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Alzheimer's DiseasePhase 2LEV-ADNCT02002819

Levetiracetam for Alzheimer's Disease-Associated Network Hyperexcitability

A Phase 2 study testing levetiracetam in people with Alzheimer's Disease, run by University of Minnesota at 2 sites in United States.

Completed

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

Official record
Search all trials

Trial summary

Patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) can have seizures in addition to losing their memory and other mental functions (referred to as cognitive functions). The seizures, and other examples of overactive electrical activity in the brain that is not noticeable, contribute to the loss of cognitive function. Read more about this study

Who is it for?
Ages 45 to 80 years
Conditions the study is for
Alzheimer's Disease
What is being tested?
levetiracetam
Could I receive a placebo?
No, everyone receives an active treatment
How many people
34 participants
Where
2 sitesUnited States
Study dates
16 Oct 2014to 21 Jul 2020
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 45 to 80 years
  • All sexes
  • No healthy volunteers
  • Adult, Older adult

To be included in the trial all of the following inclusion criteria must be met:

Ability to obtain written informed consent from the patient or caregiver as a surrogate; Meets National Institute on Aging-Alzheimer's Association Workgroups criteria for probable AD dementia (McKhann et al. 2011); Age ≤ 80 years at time of screening; Willing and able caregiver who has daily contact with the subject; Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) score ≥ 18 and/or Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) < 2 at the initial screening assessment; Subjects and caregivers must be able to comply with prescribed regime of study treatment throughout the course of the study, and meet the required time commitment of four days of in-person visits; Any concurrent treatment for AD approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), such as donepezil, galantamine, or rivastigmine, and memantine, must be stable for at least 30 days prior to screening and at least 60 days prior to study day 1. Other medications (except those listed under exclusion criteria) are allowed as long as the dose is stable for 30 days prior to screening.

The following criteria are considered grounds for exclusion:

Any conditions which could account for cognitive deficits in addition to AD, including but not limited to Vitamin B12 or folate deficiency, abnormal thyroid function, posttraumatic conditions, syphilis, multiple sclerosis or another neuroinflammatory disorder, Parkinson's disease, vascular or multi-infarct dementia, Huntington's disease, normal pressure hydrocephalus, central nervous system (CNS) tumor, progressive supranuclear palsy, subdural hematoma, etc.; Previous history of a seizure disorder, excepting cases where the first seizure or detection of epileptiform activity was within 5 years of screening and the patient is not prescribed an anticonvulsant; Significant systemic medical illnesses; Use of medications likely to affect CNS functions (e.g., benzodiazepines, narcotics); Severe renal dysfunction with creatine clearance < 30 ml/min, which would affect serum LEV levels; Participation in another AD clinical trial within 3 months of Screening, or any AD clinical trial, such as a vaccine, that has potential long-term effects; Treatment with another study drug or investigational drug within 30 days of Screening; Pregnant or lactating; Any other medical condition which is determined by the investigators to potentially create an undue risk for an adverse effect; Biomarker evidence unsupportive of a diagnosis of AD.

Trial locations and contacts

2 sites in 1 country.

United States2 sites

  • University of Minnesota

    Minneapolis, Minnesota, 55455

  • UCSF

    San Francisco, California, 94158

Other trials in United States

About this study

Official title: Phase 2a Levetiracetam Trial for AD-Associated Network Hyperexcitability

Patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) can have seizures in addition to losing their memory and other mental functions (referred to as cognitive functions). The seizures, and other examples of overactive electrical activity in the brain that is not noticeable, contribute to the loss of cognitive function. Studies in animal models of AD suggest that a drug that prevents seizures called levetiracetam may reduce neuronal over-excitation and improve cognition. Based on this evidence, the investigators propose to determine if levetiracetam can be used to treat patients with AD. The investigators developed novel instruments for this population that will also be used in future large-scale clinical trials.

The current study will last for 12 weeks and will involve people with AD. Participants will be initially examined with an overnight brain wave study to assess for silent epileptic (seizure-like) activity. Presence of epileptic activity on the screening exam is not required to enter the trial. Participants will then be assigned to groups in a randomized manner. One group will receive levetiracetam for 4 weeks, then no drug for 4 weeks, and then placebo for 4 weeks. For another group, the order of treatments will be reversed. The cognitive abilities of participants will be retested every 4 weeks and compared to those at the beginning. The cognitive tests include a virtual-reality navigation test of memory and computerized tests of mental flexibility and problem solving. The participants will be monitored with a magnetoencephalogram (MEG) with simultaneous EEG (M/EEG) at each visit. M/EEG is a highly effective non-invasive method for identifying brain regions of epileptic activity. The investigators will need to recruit 36 randomized participants to test the study hypotheses. This study will take place at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and the University of Minnesota.

