L-Glutamine Therapy for Sickle Cell Anemia and Sickle ß0 Thalassemia

A Phase II, Prospective, Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled, Parallel-Group, Multicenter Study of L Glutamine Therapy for Sickle Cell Anemia and Sickle ß0-Thalassemia

The purpose of this research is to evaluate the effects of L-glutamine as a therapy for sickle cell anemia and sickle ß0-thalassemia. as evaluated by the number of occurrences of sickle cell crises.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Sickle Cell Anemia; Thalassemia
• Intervention / Treatment: Drug: L-glutamine; Drug: Placebo

Detailed Description

The primary purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of oral L-glutamine in the therapy of sickle cell anemia and sickle ß0-thalassemia.

The secondary purpose is to assess the effect of L-glutamine frequency of hospitalizations for sickle cell pain, frequency of emergency room visits for sickle cell pain; energy and appetite levels; narcotics usage.

Methodology:

By site, patients will be randomized to L-glutamine or placebo in a 1:1 ratio after a 4-week screening period. Patients will undergo 48 weeks of treatment with dosing BID orally, with dose calculated according to patient weight. Patient visits will occur every 4 weeks. After 48 weeks of treatment, dose will be tapered to zero within 3 weeks. A final evaluation visit will occur 2 weeks after last dose.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 70
• Phase: Phase 2

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • California
    • Bellflower, California, United States, 90706
      • Kaiser Permanente
    • Torrance, California, United States, 90502
      • Harbor-UCLA Medical Center
  • Georgia
    • Atlanta, Georgia, United States, 30303
      • Grady Memorial Hospital
  • New Jersey
    • New Brunswick, New Jersey, United States, 08903
      • University of Medicine and Dentistry, New Jersey
  • New York
    • Bronx, New York, United States, 10461
      • Jacobi Medical Center

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 3 years and older (Child, Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

To be eligible to participate in the study, a patient must meet all of the following inclusion criteria:

• Patient is at least five years of age.
• Patient has been diagnosed with sickle cell anemia or sickle ß0-thalassemia (documented by hemoglobin electrophoresis).
• Patient has had at least two episodes of painful crises within 12 months of the screening visit.
• If the patient has been treated with an anti-sickling agent within three months of the screening visit, the therapy must have been continuous for at least three months with the intent to continue for the next 14 months.
• Patient or the patient's legally authorized representative has given written informed consent.
• If the patient is a female of child-bearing potential, she agrees to practice a recognized form of birth control during the course of the study.

Exclusion Criteria:

If the patient meets any of the following criteria, the patient must not be enrolled:

• Patient has a significant medical condition that required hospitalization (other than sickle painful crisis) within two months of the screening visit.
• Patient has diabetes mellitus with untreated fasting blood sugar >115 mg/dL.
• Patient has prothrombin time International Normalized Ratio (INR) > 2.0.
• Patient has serum albumin < 3.0 g/dl.
• Patient has received any blood products within three weeks of the screening visit.
• Patient has a history of uncontrolled liver disease or renal insufficiency.
• Patient is pregnant or lactating.
• Patient has been treated with an experimental anti-sickling medication/treatment (except hydroxyurea) within 30 days of the screening visit.
• Patient has been treated with an experimental drug within 30 days of the screening visit.
• There are factors that would, in the judgment of the investigator, make it difficult for the patient to comply with the requirements of the study.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Quadruple

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: investigational product; L-glutamine	Drug: L-glutamine; Approximately 0.3 g/kg total daily dose of L-glutamine will be orally administered (over two doses), with a maximum total daily dose of 30 grams.; Other Names: oral L-glutamine
Placebo Comparator: placebo; maltodextrin	Drug: Placebo; Approximately 0.3 g/kg total daily dose of maltodextrin placebo will be orally administered (over two doses), with a maximum total daily dose of 30 grams.; Other Names: maltodextrin

