Could a poop pill cure bald spots? new trial tests microbiota transplant for alopecia
NCT ID NCT06747611
First seen Jun 27, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026
Summary
This study tests whether transplanting healthy gut bacteria can help people with alopecia areata, an autoimmune disease that causes patchy or total hair loss. Forty adults with moderate to severe hair loss will take either antibiotic and microbiota transplant capsules or a placebo for two weeks. Researchers will track hair regrowth and changes in gut and skin bacteria for up to 54 weeks.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- Vancomycin, Neomycin, and microbiota transplant capsules
- What this could lead to
- If it works, this could point toward a new treatment for alopecia areata that targets gut bacteria instead of using immune-suppressing drugs.
- What could go wrong
- This is a small, early Phase 2 trial with only 40 people. It is testing whether the transplant can change gut bacteria, not yet whether it reliably regrows hair. Results may not apply to everyone.
This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.
Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
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Phase 2
Tests whether the treatment actually works, and watches for side effects, in a larger group.
- Participants
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About 40 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Started
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Aug 2025
- Expected to finish
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Mar 2028
An estimate. End dates often move.
- Lead sponsor
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Other sponsor
The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
- Ages
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18 to 75 years
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
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Not accepted
This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.
Show the full entry requirements Hide the full entry requirements
Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria: * Patients 18 to 75 years of age with moderate to severe alopecia areata (SALT score \>30%). * Patients with a diagnosis of patch type alopecia areata, totalis, or universalis.. * Duration of hair loss \>=3 months.. * No evidence of active, ongoing regrowth present at baseline. * Females of childbearing potential must have a negative urine or serum pregnancy test at screening and immediately prior to MTT. * Females of childbearing potential must agree to use an effective form of contraception from 14 days prior to study antibiotics through at least 30 days after MTT. Acceptable forms of contraception include oral or intramuscular contraceptives, intrauterine devices, surgical sterilization. * Participants are not enrolled in another clinical study. * If undergoing treatment with a JAK inhibitor, participant is willing to discontinue treatment for 1 month prior to enrollment and throughout the duration of the study. Exclusion Criteria: * Active gastrointestinal infection at time of enrollment. * Having been administered antibiotics in the last 48 hours. * Patients will be eligible to enroll if antibiotic therapy is discontinued for at minimum 48 hours prior to treatment.. * Requires continued antibiotic use * Allergy to study antibiotics (vancomycin, neomycin). * Known or suspected severe gastrointestinal dysmotility disorder, e.g., gastroparesis, pseudo-obstruction, scleroderma with gastrointestinal involvement * Ileus or small bowel obstruction. * Major gastrointestinal surgery (e.g., significant bowel resection) within 3 months before enrollment. This does not include appendectomy or cholecystectomy. * History of total colectomy. * Concurrent intensive induction chemotherapy, radiation therapy or biological treatment for active malignancy. * Unable or unwilling to comply with protocol requirements. * Expected life expectancy \< 6 months. * Previous MTT or microbiome-based products at any time excluding this study. * History of severe anaphylactic or anaphylactoid food allergy. * Solid organ transplant recipients 90 days post-transplant or on active treatment for rejection. * A condition that would jeopardize the safety or rights of the subject, would make it unlikely for the subject to complete the study, or would confound the results of the study. * History of or existing skin diseases affecting the scalp such as psoriasis or seborrheic dermatitis and patients with evidence of infection or skin cancer in the treated areas. * Patients in whom the diagnosis of alopecia areata is questionable. * Patients in whom regrowth is present/evident at baseline in the areas to be treated. * Patients with active medical conditions or malignancies (except adequately treated basal or squamous cell carcinoma of the skin) which in the opinion of the investigator would increase the risks associated with study participation, including patients with a history of recurrent infections. * Patients unwilling or unable to discontinue treatments known to affect hair regrowth in alopecia areata. * Patients who have been treated with intralesional steroids, systemic steroids, anthralin, squaric acid, DPCP (diphenylcycloprophenone), protopic, minoxidil, JAK inhibitors or other medication which in the opinion of the investigator may affect hair regrowth, within one month of the baseline visit.. * Patients determined by the investigator to have extreme diets.. * Pregnant and breastfeeding females..
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Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
How to take part
Only the study team decides who joins. These are the ways to reach them.
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The places running it
1 site. The list below names each one and where it is.
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The official record
ClinicalTrials.gov lists the study team's own contact details, including names and phone numbers. We don't republish those.
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A doctor treating you
A doctor who knows your case can contact a study site on your behalf, and can tell you whether this study is worth pursuing at all.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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University of Minnesota
RECRUITINGMinneapolis, Minnesota, 55455, United States
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