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Alzheimer DiseaseSTERMEMNCT00912886

Pregnenolone Sulfate an Early Marker of the Memory Loss in Alzheimer's Disease

An observational study of Alzheimer Disease, run by Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris at 6 sites in France.

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

The steroid pregnenolone sulfate (PREGS) may be one of the factors responsible for the memory decline related to normal aging or associated with Alzheimer's disease (AD). The purpose of this study is to determine whether plasma levels of PREGS are decreased patients with at mild to moderate AD compared with AD-free… Read more about this study

Who is it for?
Ages 70 years and olderHealthy volunteers can take part
Conditions the study is for
Alzheimer Disease
How many people
90 participants
Where
6 sitesFrance
Study dates
Sep 2009to Sep 2011
Phase
Observational
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 70 years and older
  • All sexes
  • Healthy volunteers accepted
  • Older adult

Study population: * AD Patients will be recruited among the new patients from the consultations of the geriatric centres involved in the study * Controls will be recruited from the consultations, associations of aged persons or among the relatives of the patient

Who may be able to join

  • Subjects aged over 70 years who have signed informed consent for participation to the study and are affiliated to a social security regimen.
  • For patients: subjects with probable AD according to the DSM-IV criteria and the NINCDS/ADRDA criteria and with mild to moderate probable AD: MMSE score> 15.
  • For Controls: subjects without cognitive deficits on neuropsychological tests: scores of MMSE > 26 and of the 5 Word test equal to 10/10 and of the Clock Drawing test equal to 7/7.

Who cannot join

  • Guardianship
  • History of cerebrovascular disease, Parkinson's disease, other known dementia, epilepsy
  • Major depression
  • Serious sensory disorders; deficits in language \& comprehension
  • Serious heart or hepatic insufficiencies, renal or respiratory failures
  • Unstable diabetes or endocrine disorders, thyroid dysfunction, cancer, inflammatory syndrome, malnutrition
Show all 9Show fewer
  • Cognitive training during the 6 previous months
  • Medications: steroids (HRT, androgens, corticoids), anti-depressants, cholinesterase inhibitors, thyroid hormones, synthetic anti-thyroids
  • Contraindications for MRI: metallic implants \& claustrophobia

Trial locations and contacts

6 sites in 1 country.

6 sites in 1 country

France6 sites
  • Assistance publique - Hôpitaux de Paris Hôpital Bicêtre

    Le Kremlin-Bicêtre, 94275

  • Inserm Umr 788

    Le Kremlin-Bicêtre, 94276

  • AP-HP Hôpital Rothschild

    Paris, 75012

  • Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris Hôpital Broca

    Paris, 75013

  • Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris, Hôpital Pitié-Salpétrière

    Paris, 75013

  • Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris, Hôpital Paul Brousse

    Villejuif, 94800

Other trials in France

About this study

Official title: Neuroactive Steroids and Cognition in Humans: Pregnenolone Sulfate an Early Marker of the Memory Loss Associated With Alzheimer's Disease

The steroid pregnenolone sulfate (PREGS) may be one of the factors responsible for the memory decline related to normal aging or associated with Alzheimer's disease (AD). The purpose of this study is to determine whether plasma levels of PREGS are decreased patients with at mild to moderate AD compared with AD-free control subjects matched for gender and age and to see whether they are inversely correlated with the severity of memory deficits in AD patients. The hypothesis is that blood levels of PREGS are decreased with advanced age and with the stage of AD that would be positively correlated with memory deficits. Therefore PREGS could be considered as an early marker of the memory deficits in AD.

Read the detailed description

PREGS is a derivative of pregnenolone which the obligatory precursor of all steroid hormones originating from the gonads and adrenal glands. In rodents, PREGS has been demonstrated to improve memory performance in various behavioural tests. In humans, PREGS is one the most abundant circulating steroids. There are some indications about its decrease in blood during aging, and in brain samples from aged patients with AD, low concentrations of PREGS have been correlated with high levels of beta-amyloid peptide and phosphorylated tau protein. To date, a precise and rigorous evaluation of PREGS blood concentrations during aging is lacking and the relationship between these concentrations and the memory loss associated with AD has not been established.

Primary objective To show that plasma concentrations of PREGS are decreased in AD patients (" case ") compared to free-AD subjects (" controls "), matched for gender and age.

Secondary objectives

  • To show that plasma concentrations of PREGS are inversely correlated with the severity of memory deficits in AD patients.
  • To show that plasma concentrations of PREGS are correlated with the memory scores in the controls.
  • To show that plasma concentrations of PREGS decrease in the controls.
  • To search for a relationship between some of PREGS metabolites and age or the severity of memory deficits.

This is a case-control study that will comprise 200 subjects aged over 70 years, including 100 outpatients with mild to moderate AD and 100 AD-free volunteer controls matched on age and gender. These two groups will be stratified into age-sub-groups [70-74] [75-79] [80-84] [85-89] > 90 years and will include 10 men and 10 women per sub-group.

AD patients and controls will be enrolled and evaluated in the geriatric centres of 5 hospitals namely BICETRE, BROCA, PAUL BROUSSE, PITIE-SALPETRIERE and ROTHSCHILD. They will all be submitted to a clinical examination, biological analyses, cognitive tests and a brain magnetic resonance imaging scan. Blood will be collected from all subjects for steroid analysis by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, a sensitive and accurate methodology that allows simultaneous quantification of several steroids in the same individual sample. PREGS and some of its metabolites will be identified and quantified at the "Institute medical of heath" (INSERM U788).

Keywords
alzheimer, memory, neurosteroids
Medical subject headings
Alzheimer Disease

What participants receive

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

Study groups in NCT00912886
Study groupRoleWhat they receive
1: CasePatients with early and moderate AD
2: ControlsAD free volunteer-controls matched for gender and age

What is being measured

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

  1. Plasma concentrations of PREGS determined by GC-MS

    Measured: At the day of diagnostic blood collection

Secondary outcomes (2)
  1. Memory scores of the RL-RI test according to the GROBER and BUSCKE test

    Measured: At the day of blood collection

  2. Plasma concentrations of PREGS metabolites

    Measured: At the day of blood collection

Timeline

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

  1. First posted3 Jun 2009 (estimated)
  2. Study startSep 2009
  3. Primary completionSep 2011
  4. Study completionSep 2011

Resources

More details

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

Study design
Study type
Observational
Observational model
Case-control
Time perspective
Prospective
Enrolment
90 participants (actual)
IDs, dates and publications
ClinicalTrials.gov ID
NCT00912886
Sponsor's protocol ID
P071237
Acronym
STERMEM
Status last verified
Apr 2013
First submitted
2 Jun 2009
Last updated
11 Apr 2013
Results posted
No
Data monitoring committee
No

Questions about this trial

What is this clinical trial studying?

An observational study of Alzheimer Disease, run by Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris at 6 sites in France.

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 3 inclusion and 9 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 11 Apr 2013. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.

Where is the study taking place?

The record lists 6 sites in France. 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.

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?

Plasma concentrations of PREGS determined by GC-MS (time frame: At the day of diagnostic blood collection). It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.

Where can I read the original study information?
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 11 Apr 2013.

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