ClinicalTrials.gg
RecruitingNCT06611111Updated Mar 19, 2026

Ceftriaxone Pulse Dose for Post-Treatment Lyme Disease

An Early Phase 1 interventional study of Ceftriaxone (Rocephin®) and Dextrose 5% (D5W) in Post-Treatment Lyme Disease, sponsored by State University of New York - Upstate Medical University. Recruiting at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 18 Years to 75 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-03-19.

Sponsored by State University of New York - Upstate Medical University · Early Phase 1, Interventional, and Treatment

From the registry’s dates

  • Started Feb 2025; still recruiting 1 year 9 months later.
Phase
Early Phase 1
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
44
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
18 Years to 75 Years
Sex
All
01

Study summary

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if an FDA approved drug, Ceftriaxone, given intermittently, can treat people between 18 and 75 years old with a history of Lyme disease, who are still experiencing persistent or returning symptoms after they have completed treatment. The main questions it aims to answer are:

  • Will giving Ceftriaxone approximately every 5 days for 6 weeks be safe and well tolerated when compared to a group that receives placebo (a look-alike substance that contains no drug)?
  • Will giving Ceftriaxone improve symptoms?

Participants will be asked to do the following:

  • Come to the clinic approximately every 5-6 days to receive an IV infusion of either the Ceftriaxone or placebo.
  • Answer questions about their level of tiredness, body pain, general health and physical ability, sleep, anxiety, depression and any suicidal thoughts.
  • Give blood so we can make sure your body is handling the drug okay or to help us learn more about how the drug is affecting the persistent Lyme disease symptoms.
Read the detailed description

This study will explore treating participants who are 18 to 75 years old with Post-Treatment Lyme Disease. IV Ceftriaxone will be delivered in a pulse dose fashion, approximately every 5 days for a total of 9 IV infusions over 6 weeks. Participants will return one month following last treatment, at approximately 3 and 6 months from study start. At each study visit, participants will be asked a number of questionnaires including the SAFTEE assessment to assess the side effects of the drug as compared to placebo; the Fatigue Severity Scale, SF-36, GSQ-30, and PROMIS-29 questionnaires to assess physical functioning, general health, vitality, social functioning, bodily pain, role physical, role emotional, mental health, symptoms, fatigue, anxiety, depression, and sleep disturbances; the CSSRS to assess suicidal ideation.

At the 6-month mark, the study will be unblinded and participants in the placebo group will be invited to repeat the study visits receiving Ceftriaxone. Participants who originally received Ceftriaxone will receive a phone call follow up at 1 year. The duration for both groups is one year. Samples will be collected for safety labs and research assessments.

02

Conditions studied

  • Post-Treatment Lyme Disease

Keywords

  • Pulse Dose
  • Ceftriaxone
  • PTLDS
  • Chronic Lyme Disease
03

In context

Post-Lyme Disease Syndrome

22 studies on the registry are indexed under Post-Lyme Disease Syndrome; 9 are open to participants now.

This study's planned enrollment of 44 is above the median of 26 across 13 interventional studies indexed under Post-Lyme Disease Syndrome.

Browse Post-Lyme Disease Syndrome studies →

Lead sponsor

State University of New York - Upstate Medical University is the lead sponsor of 157 studies on the registry; 18 are open to participants now.

Of its 11 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 4 (36%) have results posted.

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

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 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

  1. Age 18 to 75 at the time of consent
  2. Ability and willingness to sign
  3. Available for the study period
  4. Must have met the definition of a prior well-defined or probable Lyme disease infection, AND meet the definition of PTLDS
  5. Provide consent for release of medical history records from primary care physician, college or university, urgent care or emergency room visit
  6. Have a level of fatigue that interferes with their ability to function in their job, schooling, or other social/personal activities (FSS score of 4 or higher)
  7. Subjects will need to have been off of antibiotics (those standard antibiotics used to target Lyme disease to include doxycycline, amoxicillin, cefuroxime, azithromycin, ceftriaxone or penicillin) for at least 6 weeks prior to study enrollment and be willing to remain off of any outside antibiotics during the duration of the treatment component of the study.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Female: pregnant or lactating
  2. Women who intend to become pregnant during the treatment study period (approximately 45 days)
  3. Patients with a diagnosis of Lyme disease based on only a positive Lyme IgM immunoblot
  4. A history of cephalosporin allergy or significant intolerance
  5. Lyme related symptoms that have been present for greater than 10 years
  6. Blood tests confirming infection with - 1 (HIV-1), , (assessed by HbsAg) virus.

    Note: Subjects who have well controlled HIV, who are on ART with a greater than 200 will be allowed to participate.

