Bringing Relief to Adolescents Naturally Using Melatonin for Migraine (BRAiN-M)

August 13, 2021 updated by: Amy Gelfand

Melatonin for Migraine Prevention in Adolescents: A Pilot Remote Trial: "The BRAiN-M Study"

Migraine in adolescents is common and effective and safe preventive treatments are needed. This is a pilot randomized controlled trial of melatonin versus placebo for migraine prevention in adolescents 12-17 years old.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Completed

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

This is a pilot randomized controlled trial of melatonin vs. placebo for migraine prevention in adolescents 12-17 years old. The main goal of this pilot study is to estimate variance in the outcome measures to help with planning the future fully powered study. Participants will have an in person enrollment visit, followed by phone follow up visits and headache diary data collection via smart phone or internet.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
31

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Phase 2

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

  • United States
    • California
      • Los Angeles, California, United States, 90077
        • UCLA Headache Research and Treatment Program
      • San Francisco, California, United States, 94158
        • UCSF Pediatric Brain Center

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

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

12 years to 17 years (Child)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  1. Age 12-17 years and weight ≥40 kg, to allow consistent dosing for all participants of the melatonin dose that has been found to be effective in adults
  2. Resides in California
  3. Headache fulfills International Classification for Headache Disorders, Third Edition (beta version)33 criteria for episodic migraine (with or without aura) in adolescents
  4. Has been experiencing episodic headaches for at least six months
  5. Experiences between 6-14 days of migraine/migrainous headaches per month at baseline (cutoff for chronic migraine is ≥15 days/month)
  6. Developmentally able to provide age-appropriate level of assent
  7. Has a parent/guardian capable of giving written informed consent
  8. Has daily access to a smartphone in order to be able to complete daily study procedures such as diary completion, and to receive text reminders
  9. Subject and parent agree the adolescent will not use over-the-counter melatonin, or another migraine preventive medication, while participating in the study
  10. Participant and at least one parent speak English

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Currently (or within the last 4 weeks) using any medication or device with migraine preventive properties: i.e. topiramate, amitriptyline, nortriptyline, propranolol, metoprolol, sodium valproate, gabapentin, flunarizine, methysergide, riboflavin, butterbur, coenzyme Q10, or the Cefaly TENS device. For onabotulinum toxin, they will have to have been off it for at least three months
  2. Use of other sleep medication or sedating medication, such as benzodiazepines, trazodone, or melatonin receptor agonists
  3. History of allergy or adverse event with previous use of exogenous melatonin
  4. Previous ineffective trial of melatonin 3 mg nightly for migraine prevention, where the trial duration was at least three months in duration
  5. Inability to swallow pills, if this inability persists after instruction on pill-swallowing techniques
  6. History of epilepsy or seizure
  7. Overuse of acute headache medications, wherein medication overuse is defined33 as ≥4 days per month of barbiturate containing compounds, ≥10 days per month of opioid containing compounds, or ≥10 days per month of triptans or ergot-containing compounds. Those using non-specific analgesics ≥15 days per month would also be excluded
  8. Adolescent does not have the cognitive capacity to give verbal assent to participate, or the investigator thinks the adolescent does not have the cognitive capacity to complete the diary, even with parental assistance
  9. For females: Pregnancy, lactating or planning to become pregnant during the study. For males: planning to father a child during the study
  10. Abnormal neurologic examination findings
  11. Serious medical illness of any kind; seriousness as judged by the investigator
  12. The investigator does not think the participant can comply with study procedures, or does not think it is medically appropriate for the participant to be in the study

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: Quadruple

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Active Comparator: Melatonin
Group randomized to melatonin 3 mg orally nightly
Drug: Melatonin
Taken at 9 PM or 1 hour before bedtime, whichever is earlier
Other Names:
  • Rugby melatonin
Placebo Comparator: Placebo
Group randomized to placebo orally nightly
Other: Placebo
Matching placebo taken at 9 PM or 1 hour before bedtime, whichever is earlier

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Number of Migraine/Migrainous Days Per 28 Day Period
Time Frame: final 4 weeks of treatment
Number of Migraine/Migrainous Days Per 28 Day Period in melatonin group and placebo group as measured using an online/mobile device headache diary.
final 4 weeks of treatment

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Number of Minutes to Sleep Onset
Time Frame: 16 weeks
Number of minutes to sleep onset as measured by a FitBit.
16 weeks
Number of Participants Recruited From Each Recruitment Strategy
Time Frame: During the enrollment period, approximately 1 year
Each recruitment strategy will be analyzed for number of participants successfully enrolled.
During the enrollment period, approximately 1 year
Medication Adherence as Measured by Number of Openings Per Participant
Time Frame: during the "At Home Active Study Period" or Weeks 5-16
eCAP tack caps will be used to measure medication adherence and the number of openings will be recorded per participant.
during the "At Home Active Study Period" or Weeks 5-16
Headache Diary Compliance Rate
Time Frame: Weeks 12-16 of the study
Number of participants that had ≥85% headache diary compliance during weeks 12-16 of the study.
Weeks 12-16 of the study

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
Amy Gelfand

Collaborators

Collaborators

An organization other than the sponsor that provides support for a clinical study. This support may include activities related to funding, design, implementation, data analysis, or reporting.
University of California, Los Angeles

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Principal Investigator: Amy A Gelfand, MD, University of California, San Francisco

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

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

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
May 1, 2015

Primary Completion (Actual)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
April 1, 2016

Study Completion (Actual)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
April 1, 2016

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
January 12, 2015

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
January 16, 2015

First Posted (Estimate)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
January 22, 2015

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
September 9, 2021

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
August 13, 2021

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
August 1, 2021

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • 14-14251

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

No

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

Yes

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

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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