Actively Recruiting
Mechanisms of Gulf War Illness
Led by VA Office of Research and Development · Updated on 2025-12-05
80
Participants Needed
1
Research Sites
197 weeks
Total Duration
On this page
AI-Summary
What this Trial Is About
Many veterans with Gulf War Illness developed chronic gastrointestinal symptoms during their deployment to the Persian Gulf. The pathophysiologic mechanisms of these chronic gastrointestinal symptoms are not well understood but cause significant morbidity in veterans. Our proposed studies will provide an innovative and novel treatment trial for chronic gastrointestinal symptoms in veterans with Gulf War Illness that were deployed into war zones. Given that there are currently no specific treatments for these disorders, and that current symptomatic approaches are far from ideal, proof of principle of our trial would be an extremely important advance as it would not only have a beneficial impact on the health of many thousands of our veterans, but also it would substantially reduce the many negative economic effects of this ailment on the VA Health Care System.
CONDITIONS
Official Title
Mechanisms of Gulf War Illness
Who Can Participate
Eligibility Criteria
You may qualify if you...
- Veterans aged 18 to 65 years with Gulf War Illness and chronic gastrointestinal symptoms (abdominal pain, diarrhea, bloating) that started during their deployment in the Persian Gulf
- Veterans aged 18 to 65 years with Gulf War Illness and chronic gastrointestinal symptoms
- Increased intestinal permeability shown by lactulose/mannitol permeability test (ratio >0.07)
- Able and willing to cooperate with the study
You will not qualify if you...
- Currently participating in another research protocol or unable to give informed consent
- Women with a positive urine pregnancy test or breastfeeding
- History of inflammatory bowel disease, lactose intolerance, or celiac sprue
- Positive hydrogen breath test for bacterial overgrowth
- Positive anti-endomysial antibody titer
- Use of NSAIDs within 2 weeks before or during the study
- Known allergy to glutamine or whey protein
- Abdominal surgery except removal of gallbladder, uterus, or appendix more than 6 months prior to study entry
- Abnormal serum blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and/or creatinine levels
- Mannitol recovery outside the normal range of 5-25 U/g
- History of kidney disease
- Allergy to monosodium glutamate
- Current use of anti-seizure medications
AI-Screening
AI-Powered Screening
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Trial Site Locations
Total: 1 location
1
Memphis VA Medical Center, Memphis, TN
Memphis, Tennessee, United States, 38104-2127
Actively Recruiting
Research Team
G
George N Verne
CONTACT
Q
QiQi Zhou, MD PhD
CONTACT
How is the study designed?
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Masking
SINGLE
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Model
PARALLEL
Primary Purpose
TREATMENT
Number of Arms
2
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