Read the detailed description

For a more detailed explanation of the study and what our results were, please read our publication at https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamaneurology/fullarticle/2784539

Being tested
levetiracetam
Keywords
Alzheimer's disease, AD, Early-onset AD, EOAD, Early-onset Alzheimer's, Early-onset Alzheimer's disease
Medical subject headings
Alzheimer Disease

What participants receive

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

  • levetiracetamDrug

    Also called Keppra

Study groups in NCT02002819
Study groupRoleWhat they receive
Levetiracetam-PlaceboExperimentalThis group receives levetiracetam for 4 weeks twice daily, then has a break where no treatment is given for 4 weeks, and then receives placebo for 4 weeks.
Receives: Drug: levetiracetam
Placebo-LevetiracetamExperimentalThis group receives placebo for 4 weeks twice daily, then has a break where no treatment is given for 4 weeks, and then receives levetiracetam for 4 weeks.
Receives: Drug: levetiracetam

What is being measured

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

  1. Changes in Executive Function as Measured by the NIH EXAMINER Computer Battery

    Changes in executive function were measured using the NIH EXAMINER, a 1-hour computer-based battery of various executive function tasks. The subject's performance after the study treatment will be compared with results from a baseline assessment done before the study treatment, using statistical tests to assess whether there was any significant change. The Examiner assessment consists of the following scales: antisaccade , set shifting , flanker task, dot counting, spatial 1-back, category fluency, and letter fluency. Scores for this task have an indefinite range. Higher scores however do indicate better performance. Scores for this scale were generated using item response theory. For this study, scores with SEs greater than 0.55 were classified as unreliable and excluded from analysis. Composite scores from 2 participants were excluded on this basis.The EXAMINER ranges for the participants in the study were -2.59 to 1.33.

    Measured: Difference between weeks 0-4 (Baseline) and weeks 8-12 (Treatment)

Secondary outcomes (7)

  1. Changes in Stroop Interference Naming

    Stroop Test - The Stroop Test (Stroop 1935) will be used to assess executive functions including selective attention, cognitive flexibility and processing speed. Subtasks include Stroop color naming and Stroop interference naming, and each subtask is restricted to 1 minute. The minimum score is 0 and the maximum score is 126. The higher the score the better a participant does.

    Measured: Difference between weeks 0-4 (Baseline) and weeks 8-12 (Treatment)

  2. Changes in ADAS-cog

    Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale - Cognitive Subscale (ADAS-cog) - The ADAS-cog rating instrument (Rosen et al. 1984) will be used to evaluate the global cognitive functioning. The ADAS-cog is a 70-point scale that includes an assessment of verbal memory, language, orientation, reasoning, and praxis.The score is derived from adding point values from each of its subsections. The higher your score on the ADAS-cog, the better you do.

    Measured: Difference between weeks 0-4 (Baseline) and weeks 8-12 (Treatment)

  3. Clinical Dementia Rating Sum of Boxes (CDR-SOB)

    Clinical Dementia Rating Sum of Boxes (CDR-SOB) - The CDR will be used as a global measure of dementia severity (Morris 1993). The CDR consists of questions addressed to the caregiver/informant. The lowest score one can receive is a 0 and the highest is a 3. Score is measured by getting the mean of the individual scores in each category. Lower scores equate to less dementia severity.

    Measured: Difference between weeks 0-4 (Baseline) and weeks 8-12 (Treatment)

  4. Changes in Behavior and Level of Disability - ADCS-ADL

    Alzheimer's Disease Cooperative Study Activities of Daily Living Scale (ADCS-ADL) - The ADCS-ADL rating instrument (Galasko et al. 1997) will be used to evaluate functional capacity. The ADCS-ADL is a caregiver rated questionnaire. Scores on the 24-item ADCS-ADL range from 0 to 78. A higher score indicates less severity while a lower score indicates greater severity.

