GutHeart: Targeting Gut Microbiota to Treat Heart Failure
Status:
Unknown status
Trial end date:
2019-12-31
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
The objective of this trial is to study the effect of targeting the gut microbiota in
patients with heart failure (HF). First, the investigators will characterize gut microbiota
composition in patients with various degree of systolic HF as compared with healthy controls.
Second, the potential impact of targeting gut microbiota to improve HF will be investigated
through an open label randomized controlled trial (RCT) of probiotics, antibiotics and
controls. The hypothesis being tested is that the gut microbiota is altered in HF; that gut
microbiota of HF patients, through interaction with the intestinal and systemic innate immune
system, contribute to a low-grade systemic inflammation as well as metabolic disturbances in
these patients; and that an intervention with probiotics and the non-absorbable antibiotic
Rifaximin attenuates these inflammatory and metabolic disturbances and improves heart
function through modulation of the gut microbiota.