Optimum Thiamine Intervention (OpTIn) Trial (OpTIn)

Optimum Thiamine Intervention (OpT In) for Treatment and Prevention of Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome (WKS): A Randomised Controlled Trial

Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome (WKS), once thought to be a rare condition, is now known to be common in people with nutritional deficiencies or alcohol dependence. The primary cause of WKS is thiamine deficiency, and more than 90% of cases are reported in alcohol dependent patients because alcohol dependence predisposes to severe nutritional deficiency. WKS may lead to significant, long-term brain dysfunction with severe effects on work, personal and social function. Whilst effective treatment may greatly reduce severe disability and the human and social costs of this illness, almost no evidence exists on optimal dosing regimens. This project proposes to develop quality evidence for effective treatment of WKS in an Aboriginal setting.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome
• Intervention / Treatment: Drug: Thiamine Hydrochloride

Detailed Description

Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome (WKS), once thought to be a rare condition, is now known to be common in people with nutritional deficiencies or alcohol dependence. The primary cause of WKS is thiamine deficiency, and more than 90% of cases are reported in alcohol dependent patients because alcohol dependence predisposes to severe nutritional deficiency. WKS may lead to significant, long-term brain dysfunction with severe effects on work, personal and social function. Whilst effective treatment may greatly reduce severe disability and the human and social costs of this illness, almost no evidence exists on optimal dosing regimens. This project proposes to develop quality evidence for effective treatment of WKS in an Aboriginal setting..

The need for evidence-based thiamine treatment protocols is of great clinical importance for two related reasons. First, in relation to acute symptomatic WKS, a failure to treat immediately or adequately may result in profound and often permanent cognitive and neurological disability. Secondly, the need for evidence-based treatment guidelines is greatly magnified when it is recognised that milder, subclinical WKS may be preventable with adequate thiamine treatment.

The aims of this study are to determine the optimal thiamine dose required for:

A. Treatment of acute symptomatic WKS among Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal alcohol dependent patients.

B. Reducing or preventing subclinical WKS-related brain damage in at-risk Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal alcohol-dependent patients.

Primary Hypotheses

1. Among alcohol-dependent patients with acute symptomatic WKS, higher doses of parenteral thiamine (1500mg) will lead to greater improvements in specific cognition and neurological functions than lower doses (900mg or 300mg).
2. Among alcohol-dependent patients that are at high risk for subclinical WKS-related brain damage, higher doses of parenteral thiamine (900mg) will lead to greater improvements in specific cognition and neurological functions compared to lower doses (300mg or 100mg).

Secondary Hypotheses

1. Thiamine deficient patients will show poorer performance on cognitive and neurological measures.
2. Patients with concurrent magnesium deficiency will show greater impairment at baseline.
3. Nutritional risk and alcohol frequency will correlate with thiamine pyrophosphate levels.
4. Number of previous admissions with thiamine supplementation in the past 3 months will correlate with thiamine pyrophosphate levels

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 334
• Phase: Phase 4

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Australia
  • Northern Territory
    • Alice Springs, Northern Territory, Australia, 0810
      • Alice Springs Hospital

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 65 years (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Aged range 18-65 years
• History of heavy alcohol use AUDIT-C score >4 or consumption >60mg/day or >80mg/binge

Exclusion Criteria:

• Pregnant women
• Under the age of 18 or over 65 years old
• Known pre-existing neurological or cognitive impairment unrelated to thiamine deficiency or WKS
• Renal dialysis patients
• Sedated patients in ICU

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

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

Number of Arms

6

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: Acute Symptomatic WKS- 300mg; Thiamine Hydrochloride 300mg daily (i.e. 100mg 3 times/day) for 5 days	Drug: Thiamine Hydrochloride; Administered Intravenously in 100ml bag of normal saline (0.9%) infused over 30 mins.; Other Names: Vitamin B1; Thiamine Chloride; Aneurine Hydrochloride; B Complex Vitamin
Active Comparator: Acute Symptomatic WKS - 900mg; Thiamine Hydrochloride 900mg daily (i.e. 300mg 3 times/day) for 5 days	Drug: Thiamine Hydrochloride; Administered Intravenously in 100ml bag of normal saline (0.9%) infused over 30 mins.; Other Names: Vitamin B1; Thiamine Chloride; Aneurine Hydrochloride; B Complex Vitamin
Active Comparator: Acute Symptomatic WKS - 1500mg; Thiamine Hydrochloride 1500mg daily (i.e. 500mg 3 times/day) for 5 days.	Drug: Thiamine Hydrochloride; Administered Intravenously in 100ml bag of normal saline (0.9%) infused over 30 mins.; Other Names: Vitamin B1; Thiamine Chloride; Aneurine Hydrochloride; B Complex Vitamin
Active Comparator: High-risk subclinical WKS- 100mg; Thiamine Hydrochloride 100mg once daily for 3 days.	Drug: Thiamine Hydrochloride; Administered Intravenously in 100ml bag of normal saline (0.9%) infused over 30 mins.; Other Names: Vitamin B1; Thiamine Chloride; Aneurine Hydrochloride; B Complex Vitamin
Active Comparator: High-risk subclinical WKS- 300mg; Thiamine Hydrochloride 300mg (i.e. 100mg 3 time/day) for 3 days	Drug: Thiamine Hydrochloride; Administered Intravenously in 100ml bag of normal saline (0.9%) infused over 30 mins.; Other Names: Vitamin B1; Thiamine Chloride; Aneurine Hydrochloride; B Complex Vitamin
Active Comparator: High-risk subclinical WKS - 900mg; Thiamine Hydrochloride 900mg daily (i.e. 300mg 3 times/day) for 3 days.	Drug: Thiamine Hydrochloride; Administered Intravenously in 100ml bag of normal saline (0.9%) infused over 30 mins.; Other Names: Vitamin B1; Thiamine Chloride; Aneurine Hydrochloride; B Complex Vitamin

