Repurposing Dexmedetomidine as an Orally Administered Sleep Therapeutic

October 1, 2019 updated by: Oluwaseun Johnson-Akeju, MD, MMSc, Massachusetts General Hospital
The broad objective of this investigation is to assess the safety and efficacy of oral therapy with dexmedetomidine for the induction and maintenance of restful sleep.

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

Sleep is a basic human function that occupies approximately one-third of our lives. Much of what is known about the benefits of sleep in humans has been obtained from studies of patients with insomnia, the most common sleep disorder with a reported prevalence of 10 to 15%. Unfortunately, insomnia is an independent risk factor for acute myocardial infarction, coronary heart disease, heart failure, hypertension, diabetes, and death. More so, sleep disturbances lead to neurocognitive deficits such as delirium and psychosis. However, the principal medications (i.e. benzodiazepines, zolpidem) currently used to treat insomnia are associated with side effects such as daytime sedation, delirium, anterograde memory disturbance, and complex sleep-related behaviors. We recently found that a nighttime intravenous bolus administration of dexmedetomidine was associated with normal sleep architecture comprising of rapid eye movement (REM) and non-REM (N1, N2, N3) sleep, with improved next-day psychomotor vigilance performance compared to zolpidem. Presently, dexmedetomidine is only available in an intravenous formulation. The goal of this project is to develop dexmedetomidine, an alpha-2 receptor agonist, into an oral sleep therapeutic with a neurocognitive sparing profile.

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.
15

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
  • Phase 1

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
    • Massachusetts
      • Boston, Massachusetts, United States, 02114
        • Massachusetts General 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

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

18 years to 50 years (Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Age between 18-50
  • Native English speaking
  • ASA physical status classification P1 and P2 (stable chronic condition)
  • Normal body habitus.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Abnormal sleep habits
  • Sleeping less than 5 hours each night
  • Going to sleep before 9:00 PM or after 2:00 AM on a regular basis
  • Waking up before 5:00 AM or after 10:00 AM on a regular basis.
  • Takes medication that alters sleep, cognitive function, or both. -Has a history of a known neurological or psychiatric problem.
  • Younger than 18 or older than 50 years of age.
  • Known or suspected sleep disorder(s).

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: Crossover Assignment
  • Masking: Triple

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.
Experimental: Oral Dexmedetomidine, Then Placebo
This arm will enroll healthy control subjects, who will have an acclimation night followed by a night's sleep with oral dexmedetomidine and then a night's sleep with a placebo comparator.
Other: Saline Placebo
Saline Placebo
Other Names:
  • Saline
Drug: Dexmedetomidine
Oral form
Other Names:
  • Precedex
Experimental: Placebo, Then Oral Dexmedetomidine
This arm will enroll healthy control subjects, who will have an acclimation night followed by a night's sleep with a placebo comparator and then a night's sleep with oral dexmedetomidine .
Other: Saline Placebo
Saline Placebo
Other Names:
  • Saline
Drug: Dexmedetomidine
Oral form
Other Names:
  • Precedex

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
Hemodynamic Stability (Phase I)
Time Frame: Active study night, visit 3 or 4
Number of participants with (1) systolic blood pressure (SBP) < 60 mmHg, diastolic blood pressure (DBP) < 40 mmHg or decrease of SBP by ≥ 50 % from the baseline which is sustained over two consecutive minutes, (2) hypertension: SBP > 180 mmHg, DBP > 100 mmHg, or increase of SBP by ≥ 50 % from the baseline which is sustained over two minutes and, (3) bradycardia: heart rate (HR) < 40 bpm or decrease by ≥ 50 % from the baseline sustained over two consecutive minutes.
Active study night, visit 3 or 4
Polysomnography Sleep Quality (Phase II).
Time Frame: Active study night, visit 3 or 4
Number of participants who had EEG features of natural sleep. Relative quantities of spindles and k-complexes were used to assess approximation to natural sleep.
Active study night, visit 3 or 4

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
Performance on the Psychomotor Vigilance Task (Phase II)
Time Frame: Active study night, visit 3 or 4
The number of responses that were longer than 400 milliseconds (lapse 400).
Active study night, visit 3 or 4
Performance on the Motor Sequence Task (Phase II)
Time Frame: Active study night, visit 3 or 4
Number of participants with improved MST score after sleeping.
Active study night, visit 3 or 4
Subjective Sleep Quality (Phase II)
Time Frame: Active study night, visit 3 or 4
Self-reported sleep latency.
Active study night, visit 3 or 4

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.
Massachusetts General Hospital

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)

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.
October 1, 2016

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.
June 1, 2018

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.
June 1, 2018

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).
June 13, 2016

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.
June 27, 2016

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.
June 29, 2016

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.
October 2, 2019

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.
October 1, 2019

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.
October 1, 2019

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.
  • 2016P000269

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

UNDECIDED

IPD Plan Description

We are undecided.

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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