Cont. of a Study to Evaluate Implanting Peripheral Nerve Grafts Into Subjects With Parkinson's Disease (PD) During DBS (CAPNG)

October 24, 2025 updated by: Craig van Horne, MD, PhD

Continuation of a Pilot Study to Evaluate the Safety and Feasibility of Implanting Autologous Peripheral Nerve Grafts in Subjects With Parkinson's Disease Undergoing Deep Brain Stimulation Surgery and Treatment

This pilot study is designed to follow up on a previous, preliminary study and test the long-term safety and feasibility of the implantation of autologous peripheral nerve grafts into the substantia nigra, basal forebrain, putamen, and/or STN of participants with PD undergoing deep brain stimulation (DBS) surgery. Peripheral nerve tissue contains Schwann cells which produce growth factors that have been demonstrated to support the survival and function of neurons.

Participants will serve as their own donor for the tissue, which will be implanted at the time they undergo DBS surgery.

Study Overview

Status

Active, not recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

The primary objective of this pilot study is to demonstrate safety of the approach: introducing a minor modification of a standard, FDA approved neurosurgical procedure in use for over a decade to implant autologous peripheral nerve into the central nervous system. As such, the study is designed to pose minimal risk and minimal inconvenience to the subjects. Additionally, the test paradigm is performed strategically to not interfere with the surgery or delivery of the scheduled clinical DBS therapy. The scientific basis for this study is that the implanted peripheral nerve tissue is naturally well suited to provide multiple growth factors that have been shown experimentally to support the survival and function of dopaminergic neurons. Central to this proposal is the hypothesis that the implanted tissue will physiologically deliver growth factors to restore to normal function the afflicted neurons found in PD.

The first specific aim is to assess the feasibility and safety of the combined peripheral nerve graft/DBS surgical procedure. The second specific aim is to evaluate the long term clinical safety of the peripheral nerve implant.

This pilot study will provide safety data that can be used to generate a larger phase III clinical trial. If successful, it would herald the development of a new treatment for PD in which patients are able to provide their own tissue as a source of growth factors that could arrest or reverse the ongoing cellular loss that is responsible for their devastating dysfunction.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

70

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
    • Kentucky
      • Lexington, Kentucky, United States, 40536
        • University Of Kentucky

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

40 years to 75 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Undergoing DBS of the STN or GPi
  • Between the ages of 40-75
  • Able to give informed consent
  • Show a positive response to Sinemet (carbidopa/levodopa)
  • Be able to tolerate the surgical procedure

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Any condition that would not make the subject a candidate for DBS of the STN or GPi
  • Under the age of 40 or over the age of 75
  • Unable to give informed consent
  • Female who is pregnant, lactating, or of child-bearing potential unwilling to use an adequate birth control method during the period of the study

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: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Peripheral Nerve Graft
The intervention includes the surgical implantation of autologous peripheral nerve graft into the substantia nigra, basal forebrain, putamen, and/or STN of participants with Parkinson's Disease that are undergoing Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS).
Procedure: Autologous Peripheral Nerve Graft
Implantation of Autologous Peripheral Nerve Graft into the substantia nigra, basal forebrain, putamen, and/or STN of participants with PD undergoing deep brain stimulation (DBS) surgery.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Number of Participants with Adverse Events as a Measure of Safety and Tolerability
Time Frame: 15 years
Safety and Tolerability of Nerve Graft Implantation. Adverse events will be collected in order to measure the safety and tolerability of the grafting procedure. Adverse events will be documented and compared to the known and reported adverse events of DBS of Subthalamic Nucleus (STN) or internal globus pallidus (GPi).
15 years

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
DaTscan assessment
Time Frame: 12 or 24 months
Dopamine neurodegeneration at 12 or 24 months will be assessed using DaTscan SPECT imaging and compared to scans obtained before DBS surgery.
12 or 24 months

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Craig van Horne, MD, PhD

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Craig van Horne, MD, PhD, University Of Kentucky

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 (Actual)

February 1, 2015

Primary Completion (Estimated)

September 1, 2027

Study Completion (Estimated)

September 1, 2027

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

January 12, 2015

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

February 16, 2015

First Posted (Estimated)

February 23, 2015

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimated)

October 28, 2025

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

October 24, 2025

Last Verified

October 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 14-0729-F6A

Drug and device information, study documents

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

No

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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