ClinicalTrials.gg
CompletedNCT03614039Updated Aug 7, 2018

Effect of Probiotic and Smectite Gel on NAFLD

An interventional study of "Symbiter Forte" and Placebo in Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease, Fatty Liver and Liver Diseases, sponsored by Nazarii Kobyliak. Completed. Open to participants aged 20 Years to 75 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2018-08-07.

Sponsored by Nazarii Kobyliak · Not applicable, Interventional, and Treatment

From the registry’s dates

  • Registered 2 years 10 months after the study started (first participant enrolled Sep 2015, registered Jul 2018).
Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
50
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
20 Years to 75 Years
Sex
All
01

Study summary

Smectite is a natural silicate clay belonging to the dioctahedral smectite class and has the ability directly to absorb bacterial toxins, bacteria, viruses and bile salts. Diosmectite also has a protective effect against intestinal inflammation hence suppressing production of cytokines such as IL-8 and TNFα. Investigators suggested that all these pharmacological properties may be beneficial for the treatment of NAFLD. Based on preclinical data, in rats with MSG induced obesity supplementation of alive probiotics with smectite gel (Symbiter-Forte) due to his absorbent activity lead to significant reduction of chronic systemic inflammatory markers, lower total NAS (NAFLD activity score) score, with more pronounced reduction of lobular inflammation as compared to administration of probiotic alone. In respect to preclinical data, in this double-blind single center randomized clinical trial (RCT) the efficacy of alive probiotics supplementation with smectite gel (Symbiter-Forte) vs. placebo in type-2 diabetes patient with NAFLD detected on ultrasonography will be studied

Read the detailed description

In this single-center double-blind, placebo controlled, parallel group study, 50 T2D patients from the Kyiv City Clinical Endocrinology Center - Ukraine, were selected. They were randomly assigned to receive "Symbiter Forte" or placebo for 8 weeks, administered as a sachet formulation in double-blind treatment. Randomization was done by the study statistician based on a computer-generated list. The groups were homogeneous according to age, sex and diagnostic criteria. The assignment of groups was blind to participants, research staff and outcome assessors moreover, to maintain blind parallel study the statistician was not aware of the allocation of participants to intervention.

The "Symbiter Forte" was supplied by Scientific and Production Company "O.D. Prolisok". It contains combination of smectite gel (250 mg), supplemented with biomass of 14 alive probiotic strains: Lactobacillus + Lactococcus (6×1010 CFU/g), Bifidobacterium (1×1010/g), Propionibacterium (3×1010/g), Acetobacter (1×106/g) genera. Over 8 weeks of interventional period, the patients received 1 sachet (10 grams) of probiotic-smectite and placebo per day. All sachets were identical with similar organoleptic characteristics (e.g., taste and appearance).

The pre-randomization period was designed to minimize the effects of dietary changes on metabolic markers. For this purpose, 2 weeks before the study started, after the informed consent was signed, patients were instructed in one-on-one sessions with a dietitian to follow a therapeutic lifestyle-change diet as classified by the NCEP. In addition, participants were instructed to continue with stable anti-hyperglycemic treatment and received standardized mild physical training for 1 hour per day.

Patients who underwent the study were instructed to take the trial medication as prescribed. Throughout the study, weekly phone follow-up visits were provided for assessment of compliance, adherence to the protocol, as well as the recording of adverse events. The effectiveness of therapy was compared and evaluated separately in the two groups.

02

Conditions studied

  • Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease
  • Fatty Liver
  • Liver Diseases
  • Digestive System Diseases
  • Type2 Diabetes

Keywords

  • diosmectite
  • nutraceuticals
  • non-alcoholic fatty liver disease
  • probiotics
  • Lactobacillus
  • Bifidobacterium
  • Propionibacterium
03

In context

Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

1,617 studies on the registry are indexed under Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease; 324 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 50 is below the median of 60 across 1,176 interventional studies indexed under Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease.

Browse Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease studies →

Lead sponsor

Nazarii Kobyliak is the lead sponsor of 3 studies on the registry; 2 are open to participants now.

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

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
20 Years to 75 Years
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

  • adult participants (ages 18-75, ≥25 kg/m2) diagnosed with NAFLD according to the recommendations of the American Gastroenterology Association (AGA) and American Association for the Study of Liver Disease (AASLD);
  • the diagnosis of fatty liver was based on the results of abdominal ultrasonography. Of 4 known criteria (hepato-renal echo contrast, liver brightness, deep attenuation, and vascular blurring), the participants were required to have hepato-renal contrast and liver brightness to be given a diagnosis of NAFLD.
  • type 2 diabetes treated with diet and exercise alone or metformin, SUs and insulin at stable dose at least 4 weeks prior to the commencement of the study;
  • and ALT ≤3x .

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • alcohol abuse (>20 g/day (2 standard drinks) in women or > 30 g/d (3 drinks) in men over a two-year period);
  • chronic viral hepatitis (associated with , , HDV infection);
  • drug-induced liver disease, Wilson's disease, hereditary deficiency of antitrypsin-1 and idiopathic hemochromatosis;
  • history of decompensated liver disease including ascites, encephalopathy or variceal bleeding;
  • regular use of a probiotic or prebiotic supplement within 3 months prior to enrollment;
  • antibiotic use within 3 months prior to enrollment;
  • uncontrolled cardiovascular or respiratory disease, active , or chronic infections;
  • use of agents such as vitamin E, omega-3 fatty acids or medications with evidence for effects on NAFLD (pioglitazone, GLP-1 analogues, dipeptidyl peptidase IV inhibitors, ursodeoxycholic acid);
  • presence of active infection, pregnancy or lactation.
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(6)

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.