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Number of Occurrences of Painful Sickle Cell Crises	The mean number of painful sickle crisis through week 48	From Week 0 through Week 48 (cumulative)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Frequency of Hospitalizations for Sickle Cell Pain	The mean number of hospitalizations through week 48	From Week 0 through Week 48 (cumulative)
Frequency of Emergency Room Visits for Sickle Cell Pain	The mean number of emergency room visits through week 48	From Week 0 through Week 48 (cumulative)
The Effect of Oral L-glutamine on Hematological Parameters - Hemoglobin	Patient's hemoglobin will be collected at each visit.Change from Baseline will be reported at Weeks 4, 24 and 40.	Baseline, Weeks 4, 24 and 40
The Effect of Oral L-glutamine on Hematological Parameters - Hematocrit	Patient's hematocrit will be collected at each visit. Change from Baseline will be reported at Weeks 4, 24 and 40	Baseline, Weeks 4, 24, and 40
The Effect of Oral L-glutamine on Hematological Parameters - Reticulocyte Count	Patient's reticulocyte count will be collected at each visit. Change from Baseline will be reported at Weeks 4, 24 and 40	Baseline, Weeks 0, 4, 24, 40
Number of Participants With Narcotic Usage	Analysis of narcotic usage was performed for the subset of patients with any narcotic use who completed the study. Changes in narcotic usage were determined by an independent consultant prior to database lock using morphine equivalents to determine relative use.	Week 24, Week 48
Energy Level (11-point Scale)	The patient's energy level was evaluated at each visit using an 11 point scale from 0=extremely tired to 10=extremely energetic	Collected at Week 0, 8, 16, 24, 32, 40, 48
Patient Appetite (3-point Scale)	Patient's appetite level was evaluated at each visit using a 3 point scale: above average, average and below average. The parentages of patient at each visit whose appetite level was below, normal or above average were compared using CMH test (row mean scores) controlling for study center.	Collected at Week 0, 8, 16, 24, 32, 40, 48
The Effect of Oral L-glutamine on Vital Signs - Blood Pressure	Patient's blood pressure will be collected at each visit. Change from Baseline will be reported at Weeks 4, 24, and 48	Baseline, Weeks 4, 24, and 48
The Effect of Oral L-glutamine on Vital Signs - Temperature	Patient's temperature will be collected at each visit. Change from Baseline will be reported at Weeks 4, 24, and 48	Baseline, Weeks 4, 24, and 48
The Effect of Oral L-glutamine on Vital Signs - Respiration	Respiration will be collected at each visit. Change from Baseline will be reported at Weeks 4, 24, and 48	Baseline, Weeks 4, 24, and 48
The Effect of Oral L-glutamine on Vital Signs - Pulse Rate	Patient's pulse rate will be collected at each visit, Change from Baseline will be reported at Weeks 4, 24, and 48	Baseline, Weeks 4, 24, and 48
Effect of L-glutamine on Alcohol Use	The patient's alcohol usage will be assessed at each visit. Alcohol usage will be reported at Weeks 0, 8,16, 24, 32, 40 and 48	Weeks 0, 8,16, 24, 32, 40 and 48
Effect of L-glutamine on Tobacco Use	Patient's alcohol usage will be assessed at each visit. Alcohol usage will be reported at Weeks 0, 8,16, 24, 32, 40 and 48	Weeks 0, 8,16, 24, 32, 40 and 48
The Effect of Oral L-glutamine on the Number of Days Patient's Daily Activities Are Interrupted Due to Sickle Cell Pain	Percentage of days a patient's daily activities were interrupted due to sickle pain calculated at each visit. Day's interrupted will be reported at Weeks 0, 8,16, 24, 32, 40 and 48	Weeks 0, 8,16, 24, 32, 40 and 48
The Effect of Oral L-glutamine on Subjective Quality of Life	The subjective quality of life was evaluated using the scoring of the RAND 36-Item Health Survey Questionnaire. The subjective quality of life (Physical functioning, Physical health, Emotional problems, Energy/Fatigue, Emotional well being, Social functioning, Pain, General health) will be reported at Baseline and Week 24 (or at time of discontinuation). The range for Physical functioning, Physical health, Emotional problems, Emotional well being and Social functioning is 0-100, with a high score denotes a better quality of life. For Energy/Fatigue, Pain and General health the range is 0-100, with a lower score denotes better quality of life.	Baseline and Week 24 (or at time of discontinuation)
Effect of Oral L--glutamine on Height	Height will be measured at each visit. Change from Baseline will be reported at Weeks 4, 24, and 48	Baseline, Weeks 4, 24, and 48
Effect of Oral L--glutamine on Weight	Weight will be measured at each visit. Change from Baseline will be reported at Weeks 4, 24, and 48	Baseline, Weeks 4, 24 and 48
Effect of L-glutamine on Subjective Exercise Tolerance - Minutes Patient Could Walk Without Rest	Minutes patient could walk without rest will be measured at each visit. Change from Baseline will be reported at Weeks 4, 24, and 48.	Baseline, Weeks 4, 24, and 48.
Effect of L-glutamine on Subjective Exercise Tolerance - Minutes Patient Could Run Without Rest	Minutes patient could run without rest will be measured at each visit. Change from Baseline will be reported at Weeks 4, 24, and 48.	Baseline, Weeks 4, 24, and 48.
Effect of L-glutamine on Subjective Exercise Tolerance - Distance Patient Could Walk Without Rest	Distance patient could walk without rest will be collected at each visit. Change from Baseline will be reported at Weeks 4, 24, and 48.	Baseline, Weeks 4, 24, and 48.
Effect of L-glutamine on Subjective Exercise Tolerance - Distance Patient Could Run Without Rest	Distance patient could run without rest will be collected at each visit. Change from Baseline will be reported at Weeks 4, 24, and 48.	Baseline, Weeks 4, 24, and 48.

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Emmaus Medical, Inc.
• Collaborators: FDA Office of Orphan Products Development
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Yutaka Niihara, MD, CEO, Emmaus Medical, Inc

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: March 1, 2004
• Primary Completion (Actual): July 1, 2008
• Study Completion (Actual): July 1, 2008

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: August 1, 2005
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 1, 2005
• First Posted (Estimate): August 2, 2005

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): January 29, 2021
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 11, 2021
• Last Verified: December 1, 2020

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: sickle cell disease; L-glutamine; sickle cell anemia; Sickle Cell Anemia (homozygous); Sickle ß0-Thalassemia
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Hematologic Diseases; Genetic Diseases, Inborn; Anemia, Hemolytic, Congenital; Anemia, Hemolytic; Hemoglobinopathies; Anemia; Anemia, Sickle Cell; Thalassemia
• Other Study ID Numbers: 10478

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: No