Flushing Reduction Associated With Nitrates (FRAN)

A randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial of uninterrupted transdermal nitrate therapy in 140 peri- or postmenopausal women who have frequent hot flashes. Women will be randomly assigned to uninterrupted use of transdermal nitrate therapy (participant directed dose-escalation of 0.2 to 0.6 mg/hr) or identical-appearing placebo patches for 12 weeks.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Menopausal Hot Flashes
• Intervention / Treatment: Drug: transdermal nitroglycerin; Drug: Placebo

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 141
• Phase: Phase 2

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • California
    • Oakland, California, United States, 94612
      • University of California, San Francisco
    • San Francisco, California, United States, 94115
      • University of California, San Francisco

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 40 years to 62 years (Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Women aged 40 to 62 years (consistent with the recent MSFlash hot flash network trials, and likely to maximize enrollment of highly symptomatic women)
• Postmenopausal or in the late menopausal transition. For this study, postmenopausal status will be defined by: 1) self-reported history of bilateral oophorectomy, 2) follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) levels > 20 mU/mL for those with a self-reported history of hysterectomy without bilateral oophorectomy, or 3) no self-reported history of hysterectomy or oophorectomy, but absence of menses in the past 12 months. Late menopausal transition will be defined by amenorrhea for at least 60 days in the past 12 months within the specified age group.
• Documentation of an average of 7 or more hot flashes per 24 hours as well as 4 or more moderate-to-severe hot flashes per 24 hours as recorded on a validated 7-day screening symptom diary
• Willing to refrain from initiating other treatments that are known to affect the frequency of severity hot flashes during the trial period
• Report having a current primary health care provider (such as a general practitioner, family medicine, internal medicine, or nurse practitioner providing primary care or specializing in women's health)

Exclusion Criteria:

• Current or recent use of NTG or other nitrate-containing medications (i.e., use within 1 month of screening), or intention to use nitrate-containing medication during the interventional period
• Current or recent use of medications already known to reduce the frequency or severity of hot flashes (e.g., vaginal or transdermal estrogens in the past 4 weeks; oral estrogens or progestins in the past 8 weeks; intrauterine progestin therapy in the past 8 weeks; progestin implants or estrogen alone injectable therapy in the past 3 months; estrogen pellet therapy or progestin injectable therapy in the past 6 months; clonidine, methyldopa, gabapentin, pregabalin and selective serotonin or norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs/SNRIs) in the past 1 month); or intention to use these medications during the interventional period
• Current or recent use of phosphodiesterase inhibitor medications (within 1 month of screening), or intention to use these medications during the interventional period
• Current or recent use of riociguat, a soluble guanylate cyclase stimulator medication, within 1 month of screening, or intention to use riociguat during the interventional period
• Self-reported history of hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy, aortic valve stenosis, or mitral valve stenosis (since symptoms of these conditions may be aggravated by NTG therapy)
• Self-reported history of coronary disease (since patients with coronary disease may need NTG therapy for chest pain or may be at increased risk of new coronary events in the setting of nitrate tolerance), or evidence of prior myocardial infarction on screening electrocardiogram (ECG)
• Self-reported history of diabetes or 2 or more major risk factors for coronary disease (i.e., smoking, hypertension, or hyperlipidemia with physician-recommended pharmacologic treatment)
• Evidence of tachyarrhythmias such as atrial fibrillation or flutter without adequate rate control (>110 beats/minute) on screening ECG
• Evidence of second or third-degree atrioventricular block on screening ECG
• Hypotension based on measured resting blood pressure <90/60 at baseline; or normal resting blood pressure but evidence of orthostatic hypotension with change from supine to standing position)
• Uncontrolled hypertension based on measured resting blood pressure > 180/110 at baseline
• Self-reported headaches interfering with activities of daily activities more than twice a month, or use of prescription medication to prevent or treat headache in the past month (since these may be worsened by NTG therapy)
• Known allergy to nitroglycerin or other nitrate-based medications.
• Known skin sensitivity to adhesives (which may generalize to the NTG patches)
• Unable to complete or tolerate a brief 3-day run-in period involving the lowest available dose of NTG (0.1 mg/hr)
• Currently pregnant, gave birth within the past 3 months, planning pregnancy during the study period, or unwilling to use regular barrier contraception or abstain from sexual activity to prevent pregnancy if not yet postmenopausal
• Currently breastfeeding, breastfeeding within the past 3 months, or planning to breastfeed during the study period
• Self-report heavy alcohol use (>3 drinks in a given day or >7 drinks per week) and uncomfortable or unwilling to decrease their alcohol intake during the study period.
• Unable or unwilling to provide informed consent, fill out questionnaires, or complete study visits in English
• Report other conditions that, in the judgment of the investigators, render potential participants highly unlikely to follow the protocol, including plans to move, substance abuse, significant psychiatric problems, or severe dementia.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

