Effect of Salbutamol on Walking Capacity in Ambulatory ALS Patients

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Clinical Trial

— WALKALS  

Official title:

Effect of Salbutamol on Walking Capacity in Ambulatory ALS Patients

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Not yet recruiting

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT05860244
• Other study ID #: APHP190724
• Status: Not yet recruiting
• Phase: Phase 2
• Start date: September 2024
• Est. completion date: July 2025

Study information

• Verified date: April 2024
• Source: Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris
• Contact: Giorgia Querin, MD
• Phone: 01 42 16 58 70
• Email: g.querin[@]institut-myologie.org
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

Preclinical and clinical data strongly suggest that administration of salbutamol in ALS patients may improve walking capacity related to motor fatigue by enhancing neuromuscular transmission. Salbutamol may exert a neuroprotective effect and slow down the progression of clinical signs and symptoms. The main objective of the study is to test the efficacy of salbutamol on walking capacity in ALS patients and the secondary objective is to measure the target engagement of salbutamol on the neuromuscular junction (NMJ) at EMG (decrement of repetitive nerve stimulation in three nerves/muscle couples), as well as safety and tolerability. The exploratory objectives are to study the effect of salbutamol on fatigue scales, muscle strength, respiratory function, motor unit count, muscle and spinal MRI parameters and blood biomarkers

Description:

Based on a strong preclinical and clinical rationale the main hypothesis is that the administration of salbutamol in ALS patients may improve the walking capacity related to motor fatigue by enhancing the neuromuscular transmission. Salbutamol may also exert a neuroprotective effect and slow down the progression of clinical signs and symptoms.

To test these hypotheses, the investigator team will implement a monocentric, randomized, controlled, pilot study to evaluate the effect of salbutamol on walking capacity in ambulatory ALS patients with a total duration of 24 months and a treatment period of 6 months for each patient. The project Team will use as secondary and exploratory endpoints target engagement and efficacy up-to date biomarkers such as quantitative muscle strength evaluation, functional neuromuscular evaluation and spinal and muscle MRI. Tolerability and safety will also be studied. Salbutamol has been used for a long time and is usually well tolerated. The objective of the study is to evidence a signal of efficacy paving the way for a confirmatory phase 3 trial.

In parallel to this, the use of muscle and spinal MRI as well as of quantitative muscle strength evaluation as exploratory endpoints will pave the way to their development as biomarkers of disease progression in ALS. Thanks to the data collected in this study, the team will give proof of their accuracy, with a view to ameliorate the prognostication and monitoring of disease progression and survival, as well as to improve the understanding of the interaction between muscular and central degeneration. A further aim of this study will be to provide a proof of concept that spinal and muscle MRI can constitute a biomarker of the efficacy of investigational drugs targeting muscles.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Not yet recruiting
• Enrollment: 36
• Est. completion date: July 2025
• Est. primary completion date: July 2025
• Accepts healthy volunteers: No
• Gender: All
• Age group: 18 Years to 75 Years

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• Subjects who meet the revised El Escorial criteria for probable or definite sporadic ALS

• Adult patients between 18 and 75 years of age

• Patients who are ambulatory and able to perform the 6MWT and quantitative muscle testing at screening (ALSFRS-R-walking = 3)

• Patients able and willing to travel to the site, and, in the investigator's opinion, who are likely to attend visits for at least 6 months

• Patients who signed written informed consent

• Stable dose of riluzole for a minimum of 4 weeks prior to baseline or has not taken it for 4 weeks prior to baseline

• For child-bearing aged women, efficient contraception (cf protocol p32)

• Forced vital capacity (fVC) in a sitting position > 70 %

Exclusion Criteria:

• Patients with significant spasticity of the lower limbs interfering with walking capacity (Ashworth scale score > 2)

• Patients with fronto-temporal dementia associated with ALS

• Patients presenting respiratory insufficiency causing dyspnea during walking

• Patients taking drugs that could interfere with NMJ function (anticholinesterase …) or muscle function (steroids, statins…)

• Patients taking any forbidden drugs (see list in annex)

• Hypersensitivity to salbutamol or to excipients of the drug and placebo

• Known contraindication for the studied drug such as ischemic cardiomyopathy or risk of ischemic cardiomyopathy: history of ischemic heart disease or coronaropathy or/and significant ischemic ECG alterations at screening visit

• Any clinically significant alterations in the following biological parameters glycemia, kalemia, creatinemia and hematology in the month prior to inclusion according to local laboratory threshold (cf protocol page 33)

• Vulnerable persons defined in Articles L1121-5 to L 1121-8-1 and L1122-1-2 of the Code de la Santé Publique* (*CSP)

• Participation in another interventional trial up to 3 months before inclusion

• Patients having any relevant concomitant disease considered at risk of interfering with study procedures in the opinion of the investigator

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
• Motor Neuron Disease
• Sclerosis
• Walking Capacity

Intervention

Drug:
• Salbutamol
Salbutamol for 6 months
• Placebo
Placebo Syrup for 6 months

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
France	Hôpital Pitié Salpêtrière	Paris

Sponsors (1)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris

Country where clinical trial is conducted

France, 

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	walking capacity	6 minutes walking test distance (6MWT)	Month 6
Primary	walking capacity	6 minutes walking test distance (6MWT)	Month 3
Secondary	Target engagement:	percentage of change of the decrement at electromyography after repetitive nerve stimulation.	baseline, month 3, month 6
Secondary	functional quantitative decline description over time in ALS patients	Revised ALS Functional Rating Scale-r (ALSFRS-r) composed by 12 questions scoring from 0 to 4 with a maximal score of 48	baseline, month 3, month 6
Secondary	walking scale	Twelve items Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Walking Scale (12-MSWS) ( score: 5 to 60 ( severe difficulty)) . Walking improvement on the MSWS-12 is indicated by negative change scores.	baseline, month 3, month 6
Secondary	Fatigue and depression scale	Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS) is a 9-item scale which measures the severity of fatigue and its effect on a person's activities and lifestyle in patients with a variety of disorders. ( score : 9 (no fatigue ) to 63 (extreme fatigue)	baseline, month 3, month 6
Secondary	Respiratory assessment	Forced Vital Capacity (FVC): the maximum amount of air that a person can exhale as hard and as long as possible from the lungs after a maximum inspiration and Forced Expiratory Volume in the first second of exhalation (FEV1) : FEV1 is the most frequently used index for assessing airway obstruction, bronchoconstriction or bronchodilation	baseline, month 3, month 6
Secondary	Thigh muscle volume	bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA)	baseline, month 3, month 6
Secondary	Muscle volume	Muscle MRI in cm3	baseline, month 3, month 6
Secondary	Biomarkers of muscle damage	CPK, LDH and creatinine serum levels	baseline, month 3, month 6
Secondary	Quality of life scale	The Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Assessment Questionnaire (ALSAQ-40) ( score: 0 to 160 bad quality of life)	baseline, month 6
Secondary	Motor unit number	Motor unit count (MUNIX method)	baseline, month 6