Impact of Statins on Cytokine Expression in Pneumonia

The investigators are conducting a study to determine the effects of a cholesterol-lowering medication, called simvastatin on pneumonia. People in the study will be in the hospital because they have pneumonia. The people will also have a medical condition like heart disease, diabetes, stroke or high cholesterol for which cholesterol-lowering medication has been shown to prevent future disease and/or death but are not taking a cholesterol-lowering medication when they go to the hospital. Some people will get treated with antibiotics only and other people will get antibiotics and simvastatin while they are in the hospital. The study will compare the effects the combination of simvastatin and antibiotics has on people with pneumonia to treatment with antibiotics alone.

Study Overview

Status

Withdrawn

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Phase

  • Phase 4

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

    • Texas
      • San Antonio, Texas, United States, 78229
        • Audie L Murphy Memorial Veterans Hospital

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • At least 18 years of age,
  • Chart documentation by a clinician of an initial working diagnosis of pneumonia within 24 hours of admission,
  • Chest x-ray or other imaging evidence consistent with pneumonia within 48 hours of hospitalization, and
  • One of the following severity criteria: pneumonia severity index class III or higher, at least 2/5 components of the CURB-65, or ICU level care within 24 hours of admission.
  • Having one Food and Drug Agency approved indication for statin therapy

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Prior Treatment with one or more doses of a statin within 30-days prior to admission or during the current hospitalization.
  • Hospitalization > 24 hours at time of the diagnosis of pneumonia.
  • Hospitalization > 48 hours at time of study enrollment.
  • Residence in a skilled nursing facility.
  • Previously diagnosed human immunodeficiency virus infection with a current CD4 count < 200 cells/mm.
  • Immunosuppression
  • Patient or family decision to limit medical care ("comfort measures only").
  • Known allergy to statin therapy.
  • Active or planned pregnancy or breastfeeding.
  • Inability to take oral medications at the time of study enrollment.
  • Pre-existing liver disease or AST/ALT > 10% the upper limit of normal.
  • Creatinine phosphokinase (CPK or CK) > 50% above the upper limit of normal.
  • Partial ileal bypass.
  • Concurrent treatment with potential interacting drugs: ketoconazole, itraconazole, amiodarone, clarithromycin, erythromycin, cyclosporine, danazol, niacin, protease inhibitors, telithromycin, verapamil, gemfiborzil, ezetimibe (Zetia), nefazodone.
  • Transfer from an outside hospital.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Double

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Placebo Comparator: Placebo Control
Subjects receive standard treatment for pneumonia and a simvastatin-like placebo
Simvastatin-like placebo administered daily in the evening for a maximum of 14 days
Experimental: Simvastatin
Subjects receive simvastatin in addition to standard pneumonia treatment
40 mg daily in the evening for a maximum of 14 days

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Cytokine (TNF alpha, IL-1beta, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10) levels
Time Frame: enrollment, 24h, 48h, 72h, hospital discharge
enrollment, 24h, 48h, 72h, hospital discharge

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
30-day mortality
Time Frame: 30-days
30-days

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Eric M Mortensen, MD, University of Texas Health Science Center/ South Texas Veterans Health Care System

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

July 1, 2009

Primary Completion (Actual)

August 1, 2011

Study Completion (Actual)

August 1, 2011

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

July 22, 2009

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 23, 2009

First Posted (Estimate)

July 24, 2009

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

April 22, 2015

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 20, 2015

Last Verified

April 1, 2015

More Information

Terms related to this study

Other Study ID Numbers

  • HSC2009-183H

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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