Safety and Tolerability Study of Phenylbutyrate in Huntington's Disease (PHEND-HD)

August 14, 2012 updated by: University of Rochester

Phenylbutyrate Development for Huntington's Disease (PHEND-HD): A Multi-Center, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study With Open-Label Follow-Up to Determine the Safety and Tolerability of Phenylbutyrate in Subjects With Huntington's Disease

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the safety, tolerability and clinical impact of 15-grams daily of sodium phenylbutyrate (phenylbutyrate) in Huntington's disease and to lay the groundwork for possible subsequent trials designed to specifically address its ability to slow or halt the progression of the disease.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Huntington's disease (HD) is an autosomal dominant disorder resulting in selective loss of neurons in the striatum-an area of the brain that controls movement, balance, and walking-and other areas of the brain. The disease is characterized by progressive motor and cognitive decline. There is no cure or even plausible treatment to offset the fatal course of the disease. Therefore, any treatment that ameliorates the disease would be of enormous importance.

The purpose of this double-blind, placebo-controlled study-with open-label follow-up-is to determine the safety and tolerability of 15-grams daily of oral phenylbutyrate in people with HD. The study will enroll 60 individuals. Eligible participants will be initially randomized to receive either phenylbutyrate or the matching placebo for 4 weeks.

After the placebo-controlled phase, all participants will enter the open-label phase to receive phenylbutyrate for 12 weeks. Participants will be followed for one month off phenylbutyrate.

This combination of a short-term double-blind, placebo-controlled phase followed by a longer open-label phase will favor the primary goals of detecting toxicity and intolerability while facilitating recruitment and maximizing number of subjects on study drug.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment

60

Phase

  • Phase 2

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
    • Alabama
      • Birmingham, Alabama, United States
        • University of Alabama
    • California
      • San Diego, California, United States
        • University of California-San Diego
    • Iowa
      • Iowa City, Iowa, United States
        • University of Iowa Hospital and Clinics
    • Kansas
      • Kansas City, Kansas, United States
        • University of Kansas Medical Center
    • Maryland
      • Baltimore, Maryland, United States
        • Johns Hopkins University
    • Massachusetts
      • Boston, Massachusetts, United States
        • Massachusetts General Hospital
    • New York
      • New York, New York, United States
        • Columbia University
      • Rochester, New York, United States
        • University of Rochester

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

14 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Subjects with clinical diagnosis of HD and family history of HD or a CAG repeat expansion greater than or equal to 37
  • Subjects in stage I or II of illness (TFC greater than or equal to 7)
  • Subjects must be ambulatory and not requiring skilled nursing care
  • Age of 18 years or older
  • Women of childbearing potential (i.e., those not postmenopausal or surgically sterile) must confirm to the best of their knowledge that they are not pregnant or plan to get pregnant
  • Women of childbearing potential must have negative pregnancy test, be non-lactating and use adequate contraception methods, such as oral birth control pills plus a barrier method (i.e. condoms, diaphragm) or IUD during their participation in the study
  • Subjects currently taking psychotropic medications (including antidepressants and neuroleptics) must be on stable dosages for at least 4 weeks prior to baseline visit and should be maintained on constant dosage throughout the study
  • Subjects must be capable of providing informed consent and complying with trial procedures
  • Subjects must be able to take oral medication, a person willing and able to serve as an informant and provide information about the daily dosing of study medication

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Exposure to phenylbutyrate, valproic acid, probenecid, known HDAC inhibitors or other transcriptionally active compounds within 3 months (90 days) prior to the baseline visit
  • History of known sensitivity or intolerability to phenylbutyrate, sodium butyrate or sodium acetate
  • Existence of a known malignancy that might require treatment during the course of this study
  • Exposure to any investigational drug within 30 days of the baseline visit
  • Subjects with underlying hematologic, hepatic or renal disease; screening white blood cell (WBC) count less than 3,800/mm3, screening creatinine greater than 2.0 or alanine aminotransferase (ALT) greater than 2 times the upper limit of normal
  • Clinical evidence of unstable medical illness in the investigator's judgment
  • Clinical illness that requires use of warfarin (Coumadin)
  • Unstable psychiatric illness defined as psychosis (hallucinations or delusions) untreated major depression or plan for suicide within 90 days of the baseline visit
  • Current or history of substance (alcohol or drug) abuse within 1 year of the baseline visit
  • Pregnant women or women who are currently breast-feeding
  • History of heart failure or other conditions that might be exacerbated by sodium loading

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

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Proportion of subjects able to complete treatment (Week 16)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Secondary safety and tolerability outcomes at Weeks 1, 4, 5, 10, 16, & 20 include:
adverse events,
changes in vital signs,
and clinical lab assessments.
Secondary clinical measures at Weeks 4, 10, 16, and 20 include components of the UHDRS:
total motor,
Stroop,
independence,
& total functional capacity.
Secondary biological indicators of treatment affects at Weeks 4, 10, 16, & 20 include:
markers of neuroprotection (e.g. NAA) via MRS,
histone acetylation (levels in WBC; fetal hemoglobin levels in blood),
depletion of glutamine,
gene expression analyses,
and biochemical analyses for pharmacokinetics.

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

University of Rochester

Collaborators

Johns Hopkins University
Massachusetts General Hospital
University of California, San Diego
University of Alabama at Birmingham
Columbia University
University of Iowa
University of Kansas
HP Therapeutics Foundation

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Steven M. Hersch, MD, PhD, Co-Chair, Huntington Study Group, Massachusetts General Hospital
  • Principal Investigator: Karl Kieburtz, MD, MPH, Director, Clinical Trials Coordination Center, University of Rochester

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

August 1, 2005

Study Completion (Actual)

June 1, 2006

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

September 19, 2005

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 20, 2005

First Posted (Estimate)

September 21, 2005

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

August 15, 2012

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

August 14, 2012

Last Verified

December 1, 2007

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • R01NS45242

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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