognitive battery

  • OtherBlood

    Measurement of cytokines/inflammatory biomarkers

  • OtherFecal sample

    Measurement of the gut microbiome

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. To measure anxiety and depression using the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS) in patients with IBS-C and CIC before and after treatment with Linaclotide

    Time frame: Change from baseline to week 8

Secondary outcomes

  1. To measure neuropsychological performance in Patients with IBS-C and CIC using a standardized neuropsychological assessment in patients (CNS vital signs) before and after treatment with Linaclotide

    Neuropsychological testing will be performed using the standardized and validated CNS vital signs evaluation platform.

    Time frame: Change from baseline to week 8

  2. To determine changes in fecal microbiome profile before and after treatment with Linaclotide and whether these changes correlate with changes in psychiatric symptoms and cognition.

    Fecal microbiome profile will be characterized using our in-house bioinformatics pipelines that provide measures of diversity between time points as well as differences in taxa between time points. Measurements will be aggregated to arrive at one reported value including diversity measures for microbiome analysis.

    Time frame: Change from baseline to week 8

  3. To determine changes in inflammatory biomarker profile before and after treatment with Linaclotide and whether these changes correlate with changes in psychiatric symptoms and cognition.

    Inflammatory biomarkers measured will include IL-1, IL-6, TNF-alpha, IFN-gamma. Measurements will be aggregated to arrive at one reported value for average inflammatory biomarker levels.

    Time frame: Change from baseline to week 8

07

Study locations

1 site
  • McMaster University Medical Centre
    Hamilton, Ontario L8N3Z5, Canada
08

References and documents

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No

No publications or documents are linked to this record.

09

Timeline

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
Not marked actual or estimatedDates not marked actual or estimated

The record gives a start of Mar 2016, a primary completion of Dec 2020 and a completion of Mar 2021. It does not say whether these dates are actual or estimated.

How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.

Registered
Mar 1, 2016
First posted
Nov 14, 2017
Start
Mar 2016
Primary completionEst.
Dec 2020
CompletionEst.
Mar 2021
Last update
Aug 31, 2021
What these dates mean
Start.
When the first participant enrolled; while estimated, when the study expects to open to recruitment.
Primary completion.
When the last participant was examined or treated to collect data for the study's main question, its primary outcome. A study that stopped early gives the date its data collection stopped.
Completion.
When the last participant's last visit took place, for every outcome, secondary ones and side effects included: the end of the study. Often later than primary completion, sometimes the same day.
Actual and Est.
Actual means the registry says the date has happened. Est. (estimated) is a date the sponsor plans or expects. It can still move, and the sponsor is expected to change it to actual once it has passed.
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Aug 31, 2021, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT03342287
Responsible party
Paul Moayyedi (Professor, McMaster University) — Principal investigator
First posted
Nov 14, 2017
Start date
Mar 2016
Primary completion
Dec 2020 (estimated)
Completion
Mar 2021 (estimated)
Last update
Aug 31, 2021

Study contacts

Paul Moayyedi, MD, PhD
principal investigator · McMaster University

Oversight

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

Not currently enrolling

This study is withdrawn, as verified in Aug 2021. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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