Treatment of Childhood Onset Psychiatric Disorders With Intravenous Immunoglobulin (IVIg)

March 3, 2008 updated by: National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)

Childhood Onset Psychiatric Disorders: A Placebo Controlled Double-Blind Crossover Trial of Intravenous Immunoglobulin (IVIg)

Recent research studies of early onset-obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and Tourette's syndrome have questioned whether autoimmunity could play a role in the development of these conditions. As a result, there has been an increased interest in the field of research on the potential involvement of autoimmunity in other psychiatric conditions like schizophrenia.

Autoimmune conditions occur when the normal immune system of the body begins working against itself. The immune system recognizes cells as foreign and begins to attack them.

There are several similarities between autoimmune diseases and schizophrenia. Genetics play some role in the development of both diseases. Both conditions show a similar course, and both conditions tend to show worsening of symptoms when exposed to stress.

Previous research studies have shown intravenous immunoglobulin to be safe and effective when used in neurologic diseases involving the immune system. Presently the NIMH is testing the effectiveness of IVIg in OCD and Tourette's syndrome.

Intravenous Immunoglobulin IVIg is a medication that has been used to treat diseases like Kawasaki disease, systemic juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, lupus nephritis, and idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura. The drug modifies the body's natural immune reactions.

This research study is a 13-week trial of intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) on patients suffering from childhood-onset schizophrenia, who have failed to respond to other therapies.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Recent developments in the study of early-onset obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and Tourette's syndrome have implicated an autoimmune etiology in a subset of these conditions, and renewed interest into the possibility of autoimmune pathophysiology underlying other psychiatric disorders. There are several clinical and epidemiologic similarities between autoimmune diseases and schizophrenia: genetic predisposition, but with twin concordance below 50%; waxing and waning course; exacerbation of symptoms or precipitation of relapse by psychosocial stress. However, other mixed evidence has engendered considerable debate in the literature regarding the role of immune mechanisms in schizophrenia. The clinical efficacy and safety of intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) in immune-mediated neurological diseases has been documented, and clinical studies of the efficacy of IVIg in the treatment of both Tourette's syndrome and OCD are currently ongoing at the NIMH (see protocol 92-M-0132). In this protocol, we propose a 13-week placebo-controlled double-blind crossover study of IVIg in 25 patients suffering from treatment-refractory childhood-onset schizophrenia. After the first 5 patients have completed the trial, this data will be presented to the NIMH Institutional Review Board and a decision will be made as to whether this trial should proceed.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment

10

Phase

  • Phase 3

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
    • Maryland
      • Bethesda, Maryland, United States, 20892
        • National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)

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

  • ADULT
  • OLDER_ADULT
  • CHILD

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Patients will be recruited from both professional referrals and patient advocacy sources, subject to medical and psychiatric screening.

Children and adolescents will be sought who meet DSM-III-R and DSM-IV criteria for schizophrenia, with onset of psychotic symptoms before age twelve, and who have no concurrent substance abuse disorders or other active medical conditions. In addition, they will have failed adequate trials of at least two typical neuroleptics, and not benefited from either olanzapine or clozapine.

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

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)

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

October 1, 1997

Study Completion

June 1, 2000

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

November 3, 1999

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

December 9, 2002

First Posted (ESTIMATE)

December 10, 2002

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (ESTIMATE)

March 4, 2008

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 3, 2008

Last Verified

December 1, 1999

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 980014
  • 98-M-0014

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.

Clinical Trials on Autoimmune Diseases

Clinical Trials on Intravenous immunoglobulin

Search Similar Trials

Sponsors and Collaborators

Medical Conditions

Drug Interventions

CROs by country

CROs in Morocco

Conditions

Rare Diseases

Drug Interventions

Dietary Supplements

Sponsor/Collaborators

Locations

Subscribe