MODULATE – Management of diarrhoea in ulcerative colitis

Summary

The MODULATE study aims to find out if other treatments are effective in relieving diarrhoea symptoms in people with stable UC. This is the first study to explore this, and we hope that the results will lead to more effective treatments for this group of patients. 

Ulcerative colitis is an inflammatory bowel disease. Some people with UC have difficult, chronic diarrhoea even when they have been told their disease is stable. This can have a huge physical and an emotional impact on people. However, we don’t currently know how best to treat these people.  

A potential approach may be to use existing treatments that work in other conditions for example, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Many people with IBS also suffer with chronic diarrhoea and there are treatments available to help them. One of those treatments is a special diet known as the low FODMAP diet. Several drugs are also used to treat diarrhoea in IBS, including low-dose tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs), such as amitriptyline, the anti-sickness drug ondansetron, and the anti-diarrhoeal drug, loperamide. All of these treatments are known to slow down the flow of digested food down the gut, improving diarrhoea and other related symptoms.