Randomized Placebo-Controlled Crossover Trial With THC (Delta 9-Tetrahydrocannabinol) for the Treatment of Cramps in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)

February 17, 2009 updated by: Cantonal Hospital of St. Gallen
Many patients with ALS experience cramps during the course of the disease. Frequently, cramps occur as the first symptom of the disease, months before the patients notice weakness and wasting. Cramp severity varies from mild, without affecting daily activities and sleep, to disabling, where almost any voluntary muscle activity induces long standing, severely painful cramping. ALS patients who smoke herbal cannabis (marijuana) or drink hemp tea report lessening of cramps and fasciculations. Although, various medications, such as magnesium, quinine sulfate, lioresal, dantrolene, clonazepam, diphenylhydantoin and gabapentin are used for the treatment of cramps in ALS so far, no medication has been of proven benefit. However, a recent pilot study with THC in ALS showed symptomatic effects in "spasms", fasciculations, insomnia and appetite. The aim of the proposed study is to determine the tolerability, safety and efficacy of THC in the treatment of cramps in ALS. The hypothesis is that THC will lessen cramps in ALS.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

24

Phase

  • Not Applicable

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

  • Switzerland
      • St.Gallen, Switzerland, 9007
        • Kantonsspital St.Gallen

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:

  • Patients must be at least 18 years of age and have full legal capacity
  • Patients must voluntarily give written informed consent
  • Patients diagnosed with possible, probable laboratory supported, probable or definite ALS according to the revised El Escorial criteria (Brooks 2000)
  • Patients must score severity of cramps on the VAS 5 or more
  • Patients must be able to communicate and report adverse events by phone
  • Patients must have laboratory parameters within the following limits: Creatinine, Bilirubin,Transaminases less than 3x upper limit of normal
  • Patients may take any medication for the treatment of ALS (ALS -specific and -symptomatic) but may not change this medication during the study period
  • Patients must not have cannabis or cannabinoids for at least one month prior to the study and agree not to use it at all during the study. They have to have a negative urinary test for cannabinoids at baseline
  • Pre-menopausal females must provide negative pregnancy test within fourteen days before beginning of study participation and have to apply adequate (barrier) birth-control methods
  • Patients must agree not to drive a vehicle or use dangerous machines during the entire study period

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Patients who are not willing or able to sign the consent form. Doubt of investigator concerning compliance of the patient
  • Patients who have a history of failure to respond to, or had significant adverse effects from or hypersensitivity to THC or any cannabinoid
  • Patients who have significant concomitant illness(-es), or acute, uncontrolled infections, which might make evaluation of treatment and side effects difficult
  • Patients with a history of significant psychiatric disorder, explicitly of schizophrenia
  • Patients who are current drug abusers, including alcohol abusers
  • Patients with severe coronary artery disease or hemodynamically relevant ECG-documented arrhythmia
  • Pregnancy or breast feeding

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: Quadruple

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
severity of cramps
Time Frame: 2 weeks after intervention
2 weeks after intervention

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Cantonal Hospital of St. Gallen

Collaborators

ALS Association

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.

Helpful Links

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

April 1, 2005

Primary Completion (Actual)

April 1, 2008

Study Completion (Actual)

April 1, 2008

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

November 21, 2008

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

December 19, 2008

First Posted (Estimate)

December 22, 2008

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

February 19, 2009

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

February 17, 2009

Last Verified

November 1, 2008

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • THC SG

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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