A Phase I Dose Escalation Study of Synthetic Hypericin in HIV-Infected Patients With Less Than 300 CD4 Lymphocytes

October 26, 2021 updated by: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)

To determine the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) of hypericin, to define the types of toxicities that may be observed, and to determine what doses of the drug are associated with improvements in virological and immunological surrogate markers of HIV infection. To determine the bioavailability of synthetic hypericin given in 2 percent benzyl alcohol solution.

Hypericin is unlike other drugs presently being used to treat AIDS patients. Hypericin shows anti-HIV activity in test tube experiments.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Hypericin is unlike other drugs presently being used to treat AIDS patients. Hypericin shows anti-HIV activity in test tube experiments.

Each group of eight patients receives a given dose of hypericin by intravenous infusion. Doses are given three times per week for 8 weeks. When all eight patients at a dose level have been entered and four of the eight patients have completed 3 weeks of therapy without evidence of dose-limiting toxicity, additional patients may begin to receive drug at the next dose level. Concurrently, six patients wll participate in an oral-dosing bioavailability study. NOTE: The initial study was stopped secondary to an MTD being reached.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment

32

Phase

  • 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, 02215
        • Beth Israel Deaconess - East Campus A0102 CRS
    • Minnesota
      • Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States
        • University of Minnesota, ACTU
    • New York
      • New York, New York, United States, 10016
        • NY Univ. HIV/AIDS CRS

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

Concurrent Medication:

Allowed:

  • Prophylaxis for Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (required for patients with CD4+ < 200).
  • Symptomatic treatment with analgesics, antihistamines, antiemetics, antidiarrheal agents, or other supportive therapy.
  • Short courses (< 10 days) with ketoconazole or fluconazole for oral candidiasis or acyclovir for herpes lesions.
  • Topical medications such as clotrimazole troches or nystatin suspensions.

Concurrent Treatment:

Allowed:

  • Blood transfusions.

Patients must have HIV infection with CD+4 lymphocyte count of < 300 cells/mm3.

Exclusion Criteria

Co-existing Condition:

Patients with the following conditions or symptoms are excluded.

  • Kaposi's sarcoma requiring systemic therapy.

Concurrent Medication:

Excluded:

  • Continued use of opiates or drugs known to induce photosensitivity.

Patients with the following are excluded:

  • Active or chronic opportunistic infection at time of study entry that required curative or suppressive therapy.
  • Significant liver disease, orthostatic hypotension, cardiac disease, seizure disorder, lymphoma, hypotension.

Prior Medication:

Excluded:

  • Zidovudine (AZT), dideoxyinosine (ddI), dideoxycytidine (ddC), interferon, other antiretroviral agents or immunomodulating drugs within 1 month prior to study entry. Ribavirin within 3 months of study entry.
  • Ganciclovir (DHPG), antimycobacterial drugs, MAO inhibitors, hypertension-inducing, nephrotoxic, or hepatotoxic drugs within 14 days of entry.
  • Cytotoxic chemotherapy within 1 month prior to study entry.

Active substance abuse.

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
  • Masking: NONE

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)

Collaborators

VIMRx Pharmaceuticals

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 Completion (ACTUAL)

October 1, 1994

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

November 2, 1999

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

August 30, 2001

First Posted (ESTIMATE)

August 31, 2001

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (ACTUAL)

November 3, 2021

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

October 26, 2021

Last Verified

October 1, 2021

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • ACTG 150
  • 11125 (REGISTRY: DAIDS ES Registry Number)

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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