ClinicalTrials.gg
CompletedNCT06789471Updated Jan 23, 2025

The Effects of Psyllium Seed on Body Weight and Metabolic Syndrome Indicators in Patients with Schizophrenia

An interventional study of psyllium husk in Overweight and Obesity, Metabolic Cardiovascular Syndrome and Schizophrenia, Disorganized, sponsored by Ru-Shin Zhang. Completed at 1 site in Taiwan. Open to participants aged 20 Years to 65 Years, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2025-01-23.

Sponsored by Ru-Shin Zhang · Not applicable, Interventional, and Supportive care

From the registry’s dates

  • Registered 7 months after the study started (first participant enrolled May 2024, registered Dec 2024).
Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
24
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
20 Years to 65 Years
Sex
All
01

Study summary

The research employs a quasi-experimental design, aiming to enroll 24 hospitalized patients with schizophrenia from 2hospitals in the central region, guided by G Power calculations. Participants will be carefully matched based on gender, age (within 5 years), and the same hospital. They will be divided into two groups using a single-masked randomized allocation method. The experimental group (psyllium husk group) will consume 10 grams of psyllium husk daily, split into two doses, taken about an hour before meals. The control group will receive standard treatment. The intervention will last for 12 weeks.

Inclusion criteria involve a schizophrenia diagnosis as per DSM-V criteria, age between 20 and 65 years, and a body mass index (BMI) of 24 kg/m² or higher, or meeting more than three indicators of metabolic syndrome. Exclusion criteria include medications for glucose, blood pressure, or lipid levels reduction, significant comorbidities like cardiovascular diseases or cancer, a history of neurogenic bowel obstruction or post-weight loss surgery, and patients with severe psychiatric symptoms impeding cooperation.

Each patient will undergo measurements for weight, waist circumference, body mass index, and blood biochemical analysis, encompassing fasting blood glucose (FBG), total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) before the intervention and after 12 weeks.

Read the detailed description

The study adopts a quasi-experimental research design and plans to include 24 hospitalized patients with schizophrenia from 2 hospitals in the central region, based on G Power calculations. This study will be matched based on gender, age (within 10 years), and the same hospital.The participants will be divided into two groups using a single-masked randomized allocation method. The experimental group (psyllium husk group) will consume 10 grams of psyllium husk daily, divided into two doses, and taken approximately one hour before meals. The control group will receive standard treatment, and the intervention will last for 12 weeks. Inclusion criteria are: 1. Diagnosis of schizophrenia based on DSM-V criteria; 2. Age between 20 and 65 years old; 3. Body mass index (BMI) of 24 kg/m² or higher or those who meet more than three indicators of metabolic syndrome. Exclusion criteria are medications for lowering blood glucose, blood pressure, or lipid levels, significant comorbidities such as cardiovascular diseases or cancer, history of neurogenic bowel obstruction or post-weight loss surgery, and patients with prominent psychiatric symptoms who cannot cooperate. Each patient will undergo measurements of weight, waist circumference, body mass index, and blood biochemical analysis data, including fasting blood glucose (FBG), total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) before the intervention and after 12 weeks

02

Conditions studied

  • Overweight and Obesity
  • Metabolic Cardiovascular Syndrome
  • Schizophrenia, Disorganized
03

In context

Overweight

3,767 studies on the registry are indexed under Overweight; 863 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 24 is below the median of 73 across 3,263 interventional studies indexed under Overweight.

Browse Overweight studies →

Lead sponsor

This is the only study on the registry with Ru-Shin Zhang as lead sponsor.

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

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
20 Years to 65 Years
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
Yes

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. Diagnosis of schizophrenia based on DSM-V criteria;
  2. Age between 20 and 65 years old
  3. Body mass index (BMI) of 24 kg/m² or higher or those who meet more than three indicators of metabolic syndrome
  4. Individuals with glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels ranging from 5.7% to 6.4%.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Exclude those who use blood sugar-lowering, blood pressure-lowering, and blood-lipid-lowering drugs.
  2. Patients with major internal and external diseases such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, patients who have experienced neuropathic intestinal obstruction, patients after bariatric surgery, or those who have experienced choking.
  3. Those with obvious mental symptoms who are unable to cooperate.
  4. History of grain allergy, asthma, etc.
  5. Persons subject to a declaration of auxiliary guardianship.
05

Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Supportive care
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
Single (Care provider)
Enrollment
24 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Psyllium group

    The experimental group (psyllium husk group) will consume 10 grams of psyllium husk daily, divided into two doses, and taken approximately one hour before meals for 12 weeks.