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Standardised Cognitive assessment - RUDAS	Evaluate differences in cognitive outcomes among acute symptomatic WKS patients under three parenteral thiamine treatment conditions (300mg/day for 5 days, versus 900mg/day for 5 days, versus 1500mg/day for 5 days); and among patients at high risk of subclinical WKS-related brain damage under three parenteral thiamine treatment conditions (100mg/day for 3 days, versus 300mg/day for 3 days, versus 900mg/day for 3 days); using Standardised cognitive assessment - Rowland Universal Dementia Assessment Scale (RUDAS).	Days 1 and 5 for Acute symptomatic patients and Days 1 and 3 for at risk patients
Standardised Cognitive assessment - CogState	Evaluate differences in cognitive outcomes among acute symptomatic WKS patients under three parenteral thiamine treatment conditions (300mg/day for 5 days, versus 900mg/day for 5 days, versus 1500mg/day for 5 days); and among patients at high risk of subclinical WKS-related brain damage under three parenteral thiamine treatment conditions (100mg/day for 3 days, versus 300mg/day for 3 days, versus 900mg/day for 3 days); using CogState battery.	Days 1 and 5 for Acute symptomatic patients and Days 1 and 3 for at risk patients
Standardised Cognitive assessment - Story Memory Recall Test	Evaluate differences in cognitive outcomes among acute symptomatic WKS patients under three parenteral thiamine treatment conditions (300mg/day for 5 days, versus 900mg/day for 5 days, versus 1500mg/day for 5 days); and among patients at high risk of subclinical WKS-related brain damage under three parenteral thiamine treatment conditions (100mg/day for 3 days, versus 300mg/day for 3 days, versus 900mg/day for 3 days); using Story Memory Recall test	Days 1 and 5 for Acute symptomatic patients and Days 1 and 3 for at risk patients
Standardised neurological examination	Evaluate differences in neurological outcomes among acute symptomatic WKS patients under three parenteral thiamine treatment conditions (300mg/day for 5 days, versus 900mg/day for 5 days, versus 1500mg/day for 5 days);and among patients at high-risk of subclinical WKS-related brain damage under three parenteral thiamine treatment conditions (100mg/day for 3 days, versus 300mg/day for 3 days, versus 900mg/day for 3 days); Using Standardised neurological examination. Aggregated as either normal or abnormal.	Days 1 and 5 for acute symptomatic patients; Days 1 and 3 for at risk patients

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Blood thiamine levels	Correlate changes in red cell thiamine test results (blood test) with cognitive (standardised cognitive assessments score) and neurological functioning (standardised neurological examination).	Days 1 and 5 for acute symptomatic patients; days 1 and 3 for at risk patients
Magnesium levels	Examine the impact of magnesium deficiency (magnesium blood test) on thiamine treatment response (cognition as measured by standardised cognitive assessments and thiamine pyrophosphate levels as measured by blood test).	Days 1 and 5 for acute symptomatic patients; Days 1 and 3 for at risk patients
Demographic factors	Assess independent predictors of WKS including nutritional factors, substance use history and demographic factors assessed by questionnaire items including Nutritional Risk Assessment and AUDIT-C.	Day 1
Readmission	Examine the impact of patient re-admission on red cell thiamine pyrophosphate levels (blood test) and cognitive and neurological functioning (standardised cognitive and neurological assessments)	Day 1

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Menzies School of Health Research
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Kylie Dingwall, PhD, Menzies School of Health Research

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: September 1, 2014
• Primary Completion (Actual): May 30, 2019
• Study Completion (Actual): August 1, 2019

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: September 26, 2014
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 26, 2016
• First Posted (Estimate): June 2, 2016

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): August 16, 2019
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 15, 2019
• Last Verified: August 1, 2019

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Mental Health; Diet and Nutrition; Neurological
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Mental Disorders; Chemically-Induced Disorders; Pathologic Processes; Metabolic Diseases; Brain Diseases; Central Nervous System Diseases; Nervous System Diseases; Alcohol-Related Disorders; Substance-Related Disorders; Neurologic Manifestations; Neurobehavioral Manifestations; Disease; Nutrition Disorders; Avitaminosis; Deficiency Diseases; Malnutrition; Brain Diseases, Metabolic; Vitamin B Deficiency; Memory Disorders; Thiamine Deficiency; Syndrome; Wernicke Encephalopathy; Korsakoff Syndrome; Physiological Effects of Drugs; Micronutrients; Vitamin B Complex; Vitamins; Thiamine
• Other Study ID Numbers: 2014-08-27_Version2.1; ACTRN12614000327684 (Registry Identifier: ANZCTR); Project Grant GNT1057968 (Other Grant/Funding Number: NHMRC)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

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