Doxycycline Intervention for Bacterial STI ChemoprOphylaxis (DISCO)

Official title

A Randomized Trial of Doxycycline Chemoprophylaxis for the Prevention of Sexually Transmitted Infections in Gay, Bisexual and Other Men Who Have Sex With Men (gbMSM)

Overview

There is a growing epidemic of the bacterial sexually transmitted infections (STIs) syphilis, chlamydia and gonorrhea worldwide; similarly concerning trends have been noted in Canada, where increases of over 160% have been seen in bacterial STIs over the last decade. In Canada, gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (gbMSM) - including those living with HIV - are disproportionately impacted by bacterial STIs5,6These dramatic increases in bacterial STIs, the potential development of serious complications including AMR, and waning effectiveness of the promotion of conventional STI prevention tools (e.g. condoms), signals the need for novel STI prevention strategies and tools to mitigate STI-related complications. A rigorous randomized controlled trial will be conducted to compare STI PrEP vs. STI PEP and definitively assess the efficacy, safety, antimicrobial resistance profiles and costs associated with doxycycline-based STI prevention.

Detailed description

With the rising rates of STIs among gbMSM populations in Canada, there is an urgent need for novel interventions to prevent significant sequelae (e.g. neurosyphilis) and onward transmission of untreated infections. Despite longstanding public health efforts to encourage conventional strategies of STI prevention, gbMSM continue to bear the burden of syphilis which poses synergistic effects in the transmission of HIV. This study will add to this field through providing the first methodologically rigorous, prospective multicentre, open-label randomized controlled trial (RCT) of doxycycline-based STI PrEP (daily 100mg doxycycline) versus STI PEP (200mg doxycycline after exposure event) for the prevention of bacterial STIs among gbMSM over 15 months (60 weeks) of follow-up with adequate power to address drug efficacy in the prevention of bacterial STIs. Beyond the determination of efficacy, our trial will provide insight to the unique challenges of medication adherence through assessing the acceptability, tolerability and safety of therapy with doxycycline. This study aims to provide health care providers one additional tool to address the burden of STIs in populations with an increased likelihood of infection.

Interventions

• Drug Doxycycline Hyclate
  STI PrEP arm: doxycycline capsules 100mg orally daily for 12 months STI PEP arm: doxycycline 200mg orally once within 24-72 hours following each sexual encounter deemed at risk (i.e. condomless anal or oral sex), to a maximum of six pills (i.e. 600 mg total) per week

Primary outcome measures

• Plasma doxycycyline levels to determine efficacy of doxycycline chemoprophylaxis [Time frame: 60 weeks]

Secondary outcome measures (8)

• Frequency of STIs over time [Time frame: 60 weeks]
• Proportion of individuals reporting grade 3 or 4 adverse events in each study arm as assessed by the Division of AIDS Table for Grading the Severity of Adult and Pediatric Adverse Events [Time frame: 60 weeks]
• Proportion of participants who report acceptability, community norms and partner attitudes of STI PrEP and PEP based on responses from questionnaires [Time frame: 60 weeks]
• Change in self-reported sexual activity defined as increases in condomless sexual acts and number of sexual partners based on responses from questionnaires [Time frame: 60 weeks]
• Proportion of individuals with evidence of tetracycline class resistance in common flora (Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pyogenes and Streptococcus pneumoniae) at 24 and 48 weeks. [Time frame: Over 48 weeks]
• Proportion of cases with resistance to penicillins, tetracyclines or macrolides in syphilis, and tetracycline resistance in gonorrhea and chlamydia isolates taken from the anus, oral cavity or urethra. [Time frame: Over 48 weeks]
• Proportion of individuals with adverse event-related study drug discontinuation in each study arm [Time frame: Over 60 weeks]
• Rate of adherence to study treatment (STI PrEP vs. PEP) by participants. [Time frame: Over 48 weeks]

Eligibility criteria

Inclusion criteria

• Males, ≥ 18 years of age;
• Any sexual activity (i.e. oral sex, insertive or receptive anal sex, with or without a condom) with more than one male partner in the preceding 12 months;
• Intention to remain sexually active with more than one male partner in the next 12 months;
• At least one prior episode of a previously diagnosed and adequately treated syphilis, gonorrhea or chlamydia infection within 12 months prior to screening.

Exclusion criteria

• Known allergy to doxycycline or tetracyclines;
• Existing chronic or intermittent tetracycline or doxycycline use (e.g. for chronic osteomyelitis, acne).
• Use of medications which could lower doxycycline levels, including barbiturates, phenytoin and carbamazepine.
• Individuals currently using isotretinoin;
• Any individual capable of becoming pregnant.

Criteria are shown verbatim from the registry (in English). Final eligibility is always assessed by the study center.

Healthy volunteers: No

Study design

Allocation

Randomized

Model

Parallel assignment

Masking

Open label

Primary purpose

Prevention

Study locations

Canada · 6 centers

• Sheldon Chumir Centre — Calgary
• BC Centre for Disease Control — Vancouver
• St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton — Hamilton
• The Ottawa Hospital — Ottawa
• St. Michael's Hospital — Toronto
• McGill University Health Centre — Montreal

Identifiers

NCT: NCT04762134 · BritishCCDC3

Primary sources (government registries)

• ClinicalTrials.gov (US NIH)

View this study on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