ClinicalTrials.gg
Active, not recruitingNCT07921940Updated Nov 6, 2026

Effect of Probiotics on Insulin Sensitivity in Overweight and Obese Pregnancy

An interventional study of OMNi-BiOTiC® METAtox in Obesity & Overweight, Gestational Diabetes Mellitus (GDM) and Insulin Resistance, sponsored by Medical University of Vienna. Active, not recruiting at 1 site in Austria. Open to female participants aged 18 Years to 50 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-11-06.

Sponsored by Medical University of Vienna · Not applicable, Interventional, and Prevention

From the registry’s dates

  • Registered 2 years after the study started (first participant enrolled Oct 2024, registered Oct 2026).
Updated Nov 6, 2026Newly registeredGo to Updates ↓
Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
40
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
18 Years to 50 Years
Sex
Female
01

Study summary

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if taking a probiotic supplement during pregnancy improves the body's response to insulin (insulin sensitivity) in pregnant women who were overweight or obese before pregnancy (body mass index ≥25 kg/m2). Reduced insulin sensitivity is common in these women and increases the risk of gestational diabetes mellitus and excessive fetal growth. Growing evidence suggests that the bacteria in the gut (gut microbiome) play a role in regulating blood sugar and insulin action.

The main questions it aims to answer are:

  • Does a daily probiotic supplement improve insulin sensitivity in mid-pregnancy?
  • Does it affect blood sugar levels, insulin production, the development of gestational diabetes mellitus, fetal growth and the gut bacteria of mothers and newborns?

Participants will:

  • Take one sachet of the probiotic OMNi-BiOTiC® METAtox twice daily from early pregnancy until delivery (probiotic group only)
  • Attend three study visits in early, mid and late pregnancy with blood tests, an oral glucose tolerance test (early and mid pregnancy), measurements of weight and blood pressure, and questionnaires on diet and physical activity
  • Wear a glucose sensor on the upper arm for 10 days after each visit
  • Provide stool samples at each visit and a first stool sample of their newborn
  • Have fetal growth checked by ultrasound and pregnancy and birth outcomes recorded
Read the detailed description

Single-center, open-label, randomized controlled pilot study at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Division of Obstetrics and Feto-Maternal Medicine, Medical University of Vienna. Participants are randomized 1:1 using minimization method to balance groups according to preconceptional body mass index (25-29.9 vs. ≥30 kg/m2).

Study visits take place at 12+0 to 15+6 weeks of gestation (V1), 24+0 to27+6 (V2) and 35+0 to 37+6 (V3).

V1: anthropometric measurements of the mother including information on weight gain during gestation, fasting blood samples, oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT), continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) for 10 days, dietary and physical activity questionnaires, maternal stool sample, randomization to intervention and control group. Women in the intervention group will take probiotics (OMNi-BiOTiC® METAtox) twice a day starting from V1 until delivery.

V2: anthropometric measurement, fasting blood samples, OGTT, fetal ultrasound, CGM for 10 days, dietary and physical activity questionnaires, maternal stool sample.

V3: anthropometric measurements, fasting blood samples, fetal ultrasound, CGM for 10 days, dietary and physical activity questionnaires, maternal stool sample.

At delivery: recording of obstetric and neonatal outcomes (mode of delivery, birth weight and length with percentiles, APGAR score, shoulder dystocia, neonatal hypoglycemia, admission to neonatal intensive care unit, umbilical cord sampling (blood glucose, insulin, c-peptide, pH, base excess), collection of the first neonatal stool (meconium).

As a pilot study, all analyses are exploratory and intended to generate effect estimates and hypotheses for future trials.

02

Conditions studied

  • Obesity & Overweight
  • Gestational Diabetes Mellitus (GDM)
  • Insulin Resistance
  • Maternal Obesity Complicating Pregnancy

Keywords

  • probiotics
  • gut microbiome
  • pregnancy
  • insulin sensitivity
  • gestational diabetes mellitus
  • oral glucose tolerance test
  • continuous glucose monitoring
03

In context

Obesity

11,522 studies on the registry are indexed under Obesity; 2,033 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 40 is below the median of 67 across 9,006 interventional studies indexed under Obesity.

Browse Obesity studies →

Lead sponsor

Medical University of Vienna is the lead sponsor of 1,109 studies on the registry; 184 are open to participants now.

