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ThalassemiaPhase 1NCT00712738

Oral Nifedipine to Treat Iron Overload

A Phase 1 study testing Nifedipine, Phlebotomy and Urinalysis in people with Thalassemia and Iron Overload, run by National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) at 1 site in United States.

Completed

Finished. The study has ended and is not enrolling. Results may be posted on the official record.

Official record
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Trial summary

This study will determine if nifedipine, a medication used to treat high blood pressure, can help treat iron overload, a condition in which the body contains too much iron. Iron overload can be caused by the body's inability to regulate iron or by medical treatments, such as multiple blood transfusions. Read more about this study

Who is it for?
Ages 18 years and older
Conditions the study is for
Thalassemia, Iron Overload, Hemochromatosis
What is being tested?
Nifedipine, Phlebotomy and Urinalysis
Type of treatment
Surgery or procedure
How many people
6 participants
Where
1 siteUnited States
Study dates
20 Jun 2008to 22 Sep 2010
Phase
Phase 1
Are there results?
None posted in the registry

Key requirements

Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.

  • Ages 18 years and older
  • All sexes
  • No healthy volunteers
  • Adult, Older adult

Who may be able to join

  • Iron overloaded subjects will have a history of iron overload that may be due to a variety of causes including genetic hemochromatosis or thalassemia or other transfusion-dependent anemias (e.g. sickle cell syndromes, aplastic anemia, ineffective erythropoiesis) or other causes. Entry into the study requires that all subjects possess at least minimal evidence of iron overload at the time of entry (defined as serum ferritin and serum transferrin saturations levels above the normal range). Among fifty (50) subjects recruited for this protocol, at least twenty (20) with significant iron overload (defined in this study as ferritin greater than 500 ng/ml and transferrin saturation greater than (50%) will be included.
  • All subjects will be of adult age (greater than or equal to 18 yrs).
  • All subjects enrolled in this protocol will have a primary physician and care in the community that is capable of managing any medical problems unrelated to the nifedipine regimen.
  • All subjects must be able to provide informed consent.

Who cannot join

  • Allergy to nifedipine.
  • Patient receiving calcium channel blocker therapy within 7 days prior to enrollment.
  • Blood transfusion within 7 days of first urine iron evaluation.
  • Pregnant or lactating women.
  • Patients with GFR less than 60 ml/min.
  • Albumin less than 3g/dl.
Show all 10Show fewer
  • Significant hemoglobinuria (greater than1+ on urinalysis).
  • Hemoglobin less than 10 g/dl
  • Uncompensated cardiac disease including decreased ejection fraction detected by echocardiogram, angina, hypotension (less than 90mmHg systolic pressure) or symptomatic arrhythmias. Documented myocardial infarction within one year prior to the study.
  • Use of tea, Vitamin C, iron chelation therapy, iron supplements, grapefruit juice, cimetidine, digitalis, quinidine, or beta-blockers (due to potential for increased serum drug levels versus cardiovascular risk) within 7 days prior to the study.

Trial locations and contacts

1 site in 1 country.

United States1 site
  • National Institutes of Health Clinical Center, 9000 Rockville Pike

    Bethesda, Maryland, 20892

Other trials in United States

About this study

Official title: A Trial of Oral Nifedipine for the Treatment of Iron Overload

This study will determine if nifedipine, a medication used to treat high blood pressure, can help treat iron overload, a condition in which the body contains too much iron. Iron overload can be caused by the body's inability to regulate iron or by medical treatments, such as multiple blood transfusions. Over time, it can cause problems with the liver, heart and glands. Treatments include reducing iron intake in the diet or removing the excess iron using medical therapies. Recently, nifedipine was found to cause iron loss in the urine of small animals. This study will see if the drug can increase the removal of iron into the urine in humans as well.

People 18 years of age and older with iron overload may be eligible for this study to undergo the following procedures:

Read more

Study Day 1

Participants come to the NIH Clinical Center for a medical history, physical examination, blood and urine tests, electrocardiogram (EKG) and echocardiogram (heart ultrasound).

Study Day 2

Participants will collect three urine samples: one is collected over 4 hours, followed by a second over 4 hours. Both of these samples are collected at NIH in the outpatient day hospital. At home, a third urine sample will be collected over 16 hours. For 1 week before the collections, participants are asked not to drink tea or eat foods high in Vitamin C or iron. They are also asked not to take any iron chelating medications.

Study Day 3

Participants repeat the same urine collections as on day 2. They collect a 4-hour urine sample at the outpatient day hospital at NIH. They will then take a 20-mg tablet of nifedipine, and remain in the clinic 4 hours for blood pressure monitoring. A second urine sample during this time. They then return home to collect the final 16-hour sample, which they bring to the clinic the following day. Again, they are instructed to avoid a diet high in vitamin C, iron rich foods, tea, and to avoid taking any iron chelating medications.

...

Read the detailed description

Iron overload is common worldwide. If left untreated, body iron overload leads to multiple organ abnormalities including hepatic, endocrine (diabetes) and cardiac failure. In patients with ineffective erythropoiesis, iron overload results from the combination of increased intestinal absorption and transfusion. Unfortunately, physiological means to remove excess iron are limited, and treatments are limited to therapeutic phlebotomy and chelation therapy. While phlebotomy is the preferred therapy for patients with hemochromatosis, therapy for anemic patients is largely limited to chelation drugs. Since those drugs are frequently inadequate, additional iron-reduction therapies are being sought. Based upon recently published data in a rodent model, the purpose of this study is to determine if nifedipine will increase iron excretion in the urine among humans with increased levels of iron. Volunteers will be given a single oral dose (20mg) of nifedipine. Iron level in collections of urine will be measured and compared before and after nifedipine to determine if there is an associated increase in urinary iron excretion.

Being tested
Nifedipine, Phlebotomy, Urinalysis, Echocardiogram, Electrocardiogram
Keywords
Nifedipine, Thalassemia, Hemochromatosis, Iron Overload, Iron Excretion
Medical subject headings
Thalassemia, Iron Overload, Hemochromatosis

What participants receive

What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.

  • NifedipineDrug

  • PhlebotomyProcedure or surgery

  • UrinalysisProcedure or surgery

  • EchocardiogramProcedure or surgery

  • ElectrocardiogramProcedure or surgery

What is being measured

The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.

  1. Evaluate nifedipine-related urinary iron excretion.

Secondary outcomes (1)
  1. Evaluate potential for nifedipine to increase urinary iron excretion among patients with iron overload.

Timeline

From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.

  1. First posted10 Jul 2008 (estimated)
  2. Study start20 Jun 2008
  3. Primary completion22 Sep 2010
  4. Study completion22 Sep 2010

Resources

More details

For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.

Study design
Study type
Interventional
Phase
Phase 1
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Non-randomised
Intervention model
Single group
Masking
None (open label)
Enrolment
6 participants (actual)
IDs, dates and publications
ClinicalTrials.gov ID
NCT00712738
Sponsor's protocol ID
080157
Other IDs
08-DK-0157
Status last verified
22 Sep 2010
First submitted
9 Jul 2008
Last updated
2 Jul 2017
Results posted
No

Publications

  • Cappellini MD, Cohen A, Piga A, Bejaoui M, Perrotta S, Agaoglu L, Aydinok Y, Kattamis A, Kilinc Y, Porter J, Capra M, Galanello R, Fattoum S, Drelichman G, Magnano C, Verissimo M, Athanassiou-Metaxa M, Giardina P, Kourakli-Symeonidis A, Janka-Schaub G, Coates T, Vermylen C, Olivieri N, Thuret I, Opitz H, Ressayre-Djaffer C, Marks P, Alberti D. A phase 3 study of deferasirox (ICL670), a once-daily oral iron chelator, in patients with beta-thalassemia. Blood. 2006 May 1;107(9):3455-62. doi: 10.1182/blood-2005-08-3430. Epub 2005 Dec 13.

    PubMed 16352812
  • Barton JC. Chelation therapy for iron overload. Curr Gastroenterol Rep. 2007 Mar;9(1):74-82. doi: 10.1007/s11894-008-0024-9.

    PubMed 17335681
  • Ludwiczek S, Theurl I, Muckenthaler MU, Jakab M, Mair SM, Theurl M, Kiss J, Paulmichl M, Hentze MW, Ritter M, Weiss G. Ca2+ channel blockers reverse iron overload by a new mechanism via divalent metal transporter-1. Nat Med. 2007 Apr;13(4):448-54. doi: 10.1038/nm1542. Epub 2007 Feb 11.

    PubMed 17293870
  • Padhani ZA, Gangwani MK, Sadaf A, Hasan B, Colan S, Alvi N, Das JK. Calcium channel blockers for preventing cardiomyopathy due to iron overload in people with transfusion-dependent beta thalassaemia. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2023 Nov 17;11(11):CD011626. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD011626.pub3.

    PubMed 37975597

Questions about this trial

What is this clinical trial studying?

A Phase 1 study testing Nifedipine, Phlebotomy and Urinalysis in people with Thalassemia and Iron Overload, run by National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) at 1 site in United States.

The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.

Who may be eligible to take part?

The sponsor lists 4 inclusion and 10 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.

Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?

The record says: finished, as of the sponsor's last update on 2 Jul 2017. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.

Where is the study taking place?

The record lists 1 site in United States. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.

What are the possible benefits and risks?

They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.

What does this phase mean?

Phase 1 studies test a treatment in a small group of people for the first time or in a new way, mainly to check safety and find the right dose.

Not every study follows the same path, and some studies (observational studies, device studies) have no phase.

Are results available for this study?

The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.

How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?

The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.

What does the primary outcome measure?

Evaluate nifedipine-related urinary iron excretion.. It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.

Where can I read the original study information?

On the ClinicalTrials.gov record for NCT00712738, which also lists 4 linked publications.

Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?

No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.

How often is this information updated?

AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 2 Jul 2017.

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