Interleukin-1 Blockade In Recently Decompensated Heart Failure - 2 (REDHART2)

The Effects of Interleukin-1 Blockade On Exercise Capacity In Patients With Recently Decompensated Systolic Heart Failure

REDHART2 is a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial to determine the effects of Anakinra on peak aerobic exercise capacity measured with a cardiopulmonary test after 24 weeks in patients with recently decompensated systolic heart failure and increased systemic inflammation.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Inflammation; Heart Failure, Systolic
• Intervention / Treatment: Drug: Anakinra; Drug: Placebo

Detailed Description

The REDHART2 (REcently Decompensated Heart failure Anakinra Response 2 Trial) study is a phase II clinical trial of anakinra or placebo to determine improvement in aerobic exercise capacity (by measuring maximal oxygen uptake (VO2)) in patients with recently decompensated systolic heart failure (HF). The recently completed pilot REDHART study showed anakinra treatment for 12 weeks led to a significant improvement in peak aerobic exercise capacity, whereas anakinra treatment for 2 weeks did not, and no significant changes were seen in placebo. The REDHART2 study is designed to expand and confirm the beneficial effect of sustained anakinra treatment (24 weeks) on peak VO2, and to explore the potential effect size on hospital readmissions for HF. The rationale of Interleukin-1 (IL-1) blockade with anakinra in heart failure stems from the evidence of a) reduced adverse cardiac remodeling and heart failure in animal models of acute myocardial infarction (AMI); b) reduced incidence of heart failure in patients with ST-segment elevation AMI; c) enhanced IL-1 activity in patients with heart failure, d) quenching of the acute inflammatory response in patients with acute decompensated heart failure, e) direct cardiodepressant effects of IL-1 in animal models, f) improved exercise capacity in pilot studies including patients with stable systolic heart failure, stable diastolic heart failure, and, recently decompensated systolic heart failure in the pilot REDHART study. Patients will be randomized 2:1 to active treatment, such that patients will be twice as likely to receive anakinra versus placebo.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 102
• Phase: Phase 2

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Virginia
    • Richmond, Virginia, United States, 23298
      • Virginia Commonwealth University

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 21 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

All 6 criteria need to be met for enrollment of the patient in the study

1. Primary diagnosis for hospitalization is decompensated heart failure established as the finding at admission of both conditions listed below:

   • dyspnea or respiratory distress or tachypnea at rest or with minimal exertion;
   • evidence of elevated cardiac filling pressure or pulmonary congestion (at least one of the conditions must be met):
   • pulmonary congestion/edema at physical exam OR chest XRay;
   • plasma BNP levels ≥200 pg/mL;
   • invasive measurement of left ventricular end-diastolic pressure >18 mmHg or of pulmonary artery occluding pressure (wedge) >16 mmHg.
2. The patient has a prior documentation of impaired left ventricular systolic function (ejection fraction ≤40%) at most recent assessment by any imaging modality (within 12 months).

3. The patient is now clinically stable, euvolemic, and meets standard criteria for hospital discharge as documented by all the 3 conditions listed below:

   • absence of dyspnea or pulmonary congestion/distress at rest;
   • absence of pitting edema in the lower extremities, or in any other region;
   • stable hemodynamic parameters (blood pressure, heart rate).
4. The patient is of age ≥21 years old, and is willing and able to provide written informed consent.
5. The patient is willing and able to comply with the protocol (i.e., self-administration, or exercise test).
6. The patient has screening high sensitivity plasma C-reactive protein levels (hsCRP) >2 mg/L.

Exclusion Criteria:

Subjects will not be eligible if they meet any of the following 15 exclusion criteria.