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

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years to 50 Years
Sexes eligible
Female
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

  • Pregnant women aged 18 to 50 years
  • Gestational age 12+0 to 15+6 at inclusion
  • Preconceptional ≥25 kg/m2
  • Written

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Any acute illness within 2 weeks prior to the study
  • Preconceptional diabetes (type 1, type 2 or others)
  • Preconceptional endocrine disorder (Cushing Syndrome, M. Addison)
  • Status post bariatric surgery
  • or hepatitis infection
  • Severe liver or kidney dysfunction
  • Current malignant tumors
  • Participation in another interventional study
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(3)

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.

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.

05

Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Prevention
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
40 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Probiotic supplementation

    Women with a preconceptional BMI ≥25 kg/m2 taking one sachet of OMNi-BiOTiC® METAtox twice a day starting from randomization (12+0 to 15+6 weeks of gestation) until delivery.

    Dietary Supplement: OMNi-BiOTiC® METAtox

  • No intervention
    Control

    Women with a preconceptional BMI ≥25 kg/m2 receiving standard prenatal care without probiotic supplementation.

Interventions

  • Dietary supplementOMNi-BiOTiC® METAtox

    Multispecies probiotic containing 9 specially selected bacterial strains (Lactobacillus casei W56, Lactobacillus acidophilus 5 W37, Lactobacillus brevis W63, Lactococcus lactis W58, Lactococcus lactis W19, Bifidobacterium lactis W52, Lactobacillus salivarius W24, Bifidobacterium lactis W51, Bifidobacterium bifidum W23) at a concentration of 7.5 \* 109 cfu (colony forming units) per portion (= 3 g). The intervention group will take one sachet of OMNi-BiOTiC® METAtox twice daily (in the morning and in the evening) before a meal. The dosing interval should be approximately 12 hours, and the intake is to be carried out continuously until delivery. The contents of one sachet must be stirred into a minimum of 100 ml of water. After an activation time of at least 1 minute, the suspension must be stirred again and then consumed.

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Insulin sensitivity assessed by the PREDIM index

    Insulin sensitivity will be assessed by the Predicted M index (PREDIM), derived from a 2-h 75g oral glucose tolerance test and compared between groups.

    Time frame: 12+0 to 15+6 (V1) and 24+0 to 27+6 (V2) weeks of gestation

Secondary outcomes

  1. Further insulin sensitivity and insulin resistance indices

    Insulin sensitivity and insulin resistance indices (OGIS, Matsuda Index, HOMA-IR, QUICKI) derived from a 2-h 75g oral glucose tolerance test and compared between groups.

    Time frame: 12+0 to 15+6 (V1) and 24+0 to 27+6 (V2) weeks of gestation

  2. Insulin secretion and beta-cell function indices

    Insulin secretion and beta-cell function indices (insulinogenic index, oral disposition index) derived from a 2-h 75g oral glucose tolerance test and compared between groups.

    Time frame: 12+0 to 15+6 (V1) and 24+0 to 27+6 (V2) weeks of gestation

  3. Glycemic profile assessed by continuous glucose monitoring

    Mean glucose and percentage of time in range (63-140mg/dL), above, range and below range over 10 days continuous glucose monitoring

    Time frame: 12+0 to 15+6 (V1), 24+0 to 27+6 (V2) and 35+0 to 37+6 (V3) weeks of gestation

  4. Fetal growth parameters assessed by ultrasound

    Head circumference, biparietal diameter, abdominal circumference, abdominal fat thickness, femur length, and estimated fetal weight, expressed as absolute values and gestational age-specific percentiles.

    Time frame: 24+0 to 27+6 (V2) and 35+0 to 37+6 (V3) weeks of gestation

  5. Umbilical cord blood glucose

    Glucose concentration (mg/dL) in umbilical cord blood.

    Time frame: At delivery

  6. Umbilical cord blood insulin

    Insulin concentration (µU/ml) in umbilical cord blood.

    Time frame: At delivery.

  7. Umbilical cord blood C-peptide

    C-peptide concentration (ng/ml) in umbilical cord blood.

    Time frame: At delivery.

  8. Umbilical cord blood pH

    Arterial umbilical cord blood pH.

    Time frame: At delivery.

  9. Umbilical cord blood base excess

    Arterial umbilical cord blood base excess (mmol/L).

    Time frame: At delivery.