    Measured: Difference between weeks 0-4 (Baseline) and weeks 8-12 (Treatment)

  5. Changes in Behavior and Level of Disability - ADCS-CGIC

    ADCS-Clinical Global Impression of Change (ADCS-CGIC) - The ADCS-CGIC is a seven-point scale that gives a global rating of change from baseline (Schneider et al. 1997). The baseline and follow up assessments are based on interviews with the subject and the informant. The ADCS-CGIC is a clinician-rated measure of: global severity at baseline scored from 1 (normal, not at all ill) to 7 (among the most extremely ill patients); and global change at follow-up scored from 1 (marked improvement) to 7 (marked worsening), where 4 indicates no change.

    Measured: Difference between weeks 0-4 (Baseline) and weeks 8-12 (Treatment)

  6. Changes in Behavior and Level of Disability - Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI)

    Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) - The NPI (Cummings et al. 1994) will be used to evaluate the severity of behavioral symptoms. The severity scale has scores ranging from 1 to 3 points (1=mild; 2=moderate; and 3=severe) and the scale for assessing caregiver distress has scores ranging from 0 to 5 points (0=no distress; 1=minimal distress; 2=mild distress; 3=moderate distress; 4=severe distress; and 5=extreme distress).

    Measured: Difference between weeks 0-4 (Baseline) and weeks 8-12 (Treatment)

  7. Changes in Epileptiform Events

    Epileptiform activity will be measured using a 1-hr resting magnetoencephalogram/electroencephalogram (M/EEG). M/EEG can detect abnormal epileptiform findings called "spikes". The M/EEG will be read by an epileptologist with specialized training to assess whether there are any spikes. If spikes are observed during the M/EEG they will be counted to determine their frequency (e.g., 5 spikes per 1 hour recording). The frequency of spikes will then be compared to baseline values from before beginning the study treatment, using statistical tests to determine if the frequency changed with treatment.

    Measured: Difference between weeks 0-4 (Baseline) and weeks 8-12 (Treatment)

Timeline

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

  1. First posted6 Dec 2013 (estimated)
  2. Study start16 Oct 2014
  3. Primary completion21 Jul 2020
  4. Study completion21 Jul 2020

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
Randomised
Intervention model
Crossover
Masking
Triple blind
Who is masked
Participant, Care provider, Investigator
Enrolment
34 participants (actual)
IDs, dates and publications
ClinicalTrials.gov ID
NCT02002819
Sponsor's protocol ID
NEUR-2017-25879
Other IDs
PCTRB-13-288476
Acronym
LEV-AD
Status last verified
Apr 2022
First submitted
25 Oct 2013
Last updated
16 May 2022
Data monitoring committee
No

Publications

  • Verret L, Mann EO, Hang GB, Barth AM, Cobos I, Ho K, Devidze N, Masliah E, Kreitzer AC, Mody I, Mucke L, Palop JJ. Inhibitory interneuron deficit links altered network activity and cognitive dysfunction in Alzheimer model. Cell. 2012 Apr 27;149(3):708-21. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2012.02.046.

    PubMed 22541439

  • Sanchez PE, Zhu L, Verret L, Vossel KA, Orr AG, Cirrito JR, Devidze N, Ho K, Yu GQ, Palop JJ, Mucke L. Levetiracetam suppresses neuronal network dysfunction and reverses synaptic and cognitive deficits in an Alzheimer's disease model. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2012 Oct 16;109(42):E2895-903. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1121081109. Epub 2012 Aug 6.

    PubMed 22869752

  • Roberson ED, Scearce-Levie K, Palop JJ, Yan F, Cheng IH, Wu T, Gerstein H, Yu GQ, Mucke L. Reducing endogenous tau ameliorates amyloid beta-induced deficits in an Alzheimer's disease mouse model. Science. 2007 May 4;316(5825):750-4. doi: 10.1126/science.1141736.

    PubMed 17478722

  • Bakker A, Krauss GL, Albert MS, Speck CL, Jones LR, Stark CE, Yassa MA, Bassett SS, Shelton AL, Gallagher M. Reduction of hippocampal hyperactivity improves cognition in amnestic mild cognitive impairment. Neuron. 2012 May 10;74(3):467-74. doi: 10.1016/j.neuron.2012.03.023.

    PubMed 22578498

  • Vossel KA, Beagle AJ, Rabinovici GD, Shu H, Lee SE, Naasan G, Hegde M, Cornes SB, Henry ML, Nelson AB, Seeley WW, Geschwind MD, Gorno-Tempini ML, Shih T, Kirsch HE, Garcia PA, Miller BL, Mucke L. Seizures and epileptiform activity in the early stages of Alzheimer disease. JAMA Neurol. 2013 Sep 1;70(9):1158-66. doi: 10.1001/jamaneurol.2013.136.