BMI (body mass index)

Weight in kilograms divided by height in metres squared. Example: 70 kg and 1.75 m gives 70 ÷ (1.75 × 1.75) ≈ 22.9.

What counts as overweight or obesity differs between countries (some use lower cut-offs), so go by the range the study states.

ALT and AST (liver enzymes)

Two enzymes measured in a routine blood test of the liver. Higher levels can mean the liver is under strain or damaged. SGPT and SGOT are older names for ALT and AST.

Criteria usually give a limit as a multiple of the upper limit of normal (ULN), often higher when cancer has spread to the liver.

ULN (upper limit of normal)

The top of the normal range for a blood test, as set by the laboratory that runs it. Each lab prints its own range next to your result.

“≤ 2.5 × ULN” means the result can be up to two and a half times that top value.

Hepatitis B tests

Hepatitis B is a virus that infects the liver. These are separate tests: HBsAg positive usually means a current infection (a recent vaccination can briefly cause it too); total anti-HBc (HBcAb) positive means an infection now or in the past; HBV DNA measures how much virus is in the blood.

Some studies accept a past infection if HBV DNA is undetectable, sometimes with antiviral medicine during the study. Check what this study allows.

Hepatitis C tests

Hepatitis C is a virus that infects the liver. An HCV antibody test can stay positive after an infection has cleared (and is occasionally positive without one); an HCV RNA test shows whether the virus is there now.

After treatment, hepatitis C counts as cured when HCV RNA is still undetectable 12 weeks or more after the treatment ended. Studies often accept people cured this way.

Cancer (malignancy)

Malignancy means cancer. Criteria about another or earlier malignancy ask whether you have had a different cancer, usually within a set number of years.

Some are commonly allowed, such as treated skin cancers other than melanoma and early cancers removed completely — check the exceptions this study lists.

05

Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
Triple (Participant, Investigator, Outcomes assessor)
Enrollment
50 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Active comparator
    probiotic-smectite

    Over 8 weeks of interventional period, the patient received 1 sachet (10 grams) of gel per day.

    Dietary Supplement: "Symbiter Forte"

  • Placebo comparator
    placebo

    Over 8 weeks of interventional period, the patient received 1 sachet (10 grams) of gel per day.

    Dietary Supplement: Placebo

Interventions

  • Dietary supplement"Symbiter Forte"

    "Symbiter Forte" which contains combination of smectite gel (250 mg), and biomass of 14 alive probiotic strains: Lactobacillus + Lactococcus (6×1010 CFU/g), Bifidobacterium (1×1010/g), Propionibacterium (3×1010/g), Acetobacter (1×106/g)

  • Dietary supplementPlacebo
06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. fatty liver index (FLI)

    FLI = \[e 0.953\*loge (triglycerides) + 0.139\*BMI + 0.718\*loge (ggt) + 0.053\*waist circumference - 15.745) / (1 + e 0.953\*loge (triglycerides) + 0.139\*BMI + 0.718\*loge (ggt) + 0.053\*waist circumference - 15.745)\] × 100

    Time frame: 8 weeks compared to baseline

  2. liver stiffness (LS)

    liver stiffness (LS) was measured by Shear Wave Elastography (SWE) and expressed in kPa

    Time frame: 8 weeks compared to baseline

Secondary outcomes

  1. ALT

    ALT in IU/L

    Time frame: 8 weeks compared to baseline

  2. AST

    AST in IU/L

    Time frame: 8 weeks compared to baseline

  3. γ-GT

    γ-GT in IU/L

    Time frame: 8 weeks compared to baseline

  4. Total Cholesterol (TC)

    TC in mmol/l

    Time frame: 8 weeks compared to baseline

  5. Tryglicerides (TG)

    TG in mmol/l

    Time frame: 8 weeks compared to baseline

  6. LDL-Cholesterol (LDL-C)

    LDL-C in mmol/l

    Time frame: 8 weeks compared to baseline

  7. VLDL-Cholesterol (VLDL-C)

    VLDL-C in mmol/l

    Time frame: 8 weeks compared to baseline

  8. HDL-Cholesterol (HDL-C)

    HDL-C in mmol/l

    Time frame: 8 weeks compared to baseline

  9. cytokines levels

    TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, INF-γ in pg/ml

    Time frame: 8 weeks compared to baseline

07

Study locations

No study locations are listed for this record.

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
ElapsedEstimatedEstimated, not yet reachedSimilar studies: half by the dot; the band is the middle halfHalf of similar studies reached it by the dot; the band is the middle half, from a quarter to three quarters

Ran from Sep 2015 to primary completion in Mar 2016, 6 months.

Of 357 non-industry interventional studies with no phase under Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease, half reached primary completion within 26 months of starting (the median), counting those still running; a quarter within 12 and three quarters within 51. This study's 6 months is below that.

Counting every sponsor, half of 385 studies reached it within 26 months; a quarter within 12 and three quarters within 50.

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

Registered
Jul 29, 2018
First posted
Aug 3, 2018
StartActual
Sep 15, 2015
Primary completionActual
Mar 15, 2016
CompletionActual
Apr 20, 2016
Last update
Aug 7, 2018
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 7, 2018, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT03614039
Lead sponsor
Nazarii Kobyliak
Responsible party
Nazarii Kobyliak (Associate Professor of Endocrinology Department, PhD, Bogomolets National Medical University) — Sponsor-investigator
First posted
Aug 3, 2018
Start date
Sep 15, 2015
Primary completion
Mar 15, 2016
Completion
Apr 20, 2016
Last update
Aug 7, 2018

Study contacts

Petro Bodnar, Prof
principal investigator · Bogomolets National Medical University

Oversight

FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

Not currently enrolling

This study is completed, as verified in Aug 2018. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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