Conditions: Small Bowel Bacterial Overgrowth Gastrointestinal Diseases Stomach Diseases Digestive System Diseases
Keywords: SmartPill Capsule Digestive System Diseases Small Bowel Bacterial Overgrowth Gastrointestinal Device Oro-cecal
Allocation: NON_RANDOMIZED | Intervention model: PARALLEL
Enrollment: 17
Healthy volunteers: yes

Brief summary:
The primary purpose of this exploratory study is to measure orocecal transit time using the SmartPill ambulant capsule technology and to compare this with the lactulose hydrogen breath test. Additionally, the ability of the SmartPill GI Monitoring System to discriminate between healthy human subjects and patients with small bowel bacterial overgrowth will be explored using analyses of both pH and pressure patterns within the stomach and small intestine. The study will be performed in both normal subjects and patients with and without small bowel bacterial overgrowth.

Detailed description:
Small bowel bacterial overgrowth (SBBO), an increasingly recognized malabsorptive condition caused by the excessive growth of bacteria in the small bowel, results in a spectrum of symptoms such as diarrhea, bloating abdominal discomfort and weight loss. Multiple factors both internal and external to the individual prevent excessive small bowel bacterial colonization and determine the types of bacteria present. The most important factors within the individual are normal small bowel motility, which prevents attachment of ingested organisms, and gastric acid, which destroys many organisms before they reach the small intestine. The determination of small bowel motility is problematic due to limitations of the tests available (e.g., hydrogen breath test, scintigraphy and manometry).

The SmartPill capsule is a recently developed novel device that, following its ingestion, can measure pH, pressure and temperature as it moves through the gastrointestinal tract. These recordings can be used to measure gastrointestinal transit and, potentially, other aspects of gastrointestinal motility/function. Previous studies using this device have demonstrated the ability of the SmartPill to measure the gastric residence time using the duration of acidic pH recording with good correlation between the gastric residence time of the SmartPill capsule and conventional gastric emptying scintigraphy.

Arms:
arm 1: Healthy Participants will report for simultaneous lactulose hydrogen breath test (H\_2BT) and SmartPill study after an overnight fast. They will swallow the SmartPill Capsule at the study site. After 4 hours, they will be allowed to leave the study site and consume their usual diet. They will return for removal of the data recorder 5 days later. arm 2: Subjects with symptoms suggestive of small bowel bacterial overgrowth (SBBO) (e.g., diarrhea, bloating, abdominal discomfort) for at least 3 months will be divided into 2 groups based on the results of their previous testing for SBBO (5 SBBO positive patients, 5 SBBO negative patients).

The symptomatic participants will report for simultaneous lactulose hydrogen breath test (H\_2BT) and SmartPill study after an overnight fast. They will swallow the SmartPill Capsule at the study site. After 4 hours, they will be allowed to leave the study site and consume their usual diet. They will return for removal of the data recorder 5 days later.

After the capsule has been demonstrated to be passed from the subject, the subjects with SBBO present will then enter into an open-label treatment using Rifaximin (400 mg PO TID) for 7 days.

Interventions: intervention 1: Xifaxan intervention 2: SmartPill intervention 3: Lactulose hydrogen breath test (H_2BT)
Intervention descriptions: intervention 1: Open-Label Treatment at 400 mg by mouth, 3 times a day, for 7 days; only for those symptomatic and positive SBBO patients. intervention 2: The SmartPill is a single-use, ingestible capsule that utilizes sensor technology to measure pressure, pH and temperature throughout the entire GI tract. The ACT-1 (SmartPill) GI Monitoring System includes an ingestible capsule, a receiver and video display software. intervention 3: A hydrogen breath test provides information about the digestion of certain sugars or carbohydrates, such as milk sugar (lactose) or fruit sugar (fructose). The test is also used for detecting abnormal growth of bacteria within the small bowel by having the patient ingest lactulose.

Protocol document: