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Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE)Phase 2RapamuneNCT00779194

Prospective Study of Rapamycin for the Treatment of SLE

A Phase 2 study testing Rapamycin in people with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE), run by State University of New York - Upstate Medical University 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

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease of unknown origin. It involves multiple organs including the joints, skin, kidneys and central nervous system. The disease process is caused by a dysfunction of the immune system. Read more about this study

Who is it for?
Ages 18 years and olderHealthy volunteers can take part
Conditions the study is for
Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE)
What is being tested?
Rapamycin
Could I receive a placebo?
No, everyone receives an active treatment
How many people
99 participants
Where
1 siteUnited States
Study dates
Oct 2008to 16 Dec 2015
Phase
Phase 2
Are there results?
Yes, posted in the registrySummary in the doctors' view

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
  • Healthy volunteers accepted
  • Adult, Older adult

Who may be able to join

  • For SLE Subjects:
  • SLE patients who exhibit ongoing disease activity by SLEDAI greater or equal to 4.
  • SLE patients whose disease activity is controlled by administration of corticosteroids, most commonly, at least 10 mg/day of prednisone.
  • 18 years of age or older.
  • Updated vaccinations prior to study entry.
  • Use of effective contraception for male patients before, during and up to 12 weeks after sirolimus therapy.
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  • For Healthy Control Subjects:
  • 18 years of age or older
  • Must be matched with one of the SLE patients enrolled in the study by age, gender and ethnic origin
  • Must not have any acute or chronic illness.

Who cannot join

  • For SLE Subjects:
  • Patients who are pregnant.
  • Patients with allergy or intolerance to sirolimus.
  • Patients with life-threatening manifestations of SLE.
  • Patients with proteinuria exceeding 500 mg/24 h or urine protein/creatine ratio >0.5.
  • Patients with total cholesterol > 300 mg/dl or triglyceride > 400 mg.dl will be excluded.
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  • Patients with acute infection requiring antibiotics.
  • Patients on sirolimus who develop infections and require intravenous antibiotics and fail to show clinical improvement in 5 days.
  • Patients concurrently undergoing B cell-depleting therapy, cyclophosphamide, cyclosporine, and tacrolimus.
  • Patients who have received investigational biologic B-cell depleting products within one year of study initiation.
  • Patients with a history of chronic viral infections (e.g., HIV, hepatitis B, hepatitis C) or with a history of a malignancy (except non-melanoma skin cancer).
  • Due to interference with sirolimus metabolism, subjects will not be allowed to receive concomitant rifampin, ketoconazole,voriconazole, itraconazole, erythromycin, or clarithromycin during the study.
  • Patients with any type of interstitial lung disease.
  • For Healthy control Subjects:
  • Subjects who are pregnant.
  • Subjects with any acute or chronic illness.

Trial locations and contacts

1 site in 1 country.

United States1 site
  • SUNY Upstate Medical University

    Syracuse, New York, 13210

Other trials in United States

About this study

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease of unknown origin. It involves multiple organs including the joints, skin, kidneys and central nervous system. The disease process is caused by a dysfunction of the immune system. The drugs currently used for the treatment of SLE are only partially effective and carry significant risks for side-effects. Patients that were resistant or intolerant to conventional medication have been effectively treated with Rapamycin and were able to decrease the amount of prednisone they needed.

The purpose of this study is to prospectively determine the therapeutic efficacy and mechanism of action of Rapamune in patients with SLE. Healthy subjects not receiving Rapamune will be asked to donate blood to serve as controls only for immunobiological outcomes.

As part of the research effort to understand the reason for the variations in the effects of treatment drugs by different individuals, a sub-study of the DNA makeup of subjects enrolled in the trial will also be done. The purpose of the sub-study is to possibly determine whether different responses to the drugs used to treat SLE have a correlation with the differences in the genetic makeup of the subjects.

Read the detailed description

43 SLE subjects and 56 healthy controls are being recruited. The study will last 1 year with 9 study visits from day 0 to day 360. The healthy controls only need to donate blood once.

The study drug, sirolimus, is taken by mouth at a starting dose of 2mg/day. The dose is adjusted to achieve blood levels in the range of 6-15 ng/ml (the levels found to be effective for preventing organ rejections).

Blood samples are obtained before taking sirolimus, every two weeks for the first month, then every three months until 1 year, and then three months later to check the effect of discontinuing rapamycin. Each SLE subject will be asked to provide up to 100 ml (20 teaspoons) of blood at each visit. The first 6 visits will take place within 3 months and the remaining 3 visits every 3 months.

Routine laboratory work will be performed. Part of the blood drawn will be used for research and part will be used for routine lab work as part of standard of care.

