Clinical Trial: Neuroprotection by Cannabinoids in Huntington's Disease

Study Status: Completed
Recruit Status: Completed
Study Type: Interventional

Official Title: A Double Blind, Randomized, Cross Over, Placebo Controlled Phase 2 Clinical Trial to Asses Neuroprotection by Cannabinoids in Huntington's Disease

Brief Summary:

Huntington's disease (HD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder, related to an abnormal expansion of CAG triplets in the huntingtin gene, characterized by motor, cognitive and behavioral abnormalities, without known effective symptomatic treatment and without known disease slowing strategy. The most severe neuropathological lesions observed in HD take place in the striatum, one brain area important in motor control and rich in cannabinoid receptors (CBR). CBR are subdivided in two classes: CB1R are located in neurons and play a role in neuronal function; CB2R in brain are located mostly in microglia and modulate neuroinflammation.

CBR disappear early in the course of HD, before there is a massive drop out of cells in the striatum. Cannabinoid transmission is also an early event in brains of animal models of HD. In R6/2 mice, which carry large CAG expansions and develop an early and severe HD phenotype the suppression of the CB1R gene further accelerate the development of a severe clinical syndrome and the characteristic brain inclusions and abnormalities of synaptic density. R6/2 treated mice treated with cannabinoids improve their clinical phenotype, their brain lesions, the synaptic density and the levels of BNDF, a neurotrophic factor which enhances survival and resistance of striatal neurons.

Preliminary studies of cannabinoids in patients with HD have shown that these compounds are safe in these patients. Those studies, however, did not show efficacy because 1) they were underpowered from the statistical point of view, 2) were performed with isolated pure cannabinoids, instead of the more physiological stimulation with a mixture of compounds, and 3) they did use insensitive clinical parameters instead of sensitive end points, such as pathogenically important biomarkers.

  • Serious Adverse Events reported [ Time Frame: 8 months ]
  • Changes in the UHDRs Score [ Time Frame: On week 4 and 12 of each period ]
    UHDRS scale scores from the following perspectives: motor, cognitive, psychiatric and functional.


    • Original Primary Outcome: Same as current

    Current Secondary Outcome:

    • Changes in the BDNF levels (Brain-derived Neurotrophic Factor), oxidative stress (due to mitochondrial dysfunction) and proinflammatory cytokines in plasma [ Time Frame: Basal and on week 4 and 12 of each period ]
    • Changes in the BDNF levels (Brain-derived Neurotrophic Factor), oxidative stress (due to mitochondrial dysfunction) and proinflammatory cytokines in cerebrospinal fluid. [ Time Frame: On week 12 of each period ]


    Original Secondary Outcome:

    • Changes in the BDNF levels (Brain-derived Neurotrophic Factor), oxidative stress (due to mithocondrial dysfunction) and proinflamatory citokines in plasma [ Time Frame: Basal and on week 4 and 12 of each period ]
    • Changes in the BDNF levels (Brain-derived Neurotrophic Factor), oxidative stress (due to mithocondrial dysfunction) and proinflamatory citokines in cerebrospinal fluid. [ Time Frame: On week 12 of each period ]


    Information By: Fundacion para la Investigacion Biomedica del Hospital Universitario Ramon y Cajal

    Dates:
    Date Received: December 29, 2011
    Date Started: September 2011
    Date Completion:
    Last Updated: January 31, 2013
    Last Verified: January 2013