1. The primary diagnosis for admission is NOT decompensated heart failure, including diagnosis of acute coronary syndromes, hypertensive urgency/emergency, tachy- or brady-arrhythmias.
2. Concomitant clinically significant comorbidities that would interfere with the execution or interpretation of the study including but not limited to acute coronary syndromes, uncontrolled hypertension or orthostatic hypotension, tachy- or brady-arrhythmias, acute or chronic pulmonary disease or neuromuscular disorders affecting respiration.
3. Recent (previous 3 months) or planned resynchronization therapy (CRT), or valve surgeries.
4. Previous or planned implantation of left ventricular assist devices or heart transplant.
5. Chronic use of intravenous inotropes.
6. Recent (<14 days) use of immunosuppressive or anti-inflammatory drugs (including oral corticosteroids at a dose of prednisone equivalent of 0.5 mg/kg/day but not including inhaled or low dose oral corticosteroids or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs).
7. Chronic inflammatory disorder (including but not limited to rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus).
8. Active infection (of any type), including chronic/recurrent infectious disease (i.e. HBV, HCV, and HIV/AIDS) - but excluding HCV+ with undetectable plasma RNA.
9. Active malignancy - excluding carcinoma in situ [any location] or localized non-melanoma skin cancer.
10. Any comorbidity limiting survival or ability to complete the study.
11. Stage V kidney disease or on renal-replacement therapy.
12. Neutropenia (<1,500/mm3 or <1,000/mm3 in African-American patients).
13. Pregnancy.
14. Angina, hypertension, arrhythmias, electrocardiograph (ECG) changes, or other non-cardiac limitations (i.e., peak respiratory exchange ratio VCO2/VO2 [RER]<1.0, reflecting sub-maximal test) that limit maximum exertion during CPX obtained during the baseline testing.
15. Hypersensitivity to Kineret or to E. coli derived products. 16) Evidence of COVID19 within the last 60 days or recent (21 days) exposure to close personal contact.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

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

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: anakinra; Anakinra subcutaneous injection, 100 mg daily for 24 weeks	Drug: Anakinra; 100 mg subcutaneous injection, daily for 24 weeks
Placebo Comparator: placebo; Placebo subcutaneous injection, daily for 24 weeks	Drug: Placebo; subcutaneous injection, daily for 24 weeks

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Changes in Peak Oxygen Consumption (VO2)	changes in peak oxygen consumption (VO2) after 24 weeks of treatment	baseline - 24 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
changes in peak VO2 at earlier endpoints	changes in peak VO2 at earlier endpoints (6 and 12 weeks)	baseline - 6 weeks and baseline - 12 weeks
echocardiography assessments	evaluation of heart function by standard echocardiography assessments at 24 weeks	baseline - 24 weeks
hemodynamic assessments	estimates of arterial elastance at 6, 12 and 24 weeks	baseline - 24 weeks
Quality of Life Assessments	Duke Activity Status Index will be administered at 6, 12 and 24 weeks to provide patient perception of changes. Responses are yes or no, with yes responses corresponding to better clinical condition.	baseline - 24 weeks
Biomarker - high sensitivity C-reactive protein (CRP)	The change in blood levels of CRP will be measured from baseline to 24 weeks.	baseline - 24 weeks
Biomarker - N-terminal pro b-type Natriuretic Peptide (NT-proBNP)	The change in blood levels of NT-proBNP will be measured from baseline to 24 weeks.	baseline - 24 weeks
Clinical Outcome - cardiac death	Instances of cardiac death during the study will be recorded	baseline - 24 weeks
Clinical Outcome - hospitalization for heart failure	Instances of hospitalization for heart failure during the study will be recorded	baseline - 24 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Virginia Commonwealth University
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Benjamin Van Tassell, PharmD, Virginia Commonwealth University

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Van Tassell B, Mihalick V, Thomas G, Marawan A, Talasaz AH, Lu J, Kang L, Ladd A, Damonte JI, Dixon DL, Markley R, Turlington J, Federmann E, Del Buono MG, Biondi-Zoccai G, Canada JM, Arena R, Abbate A. Rationale and design of interleukin-1 blockade in recently decompensated heart failure (REDHART2): a randomized, double blind, placebo controlled, single center, phase 2 study. J Transl Med. 2022 Jun 15;20(1):270. doi: 10.1186/s12967-022-03466-9.
• Sedhai YR, Patel NK, Mihalick V, Talasaz A, Thomas G, Denlinger BL, Damonte JI, Del Buono MG, Federmann E, Hardin M, Ibe I, Harmon M, Van Tassell B, Abbate A. Heart failure clinical trial enrollment at a rural satellite hospital. Contemp Clin Trials. 2022 Apr;115:106731. doi: 10.1016/j.cct.2022.106731. Epub 2022 Mar 11.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): January 4, 2019
• Primary Completion (Actual): July 22, 2024
• Study Completion (Actual): July 22, 2024

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: January 2, 2019
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 4, 2019
• First Posted (Actual): January 8, 2019

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): August 6, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: July 17, 2025
• Last Verified: July 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: exercise capacity; heart failure; inflammation; anakinra
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Cardiovascular Diseases; Pathologic Processes; Heart Diseases; Heart Murmurs; Heart Failure; Inflammation; Systolic Murmurs; Heart Failure, Systolic; Antirheumatic Agents; Interleukin 1 Receptor Antagonist Protein
• Other Study ID Numbers: REDHART2 HM20014686

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