  10. Birth weigth percentile and proportion of large- and small-for-gestational-age newborns

    Sex- and gestational age-adjusted birth weight percentile, large for gestational age defined as \>90th percentile, small for gestational age as \<10th percentile

    Time frame: At delivery

  11. Obstetric and neonatal outcomes

    Mode of delivery, APGAR score, shoulder dystocia, neonatal hypoglycemia, admission to neonatal intensive care unit

    Time frame: From delivery up to 48 hours postpartum

  12. Maternal and neonatal gut microbiome composition

    Bacterial and fungal composition of maternal stool and neonatal meconiumassessed by 16S rRNA and ITS amplicon sequencing

    Time frame: Maternal: 12+0 to 15+6 (V1), 24+0 to 27+6 (V2) and 35+0 to 37+6 (V3) weeks of gestation Neonatal: first stool after birth

Other outcomes

  1. Maternal fasting triglycerides

    Fasting serum triglyceride concentration (mg/dL).

    Time frame: 12+0 to 15+6 (V1), 24+0 to 27+6 (V2) and 35+0 to 37+6 (V3) weeks of gestation

  2. Maternal fasting total cholesterol

    Fasting serum total cholesterol concentration (mg/dL).

    Time frame: 12+0 to 15+6 (V1), 24+0 to 27+6 (V2) and 35+0 to 37+6 (V3) weeks of gestation

  3. Maternal fasting LDL cholesterol

    Fasting serum LDL cholesterol concentration (mg/dL).

    Time frame: 12+0 to 15+6 (V1), 24+0 to 27+6 (V2) and 35+0 to 37+6 (V3) weeks of gestation

  4. Maternal fasting HDL cholesterol

    Fasting serum HDL cholesterol concentration (mg/dL).

    Time frame: 12+0 to 15+6 (V1), 24+0 to 27+6 (V2) and 35+0 to 37+6 (V3) weeks of gestation

  5. Maternal HbA1c

    Glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c, %)

    Time frame: 12+0 to 15+6 (V1), 24+0 to 27+6 (V2) and 35+0 to 37+6 (V3) weeks of gestation

  6. Dietary quality assessed by a validated food frequency questionnaire

    Diet quality assessed by a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ, Robert Koch Institute) and summarized as a modified Alternate Healthy Eating Index 2010 (AHEI-2010) adapted for pregnancy. Score range 0 to maximum, higher scores indicate better diet quality.

    Time frame: 12+0 to 15+6 (V1), 24+0 to 27+6 (V2) and 35+0 to 37+6 (V3) weeks of gestation

  7. Physical activity assessed by the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ)

    Total physical activity assessed by the IPAQ long form, expressed as metabolic equivalent of task (MET) minutes per week. Higher values indicate more physical activity.

    Time frame: 12+0 to 15+6 (V1), 24+0 to 27+6 (V2) and 35+0 to 37+6 (V3) weeks of gestation

07

Study locations

1 site
  • Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Division of Obstetrics and Feto-maternal Medicine, Medical University of Vienna
    Vienna, 1090, Austria
08

References and documents

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No

No publications or documents are linked to this record.

09

Timeline

1 registry update 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 Oct 2024 to primary completion in Oct 2026, 24 months.

Of 3,680 non-industry interventional studies with no phase under Obesity, half reached primary completion within 23 months of starting (the median), counting those still running; a quarter within 10 and three quarters within 43. This study's 24 months is close to that.

Counting every sponsor, half of 3,843 studies reached it within 22 months; a quarter within 10 and three quarters within 42.

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

Registered
Oct 16, 2026
First posted
Nov 6, 2026
StartActual
Oct 8, 2024
Primary completionActual
Oct 26, 2026
CompletionEst.
Feb 2027
Last update
Nov 6, 2026
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.
Registered
First appeared on the registry. No changes since
Nov 6, 2026
Show all 1 update
  1. Nov 6, 2026
    First appeared on the registry

From the registry record's own update history. This site started tracking changes on Sep 25, 2026; for anything earlier, see the record history on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT07921940
Collaborators
Institut AllergoSan Pharma GmbH, Istituto di Neuroscienze Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche
Responsible party
Christian Göbl (Ap. Prof. Priv.Doz. Dr. M.S.c. MSc (CE) PhD, Medical University of Vienna) — Principal investigator
First posted
Nov 6, 2026
Start date
Oct 8, 2024
Primary completion
Oct 26, 2026
Completion
Feb 2027 (estimated)
Last update
Nov 6, 2026

Oversight

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

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