The non-routine laboratory studies include:

  1. Assessment of mitochondrial function in intact T cells
  2. Analysis of mTOR activity, FKBP12 expression, and global gene expression in lupus T cells.
  3. Predictors of therapeutic efficacy of sirolimus in SLE.

The study drug levels will be checked at every visit. The non-routine laboratory studies will be performed at Visits 0 and 8 for SLE subjects and at Visit 0 for the healthy control subjects.

Healthy control subjects will be matched by age (a decade or less), gender, and ethnic origin. They will be recruited and analyzed only for immunobiological outcomes on the same day as lupus subjects.

All subjects will sign an informed consent at visit 0. There is a separate informed consent for the main study, one for the SLE subjects and one for the Healthy Controls. The same subjects can participate in the genetic sub-study. They must sign another informed consent for the genetic sub-study, one for the SLE subjects and one for the Healthy Controls. There is no need for additional blood drawing since part of the blood drawn for the main study can be used for the genetic sub-study.

Being tested
Rapamycin
Medical subject headings
Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic

What participants receive

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

  • RapamycinDrug

    Also called Rapamune, Sirolimus

    Rapamycin, is given to this group at a starting dose of 2 mg/day.

Study groups in NCT00779194
Study groupRoleWhat they receive
SLE subjectsExperimentalSLE subjects receiving the study drug, Rapamune.
Receives: Drug: Rapamycin

What is being measured

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

  1. Reduction of the Disease Activity as Measured by SLEDAI and BILAG Scores.

    The Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Disease Activity Index (SLEDAI) and The British Isles Lupus Assessment Group (BILAG) are clinical tools for assessing disease activity in lupus erythematosus patients. These indices play a central role as core determinants in SLE Responder Index.

    SLEDAI, comprising 24 items, quantifies disease activity on a scale of 0 to 105. Higher scores indicate more severe disease activity, reflecting cumulative impact of clinical and laboratory variables.

    BILAG, a comprehensive assessment, encompasses 97 items organized into 9 organ domains. The scoring ranges from A to E:

    A: No activity B: Mild activity C: Moderate activity D: Severe activity E: Very severe activity Total BILAG score is sum of individual item scores across all domains, with a potential range from 0 (if all items are graded as A, denoting no activity) to 97 (if all items are graded as E, signifying very severe activity). A lower total BILAG score indicates less severe disease activity.

    Measured: 1 year

Secondary outcomes (1)
  1. Decrease of the Amount of Prednisone Needed to Control Disease Activity in SLE Patients.

    Secondary endpoints were prednisone dose required to control disease activity.

    The average daily dosage of prednisone that was employed to control disease activity was diminished from 24.3±4.7 mg/day upon enrollment at visit 1 to 7.2±2.3 mg/day upon termination of the 12-month treatment period at visit 6.

    Measured: 1 year

Timeline

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

  1. First posted24 Oct 2008 (estimated)
  2. Study startOct 2008
  3. Primary completionDec 2015
  4. Study completion16 Dec 2015

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 2
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Not applicable
Intervention model
Single group
Masking
None (open label)
Enrolment
99 participants (actual)
IDs, dates and publications
ClinicalTrials.gov ID
NCT00779194
Sponsor's protocol ID
IRB#5658
Acronym
Rapamune
Status last verified
May 2024
First submitted
23 Oct 2008
Last updated
12 Jun 2024
Data monitoring committee
Yes
FDA-regulated drug
Yes

Publications

  • Lai ZW, Kelly R, Winans T, Marchena I, Shadakshari A, Yu J, Dawood M, Garcia R, Tily H, Francis L, Faraone SV, Phillips PE, Perl A. Sirolimus in patients with clinically active systemic lupus erythematosus resistant to, or intolerant of, conventional medications: a single-arm, open-label, phase 1/2 trial. Lancet. 2018 Mar 24;391(10126):1186-1196. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(18)30485-9. Epub 2018 Mar 15.

    PubMed 29551338

Questions about this trial

What is this clinical trial studying?

A Phase 2 study testing Rapamycin in people with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE), run by State University of New York - Upstate Medical University 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 10 inclusion and 16 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 12 Jun 2024. 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 2 studies give the treatment to a larger group to see whether it has the intended effect and to keep checking safety.

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

Are results available for this study?

Yes. Results are posted in the registry (first posted 12 Jun 2024). A summary is in the For doctors view, and the full results are on ClinicalTrials.gov.

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?

Reduction of the Disease Activity as Measured by SLEDAI and BILAG Scores. (time frame: 1 year). 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 NCT00779194, which also lists 1 linked publication.

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 12 Jun 2024.

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