  7. Diagnosis with Bipolar Disorder or Schizophrenia, hospitalization in the past year for a mental health disorder, or any other psychiatric condition (to include any finding of increased suicide risk as identified by a rating of moderate or high risk on the CSSRS assessment), which in the opinion of the investigator prevents the subject from participating in the study
  8. Known concurrent rheumatologic or similar disease thought to interfere with study participation or confound results at the discretion of the investigator. These may include but are not limited to rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematous, Sjogren's syndrome, scleroderma, psoriasis, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis, or obstructive sleep apnea
  9. Hives, shortness of breath, swelling of the lips or throat, or hospitalization related to a previous treatment with a cephalosporin antibiotic, or severe allergic reaction to penicillins (e.g. anaphylaxis or severe rash with Stevens Johnson syndrome or similar)
  10. Planned travel during the study period that would interfere with the ability to complete all study visits (this can be a temporary exclusion with plan to schedule enrollment during a window of time during which they could attend their study visits)
  11. Significant screening physical examination abnormalities or chronic medical condition that in the opinion of the investigator may impact subject safety
  12. 12. Participation (active or follow-up phase) or planned participation in another vaccine, drug, or medical device in the 4 weeks prior to this trial, within 5 times the elimination half-life, whichever is longer, or during the trial
  13. Prior history of Clostridium difficile infection
  14. Currently taking warfarin (Coumadin)
  15. Unable to comply with study requirements
  16. Clinician discretion
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(5)

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.

HIV

The human immunodeficiency virus, which weakens the immune system.

Many studies now accept people whose HIV is controlled on treatment, judged by the viral load and the CD4 count. Check the limits this study sets.

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.

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.

CD4 count

The number of CD4 cells, a type of white blood cell, in a given amount of blood. It is used to follow how well the immune system is doing in HIV.

05

Study design

Phase
Early Phase 1
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
Quadruple (Participant, Care provider, Investigator, Outcomes assessor)
Enrollment
44 participants (estimated)

Study arms

  • Active comparator
    Ceftriaxone

    Participants will receive IV infusion of 2g Ceftriaxone, approximately every 5 days for 6 weeks for a total of 9 treatments.

    Drug: Ceftriaxone (Rocephin®)

  • Placebo comparator
    Placebo

    Participants will receive IV infusion of dextrose 5% in water, approximately every 5 days for 6 weeks for a total of 9 treatments

    Drug: Dextrose 5% (D5W)

Interventions

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Number of abnormal laboratory measurements

    Total number of all abnormal labs

    Time frame: 30 days post last treatment

  2. Intensity of Abnormal Laboratory Measurements

    Graded according clinical laboratory normals and FDA toxicity scale

    Time frame: 30 days post final treatment

  3. Duration of Abnormal Laboratory Measurements

    Number of days of abnormal lab

    Time frame: 30 days post final treatment

  4. Occurrence of adverse events

    Total number of adverse events

    Time frame: 30 days post last treatment

  5. Intensity adverse events

    Graded according FDA toxicity scale

    Time frame: 30 days post final treatment

  6. Duration of adverse events

    Number of days per adverse event

    Time frame: 30 days post final treatment

  7. Number of serious adverse events

    Total number

    Time frame: 1 year post study start

Secondary outcomes

  1. Fatigue Severity Scale

    Clinical improvement

    Time frame: At 6 and 12 months

  2. SAFTEE assessment

    Adverse events

    Time frame: 1 month post last dose

  3. SF-36 continuous variables

    Primary functional change with physical and mental summary indices as continuous variables.

    Time frame: 6 and 12 months

  4. SF-36 Responder-Nonresponder

    Primary functional change with the physical and mental summary indices as either responder or nonresponder.

    Time frame: 6 and 12 months

  5. General Symptom Questionnaire

    Changes in secondary clinical outcomes

    Time frame: 6 and 12 months

  6. PROMIS-29

    Changes in secondary clinical outcomes

    Time frame: 6 and 12 months

  7. Lyme VlsE1/pepC10 Antibody

    Changes in quantitative antibody levels

    Time frame: 6 and 12 months

07

Study locations

1 of 1 sites recruiting
  • SUNY Upstate Medical University, Upstate Global Health Institute
    East Syracuse, New York 13057, United States
    Recruiting
08

References and documents

Individual participant data

Plan to share: Yes — All IPD that underlies the primary results in a publication.

Time frame: IPD will be shared with the primary publication.

Access criteria: Primary IPD will be published with the primary manuscript describing the study. Requests for additional information can be requested by emailing warel@upstate.edu.

No publications or documents are linked to this record.

09

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Mar 19, 2026, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT06611111
Collaborators
Steven & Alexandra Cohen Foundation
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
Sep 24, 2024
Start date
Feb 3, 2025
Primary completion
Dec 2026 (estimated)
Completion
Dec 2026 (estimated)
Last update
Mar 19, 2026

Study contacts

Keely Terrillion
Contact
trials@upstate.edu
315-464-9869
Kristopher Paolino, MD
principal investigator · State University of New York - Upstate Medical University

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
No
FDA-regulated drug
Yes
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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