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

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Transdermal Nitroglycerin; Daily transdermal nitroglycerin patch, starting at 0.2 mg/hr. Dose escalation up to 0.6 mg/hr.	Drug: transdermal nitroglycerin; Study participants will be randomized to transdermal nitroglycerin patch or placebo patch. Participants will wear a study medication patch daily, for 12 weeks.
Placebo Comparator: Placebo; Daily transdermal placebo patch.	Drug: Placebo; Study participants will be randomized to transdermal nitroglycerin patch or placebo patch. Participants will wear a study medication patch daily, for 12 weeks.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change From Baseline Hot Flash Frequency	Change was calculated as the followup value minus the baseline value. Values are model generated Least Square Means for combined 5 and 12 month time points.	Repeated change from baseline to 5 and 12 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change From Baseline Hot Flash Related Daily Interference Scale (HFRDIS) Score	Change was calculated as the followup value minus the baseline value. Values are model generated Least Square Means for combined 5 and 12 month time points. Range 0-100, Higher score indicates lower quality of life	Repeated change from baseline to 5 and 12 weeks
Change From Baseline Menopause Quality of Life (MENQOL), Vasomotor Domain Score	Change was calculated as the followup value minus the baseline value. Values are model generated Least Square Means for combined 5 and 12 month time points. Range 1-8, Higher score indicates lower quality of life	Repeated change from baseline to 5 and 12 weeks
Change From Baseline in Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) Score	Change was calculated as the followup value minus the baseline value. Values are model generated Least Square Means for combined 5 and 12 month time points Range 0-21, Higher score indicates lower quality of life	Repeated change from baseline to 5 and 12 weeks
Change From Baseline Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) Score	Change was calculated as the followup value minus the baseline value. Values are model generated Least Square Means for combined 5 and 12 month time points Range 0-21, Higher score indicates lower quality of life	Repeated change from baseline to 5 and 12 weeks
Change From Baseline Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression (CES-D) Score	Change was calculated as the followup value minus the baseline value. Values are model generated Least Square Means for combined 5 and 12 month time points Range 0-60, a higher score indicates a lower quality of life.	Repeated change from baseline to 5 and 12 weeks
Change in Baseline Frequency of Moderate-to-severe Hot Flashes	Change was calculated as the followup value minus the baseline value. Values are model generated Least Square Means for combined 5 and 12 month time points	Repeated change from baseline to 5 and 12 weeks
Change in Baseline Total Hot Flash Severity Score	Change was calculated as the followup value minus the baseline value. Values are model generated Least Square Means for combined 5 and 12 month time points. The hot flash severity score is calculated as the sum of severity ratings for all hot flashes recorded on the symptom over a 7-day period (mild=1, moderate=2, severe=3), and then divided by 7 for the daily average score. Range 12-60, higher score indicates lower quality of life.	Repeated change from baseline to 5 and 12 weeks

Other Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Number of Participants With Treatment Related Severe Adverse Events Defined by Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE) Severity Grade 3 or Higher.	Number of participants with treatment related severe adverse events defined by Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE) severity grade 3 or higher.	Baseline to 12 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Alison Huang, MD
• Collaborators: National Institute on Aging (NIA)
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Alison Huang, MD, MPhil, MAS, University of California, San Francisco

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): April 24, 2017
• Primary Completion (Actual): March 8, 2022
• Study Completion (Actual): April 5, 2022

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: March 11, 2016
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 15, 2016
• First Posted (Estimate): March 21, 2016

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): May 18, 2023
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 24, 2023
• Last Verified: April 1, 2023

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Hot flash
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Skin Manifestations; Flushing; Hot Flashes; Vasodilator Agents; Nitroglycerin
• Other Study ID Numbers: 15-18472; 5R01AG050588-04 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

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

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: Yes
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No