    PubMed 23835471

  • Mares P, Mikulecka A. Different effects of two N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor antagonists on seizures, spontaneous behavior, and motor performance in immature rats. Epilepsy Behav. 2009 Jan;14(1):32-9. doi: 10.1016/j.yebeh.2008.08.013. Epub 2008 Sep 30.

    PubMed 18786655

  • Molaie M, Culebras A, Miller M. Effect of interictal epileptiform discharges on nocturnal plasma prolactin concentrations in epileptic patients with complex partial seizures. Epilepsia. 1986 Nov-Dec;27(6):724-8. doi: 10.1111/j.1528-1157.1986.tb03601.x.

    PubMed 3780608

  • Rosen WG, Mohs RC, Davis KL. A new rating scale for Alzheimer's disease. Am J Psychiatry. 1984 Nov;141(11):1356-64. doi: 10.1176/ajp.141.11.1356.

    PubMed 6496779

  • Morris JC. The Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR): current version and scoring rules. Neurology. 1993 Nov;43(11):2412-4. doi: 10.1212/wnl.43.11.2412-a. No abstract available.

    PubMed 8232972

  • Cummings JL, Mega M, Gray K, Rosenberg-Thompson S, Carusi DA, Gornbein J. The Neuropsychiatric Inventory: comprehensive assessment of psychopathology in dementia. Neurology. 1994 Dec;44(12):2308-14. doi: 10.1212/wnl.44.12.2308.

    PubMed 7991117

  • Galasko D, Bennett D, Sano M, Ernesto C, Thomas R, Grundman M, Ferris S. An inventory to assess activities of daily living for clinical trials in Alzheimer's disease. The Alzheimer's Disease Cooperative Study. Alzheimer Dis Assoc Disord. 1997;11 Suppl 2:S33-9.

    PubMed 9236950

  • Schneider LS, Olin JT, Doody RS, Clark CM, Morris JC, Reisberg B, Schmitt FA, Grundman M, Thomas RG, Ferris SH. Validity and reliability of the Alzheimer's Disease Cooperative Study-Clinical Global Impression of Change. The Alzheimer's Disease Cooperative Study. Alzheimer Dis Assoc Disord. 1997;11 Suppl 2:S22-32. doi: 10.1097/00002093-199700112-00004.

    PubMed 9236949

  • Walker MP, Ayre GA, Cummings JL, Wesnes K, McKeith IG, O'Brien JT, Ballard CG. The Clinician Assessment of Fluctuation and the One Day Fluctuation Assessment Scale. Two methods to assess fluctuating confusion in dementia. Br J Psychiatry. 2000 Sep;177:252-6. doi: 10.1192/bjp.177.3.252.

    PubMed 11040887

  • Hinkley LB, Vinogradov S, Guggisberg AG, Fisher M, Findlay AM, Nagarajan SS. Clinical symptoms and alpha band resting-state functional connectivity imaging in patients with schizophrenia: implications for novel approaches to treatment. Biol Psychiatry. 2011 Dec 15;70(12):1134-42. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2011.06.029. Epub 2011 Sep 8.

    PubMed 21861988

  • Vossel K, Ranasinghe KG, Beagle AJ, La A, Ah Pook K, Castro M, Mizuiri D, Honma SM, Venkateswaran N, Koestler M, Zhang W, Mucke L, Howell MJ, Possin KL, Kramer JH, Boxer AL, Miller BL, Nagarajan SS, Kirsch HE. Effect of Levetiracetam on Cognition in Patients With Alzheimer Disease With and Without Epileptiform Activity: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Neurol. 2021 Nov 1;78(11):1345-1354. doi: 10.1001/jamaneurol.2021.3310.

    PubMed 34570177

Questions about this trial

What is this clinical trial studying?

A Phase 2 study testing levetiracetam in people with Alzheimer's Disease, run by University of Minnesota at 2 sites 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?

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 16 May 2022. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.

Where is the study taking place?

The record lists 2 sites 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 16 May 2022). 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?

Changes in Executive Function as Measured by the NIH EXAMINER Computer Battery (time frame: Difference between weeks 0-4 (Baseline) and weeks 8-12 (Treatment)). 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 NCT02002819, which also lists 16 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 16 May 2022.

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