Evaluating Predictive Methods & Product Performance in Healthy Adults for Pediatric Patients, A Case Study: Furosemide

January 16, 2019 updated by: Yale University
Poorly absorbed medications such as furosemide are common and recent experiments suggest that improvement in absorption can occur if these types of medications are consumed with liquids such as milk. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the absorption of furosemide in normal adults when taken with bottled water, milk (Parmalat™ Whole Milk), baby formula (Similac Pro-Advance™), or Ensure Plus™. These results will be used to make models that predict how these liquids will affect drug absorption in children, potentially providing ways to improve medication absorption in children.

Study Overview

Detailed Description

Low solubility drugs are common in the pharmacopeia and it has been estimated that more than 40% of new chemical entities developed by the pharmaceutical industry are practically insoluble in water. Exploratory in vitro studies by the CDER have recently demonstrated that the solubility, and thus potentially the bioavailability, of poorly soluble drugs may be highly enhanced when administered with milk (Parmalat™ Whole Milk) or baby formula (Similac Pro-Advance™).

While the reasons for variable bioavailability of furosemide are not well characterized, the effect of gastric pH, food and dosing liquids are commonly observed on the absorption of BCS Class IV drugs. Absorption variability is much greater in children due to developmental changes in factors such as gastric fluid, blood flow to the intestine, bile acid composition/secretion, intestinal surface area and drug metabolizing enzyme and transporter abundance. Therefore, it is critical to determine the physio-chemical physiological interactions for furosemide that can explain inter-subject and inter-dosing variability. An integrated in vitro, in silico and in vivo pharmacology approach to study the effect of dosing liquids on PK and PD of furosemide is novel. Quantitative understanding of factors affecting furosemide absorption will first be evaluated using in vitro tests such as solubility, dissolution and protein binding with the dosing liquids. The physiochemical information relevant to drug absorption and elimination will be curated from the literature to build the PBPK model. Such in vitro- in vivo extrapolation (IVIVE) linked PBPK modeling approach is crucial to better characterize furosemide's variable bioavailability. Another novel aspect of this study is that we will include renal metabolism of furosemide in the PBPK modeling. While plasma concentration will be critical in determining rate and extent of furosemide absorption, the renal elimination is the primary contributor to the PD response of furosemide as delivery of drug to the luminal surface of the renal tubule is required. PBPK modeling allows extrapolation of model to special population. For example, once the model is optimized and validated to predict effect of dosing liquids on adult PK of furosemide from in vitro data, this approach can be further extrapolated to children using pediatric gut physiological parameters. This novel approach will allow prediction of furosemide PK and PD in children without conducting a clinical study in this difficult to study population.

Study Type

Interventional

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

    • Connecticut
      • New Haven, Connecticut, United States, 06510
        • Yale University

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 to 40 years (Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Age 18-40
  • 4 females and 4 males will be recruited
  • Free from known significant chronic medical illness (i.e., hypertension, diabetes, atherosclerosis, chronic kidney disease, liver disease, lupus, taking medications with known interactions with furosemide, a history of syncope/falls, or any acute illness, such as influenza, gastroenteritis, dehydration, electrolyte imbalance, or thrombosis risks).
  • Systolic Blood Pressure ≥90 mmHg at Screening Visit

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Inability to read English or give informed consent
  • Recent hospitalization within 6 months
  • Pregnant or lactating
  • Allergy or intolerance to furosemide
  • Allergy or intolerance to milk, milk products or soy
  • Inability to return for 4 consecutive weekly overnight visits at the study site
  • Female subjects with low, or borderline low blood pressure, will be evaluated carefully prior to enrollment, to ensure the safety of all subjects involved in the research 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: Basic Science
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Crossover Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: Water First
20mg furosemide administered PO with 6 oz of randomly-assigned study liquid
6 oz
6 oz
Other Names:
  • Milk
6 oz
Other Names:
  • baby formula
6 oz
Other Names:
  • Ensure
Furosemide is a loop diuretic (water pill) that prevents your body from absorbing too much salt.
Other Names:
  • Lasix
Active Comparator: Milk First
Parmalat™ Whole Milk 20mg furosemide administered PO with 6 oz of randomly-assigned study liquid
6 oz
6 oz
Other Names:
  • Milk
6 oz
Other Names:
  • baby formula
6 oz
Other Names:
  • Ensure
Furosemide is a loop diuretic (water pill) that prevents your body from absorbing too much salt.
Other Names:
  • Lasix
Active Comparator: Baby formula first
Similac Pro-Advance™ 20mg furosemide administered PO with 6 oz of randomly-assigned study liquid
6 oz
6 oz
Other Names:
  • Milk
6 oz
Other Names:
  • baby formula
6 oz
Other Names:
  • Ensure
Furosemide is a loop diuretic (water pill) that prevents your body from absorbing too much salt.
Other Names:
  • Lasix
Active Comparator: Ensure Plus first
Ensure Plus™ 20mg furosemide administered PO with 6 oz of randomly-assigned study liquid
6 oz
6 oz
Other Names:
  • Milk
6 oz
Other Names:
  • baby formula
6 oz
Other Names:
  • Ensure
Furosemide is a loop diuretic (water pill) that prevents your body from absorbing too much salt.
Other Names:
  • Lasix

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
area under the plasma concentration curve
Time Frame: 4 weeks
The primary analysis will test for overall differences in bioavailability (area under the plasma concentration curve) of furosemide between different liquids. This will be accomplished using a repeated measures ANOVA, or if the distribution is not normally distributed a Wilcoxon-matched pairs sign-rank test.
4 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
differences in the peak plasma concentration in furosemide (C-max)
Time Frame: 4 weeks
Cmax is the maximum (or peak) serum concentration that a drug achieves in a specified compartment or test area of the body after the drug has been administrated and before the administration of a second dose. It is a standard measurement in pharmacokinetics. Cmax is the opposite of Cmin, which is the minimum (or trough) concentration that a drug achieves after dosing.
4 weeks
total urinary sodium output
Time Frame: 4 weeks
collected via urine this is a standard metric of diuretic response
4 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Jeffrey Testani, MD, Yale School of Medicine

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 (Anticipated)

December 31, 2018

Primary Completion (Anticipated)

June 1, 2019

Study Completion (Anticipated)

June 1, 2019

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

March 22, 2017

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 27, 2017

First Posted (Actual)

March 28, 2017

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

January 18, 2019

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 16, 2019

Last Verified

January 1, 2019

More Information

Terms related to this study

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

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

Yes

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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