Exenatide Weekly Injections as an Adjunctive Treatment in Patients With Schizophrenia

January 4, 2022 updated by: Xiaoduo Fan, University of Massachusetts, Worcester
This is a 24-week, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of exenatide weekly injection (2mg per dose) as an adjunctive therapy in 70 schizophrenia subjects to examine exenatide's effects on negative symptoms and cognition.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

The specific aims include:

Primary aim:

1. Examine the efficacy of exenatide weekly injection in improving negative symptoms as measured by the Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms (SANS) total score.

Secondary aims:

1. Examine the efficacy of exenatide in improving cognition as measured by the Measurement and Treatment Research to Improve Cognition in Schizophrenia (MATRICS) Consensus Cognitive Battery (MCCB) composite score.

Tertiary/Exploratory aims:

  1. Examine exenatide's effect on schizophrenia symptoms as measured by the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) total score.
  2. Examine the efficacy of exenatide in improving social function as measured by the Instrumental Activities of Daily Living Scale (IADL) and the Heinrich Carpenter Quality of Life Scale (QLS).
  3. Examine exenatide's effect on neuro-protection as measured by the change in hippocampal volume.
  4. Examine exenatide's effects on inflammatory markers including serum levels of high sensitivity C-reactive Protein (CRP), Interleukin 6 (IL-6), and tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α).
  5. Examine the potential moderator role of baseline serum levels of C-reactive Protein (CRP), Interleukin 6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α), and baseline hippocampal volume for exenatide's effects on negative and cognitive symptoms.
  6. Examine the potential mediator role of changes from baseline in serum levels of C-reactive Protein (CRP), Interleukin 6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α), and hippocampal volume for exenatide's effects on negative and cognitive symptoms.
  7. Examine the efficacy of exenatide in reducing body weight and improving glucose metabolism as measured by fasting plasma glucose and HbA1c.
  8. Examine the safety and tolerability of exenatide as measured by changes in the side effects questionnaire (SEQ, SEQabbrev), EKG and vital signs

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

70

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

    • Massachusetts
      • Worcester, Massachusetts, United States, 01605
        • UMass Medical School

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 to 65 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • age 18-65 years
  • diagnosis of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder
  • stable dose of the current antipsychotic drug for at least one month
  • well established compliance with outpatient treatment per treating clinician's judgment
  • able to complete the cognitive assessment battery (must be English speaking)
  • Female subjects will be eligible to participate in the study if they are of non-childbearing potential or of child-bearing potential and willing to practice appropriate birth control methods during the study

Exclusion Criteria:

  • inability to provide informed consent
  • current substance abuse
  • psychiatrically unstable per treating clinician's judgment
  • significant medical illnesses including uncontrolled hypertension, diabetes, seizure disorder, severe cardiovascular, cerebrovascular, pulmonary, or thyroid diseases
  • currently on anti-inflammatory or immunosuppressant medication including oral steroids
  • currently on sulfonylurea drugs (e.g. glyburide)
  • history of chronic infection (including tuberculosis, HIV and hepatitis), malignancy, organ transplantation, blood dyscrasia, central nervous system demyelinating disorder, and any other known autoimmune or inflammatory condition
  • pregnant or breastfeeding
  • prisoners

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
Placebo SQ 1x/week for 24 weeks.
Other Names:
  • Control
Experimental: Experimental
Exenatide 2mg subcutaneous injection, once weekly
Exenatide SQ 2mg/week for 24 weeks.
Other Names:
  • Bydureon

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Negative Symptoms as Measured by the Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms (SANS) Total Score
Time Frame: Baseline, Week 6, Week 12, Week 18 and Week 24
SANS measures negative symptoms on a 25-item, six point scale each (0-5; none-severe). Items are listed under five domains including affective flattening or blunting, alogia, avolition/apathy, anhedonia/asociality, and attention. The total possible score ranges from 0 to 125.
Baseline, Week 6, Week 12, Week 18 and Week 24

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Measurement and Treatment Research to Improve Cognition in Schizophrenia (MATRICS) Consensus Cognitive Battery (MCCB) Composite T-score
Time Frame: Baseline, Week 6, Week 12, Week 18, and Week 24.
The MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery (MCCB) measures cognition relevant to schizophrenia and related disorders. The MCCB consists of ten individually administered tests that measure cognitive performance in seven domains including speed of processing, attention/vigilance, working memory, verbal learning, visual learning, reasoning and problem solving, and social cognition. The raw scores from the ten tests are entered in the MCCB Computer Scoring Program software, which provides an age and gender-corrected T-score and percentile on the seven cognitive domains. A T-score of 50 +/- 10 represents a normative mean performance in each test. Accordingly, the criterion for assignment to cognitively normal-range group require an overall composite T-score from 40 to 60. These data points from baseline visit to week 24 will measure changes in cognition in addition overall cognitive ability compared to healthy individuals.
Baseline, Week 6, Week 12, Week 18, and Week 24.

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Collaborators

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Xiaoduo Fan, MD, MPH, MS, University of Massachusetts, Worcester

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 (Actual)

September 1, 2014

Primary Completion (Actual)

July 1, 2019

Study Completion (Actual)

July 1, 2020

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

April 10, 2015

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 10, 2015

First Posted (Estimate)

April 15, 2015

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

January 14, 2022

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 4, 2022

Last Verified

January 1, 2022

More Information

Terms related to this study

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 13T-005

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

Yes

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

Yes

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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