A PROspective Faecal MIcrobiota tranSplantation Trial to Improve outcomEs in Patients With Cirrhosis

There is an evolving crisis of chronic liver disease (CLD) in the UK and it is the only major chronic disease which is on the rise. The advanced stages of CLD, known as cirrhosis (a hardening and scarring of the liver), is the third biggest cause of death and loss of working life years behind heart disease and self-harm. People die from cirrhosis young with more than 1 in 10 in their 40s.

Patients with cirrhosis are very susceptible to infections, antibiotics become ineffective and patients may become infected with 'super bugs'. There is an urgent need for antibiotic-free approaches. The body contains trillions of microscopic organisms called bacteria which play an important role in keeping us healthy. Many of these bacteria live within our bowel and help our immune system fight infection. There are increased numbers of 'unfriendly' bowel bacteria in patients with cirrhosis which emit substances that are harmful to health and disrupt the immune system.

It could be beneficial to replace the unfriendly bowel bacteria in patients with cirrhosis with bacteria donated from a healthy person by performing a type of bowel bacteria transplant (known as faecal microbiota transplantation or FMT). The PROFIT trial was recently performed as a preliminary trial of FMT which was placed into the bowel with the help of a flexible camera (endoscopy). The study showed FMT was safe with no serious side effects, but patients told us they would prefer to take tablets rather than have an endoscopy. The chief investigator and her team have therefore made a capsule which contains dried stool from a healthy donor. Participants will need to take 5 of these capsules to achieve the same dose.

The PROMISE clinical trial is to test whether treating patients with FMT capsules will reduce the likelihood of them getting an infection by measuring the time it takes to develop an infection resulting in hospital admission. This will be compared to a 'dummy' capsule that contains no FMT (placebo). Patients will be selected at random to have FMT treatment or placebo and both the study team and the patients will not know which treatment they are taking. Participants will need to take 5 capsules every 3-months. Participants will continue treatment for a total of 21-months or until they develop their first infection leading to hospital admission and will be followed-up for a maximum of 2-years.

This study will also examine if having FMT will reduce the side effects of cirrhosis and if it has beneficial effects on the liver and immune system. The investigator team will study whether it reduces hospital admissions, the incidence of 'super-bug' infections and death. Laboratory studies will look at whether FMT treatment will help the immune system fight infection.

The World Health Organisation describes the resistance of bacteria to the effects of antibiotics as one of the biggest threats to global health. The discovery of new antibiotics has not kept pace. The government's white paper proposes a 5-year plan to tackle resistance to antibiotics. Consultation with our patient co-applicant, patient advisory group, The British Liver Trust and Guts UK Charity have highlighted recurrent hospitalisation, over-use of antibiotics and fear of acquiring a 'super-bug' as being important priorities to patients. The results and study findings will be published in conjunction with patient support groups, the wider media and the NHS. The investigator will ensure the research impacts on the management of patients with CLD and shapes policy and guideline development.

Inclusion criteria

• Aged ≥ 18 years
• Confirmed Alcohol-related (ALD) or Metabolic dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease (MASLD) or MetALD cirrhosis based on clinical, radiological and/or histological criteria.
• MELD score 8-16
• Patients with alcohol-related cirrhosis who must have an active alcohol consumption on average ≤20 grams/day [1 unit of alcohol contains 10mLs or 8g of alcohol].
• Patients must be deemed to have the capacity to provide written informed consent to participate.

Exclusion criteria

• Moderate, severe or life-threatening food allergy (e.g., peanut allergy)
• Pregnancy or planned pregnancy*. Urine testing will be performed at screening to rule out pregnancy in females.
• Breast-feeding
• Patients treated for acute variceal bleeding, infection, overt hepatic encephalopathy, bacterial peritonitis or ACLF within 14 days prior to randomisation.
• Active alcohol consumption of >20 grams/day [1 unit of alcohol contains 10mLs or 8g of alcohol]
• Had a previous liver transplant
• Patients with inflammatory bowel disease.
• Patients with coeliac disease.
• Patients with a history of prior gastrointestinal resection or surgery that could change the gut microbiome or result in bacterial overgrowth e.g. gastric bypass
• Active malignancy including hepatocellular carcinoma
• Patients with an expected life expectancy <6 months or listed for liver transplantation
• Infected with HIV, hepatitis B or C [patients who have undetectable hepatitis B or C DNA/RNA can be recruited].
• Patients who have received antibiotics or probiotics (excluding food stuffs containing 'live bacteria' such as live yoghurts, kefir, fermented vegetables such as sauerkraut/kombucha or cheese) within 7 days prior to randomisation.
• Swallowing disorder, oral-motor dyscoordination or likely inability/unwillingness to ingest study medication.
• Patients who have received another investigational drug or device within 4 months prior to randomisation.
• Patients, who in the opinion of the PI, have a medical condition, or other relevant psychological, familial, or social factor that may jeopardise their health, compliance, or influence the trial integrity in any way.