    Dietary Supplement: psyllium husk

  • No intervention
    Control group

    The control group will receive standard treatment, not use psyllium and the intervention will last for 12 weeks.

Interventions

  • Dietary supplementpsyllium husk

    Psyllium husk, derived from the seeds' husks of the Plantago ovata plant, is a plant-based fiber supplement.

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Body Weight in Kilograms

    Measure body weight in the morning after waking up, with participants wearing light clothing and no shoes.

    Time frame: At baseline (week 0) and at weeks 6 and 12 of the study.

  2. Waist Circumference in cm

    Waist circumference will be measured to evaluate the impact of psyllium husk intervention on abdominal fat distribution in patients with schizophrenia. Measurements will be conducted using a flexible, non-stretchable measuring tape, positioned horizontally around the abdomen at the midpoint between the lower margin of the last palpable rib and the top of the iliac crest. Participants will stand upright, with feet close together, arms at their sides, and abdomen relaxed during the measurement. The values will be recorded in centimeters (cm). The experimental group will consume 10 grams of psyllium husk daily, while the control group will receive standard treatment. Changes in waist circumference will be analyzed within and between groups."

    Time frame: At baseline (week 0) and at weeks 6 and 12 of the study.

  3. Body Mass Index (BMI) in (kg/m²)

    Body mass index (BMI) will be calculated to evaluate the impact of psyllium husk intervention on overall body composition in patients with schizophrenia. BMI is expressed in kilograms per square meter (kg/m²) and will be calculated using the formula: weight (kg) divided by height squared (m²). Weight will be measured with a calibrated digital scale, ensuring participants wear light clothing and no shoes. Height will be measured using a wall-mounted stadiometer, with participants standing barefoot, heels together, arms at their sides, and head positioned in the Frankfurt horizontal plane. These measurements will be used to calculate BMI, which will be recorded and analyzed for changes within and between groups.

    Time frame: At baseline (week 0) and at weeks 6 and 12 of the study.

Secondary outcomes

  1. Metabolic syndrome indicators ex (Fasting Glucose (mg/dL) Total Cholesterol (mg/dL) Triglycerides (mg/dL) High-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol (HDL-C, mg/dL) Low-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol (LDL-C, mg/dL) Glycated Hemoglobin (HbA1c, %)

    Each time, 5 c.c. of blood is drawn from the arm vein for the following tests and their respective units: Fasting Glucose (mg/dL) Total Cholesterol (mg/dL) Triglycerides (mg/dL) High-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol (HDL-C, mg/dL) Low-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol (LDL-C, mg/dL) Glycated Hemoglobin (HbA1c, %) Blood collection requires at least 8 hours of fasting and is performed by professional medical technologists or nursing staff to ensure accurate results.

    Time frame: During weeks 0 and 12of the study

07

Study locations

1 site
  • Taichung Hospital
    Taichung, Taiwan 403, Taiwan
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 May 2024 to primary completion in Sep 2024, 4 months.

Of 1,356 non-industry interventional studies with no phase under Overweight, half reached primary completion within 18 months of starting (the median), counting those still running; a quarter within 8 and three quarters within 38. This study's 4 months is below that.

Counting every sponsor, half of 1,472 studies reached it within 17 months; a quarter within 7 and three quarters within 36.

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

Registered
Dec 23, 2024
First posted
Jan 23, 2025
StartActual
May 1, 2024
Primary completionActual
Sep 30, 2024
CompletionActual
Oct 1, 2024
Last update
Jan 23, 2025
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 Jan 23, 2025, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT06789471
Lead sponsor
Ru-Shin Zhang
Responsible party
Ru-Shin Zhang (Taichung Hospital Nurse Practitioner, Hung Kaung University) — Sponsor-investigator
First posted
Jan 23, 2025
Start date
May 1, 2024
Primary completion
Sep 30, 2024
Completion
Oct 1, 2024
Last update
Jan 23, 2025

Study contacts

Mei-Ling Lin
study director · HungKaungUniversity

Oversight

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

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