The Veterans Health Administration has awarded more than $2.5 million to Saurabh Chatterjee, PhD, professor of environmental and occupational health, at the UCI Program in Public Health who will act as principal investigator on a four-year project to conduct clinical trials testing the efficacy of a drug, Butyrate, among veterans experiencing Gulf War Illness. Chatterjee is also a research scientist with the Long Beach VA Medical Center which is also a lead site for the clinical trial.
Gulf War Illness is a widely used term to refer to the unexplained cluster of illnesses occurring in veterans of the 1991 Gulf War. There is no definitive point of exposure during the Gulf War that could have caused this phenomenon, which has made research difficult in creating effective interventions for those who are afflicted.
The Chatterjee Lab and his collaborators encompass extensive knowledge and expertise in occupational medicine and are equipped to tackle this elusive problem plaguing a subsection of the veterans deployed in the Persian Gulf war even 30 years after they have returned home.
Recent research in the last five years has shown promise with a revelation of how important the host gut microbiome is in managing certain symptoms of Gulf War Illness. The researchers will be leading a three-site, Phase II clinical trial throughout the nation to test Butyrate in managing the host gut microbiome. Their goal is to show effectiveness and side effects among 100 patients or less. This phase is the second step in four to ultimately have the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approve a treatment plan for the general population who have been diagnosed with Gulf War Illness.
Our goal through this rigorous process is to find a more effective treatment to help improve veterans’ quality of life and well-being.
– Saurabh Chatterjee, PhD
“People suffering from Gulf War Illness suffer from fatigue, headaches, joint pain, insomnia, respiratory disorders, memory problems and more,” said Chatterjee, who is also a professor of medicine at the UCI School of Medicine. “Our goal through this rigorous process is to find a more effective treatment to help improve veterans’ quality of life and well-being.”
Butyrate has shown promise in gastrointestinal disturbances such as irritable bowel syndrome and inflammatory bowel syndrome and is a good treatment choice among gastroenterologists. Butyrate is also effective as a strong anti-inflammatory molecule in preclinical studies. Since the Gulf War Illness patients show gastrointestinal disturbances (constipation, diarrhea, bloating, acid reflux, pain), chronic fatigue and neurocognitive abnormalities, the use of Butyrate should be effective.
“Our preliminary data and current literature show great promise of using Butyrate to treat our Gulf War veterans,” said Chatterjee. “My lab will analyze the drug’s role in restoring gut microbiome and virome, decreasing gastrointestinal disturbances, decreasing chronic fatigue, decreasing systemic inflammation and decreasing cognitive deficits.”
The clinical trials will be simultaneously conducted at the UCI Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, VA Long Beach Medical Center, Salt Lake City Veteran Affairs Medical Center and Miami Veterans Affairs Medical Center.
Additional UCI Public Health faculty co-investigators include Scott Bartell, PhD, professor of environmental and occupational health, Manijeh Berenji, MD, assistant clinical professor of environmental and occupational health, Bruce Albala, PhD, clinical professor of environmental and occupational health, and UCI School of Medicine faculty, Jonathan Skupsky, MD, PhD, who also holds a position at the VA Long Beach Medical Center.
