Giant Axonal Neuropathy Natural History Study

Giant Axonal Neuropathy Clinical Trial

Official title:

Clinical Study of Giant Axonal Neuropathy

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Terminated

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT01503125
• Other study ID #: AAAI4500
• Status: Terminated
• Phase: N/A
• First received: December 29, 2011
• Last updated: January 26, 2017
• Start date: December 2011
• Est. completion date: October 2015

Study information

• Verified date: January 2017
• Source: Columbia University
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Observational

Clinical Trial Summary

Giant Axonal Neuropathy (GAN) is a devastating and rare childhood disease. Children with GAN develop increasing muscle weakness, impaired sensation, and at times mental retardation. GAN starts in infancy, leads to significant disability, and typically leads to death within the first 30 years of life. GAN is caused by a defect in the "gigaxonin" (GAN) gene, resulting in pathologically enlarged and dysfunctional nerves. Currently, there is no effective therapy. To find out what medications can help patients with GAN, the investigators have to conduct clinical trials. In this study, the investigators propose to prepare for future clinical trials and will invite GAN patients to join our research effort.

The investigators will examine them regularly to better understand their disease. The visits will include questions, a physical exam, blood drawing, a lumbar puncture, and a skin biopsy. The visits will also include tests that assess the electrical conductivity of the patients' nerves as well as a test to measure the patients' brain wave activity. In addition, the investigators will be performing tests to evaluate the patients' motor function, their vision, and thinking ability. Identifying an effective GAN treatment is very important because there is currently none. Clinical trials are the only way to decide whether a new treatment works in GAN patients or not.

With the future objective of conducting clinical trials in GAN, the proposed project has three specific aims. The first is to plan for clinical trials by developing reliable outcome measures, and establishing the infrastructure needed to carry out efficient clinical trials. The second is to further characterize the patient population from a clinical and molecular point of view, and the third aim is to utilize the information gathered in this study to further pre-clinical GAN drug development to select candidate drugs.

Description:

Giant Axonal Neuropathy (GAN) is a rare autosomal recessive neurodegenerative disorder that appears during childhood and affects both the central and peripheral nervous systems. This disorder is generally characterized by motor and sensory involvement including progressive and predominant distal clumsiness, muscle weakness, and pronounced gait disturbances. GAN is caused by various mutations in the GAN gene that encodes the protein gigaxonin. This leads to giant axonal swelling and degeneration due to substantial accumulation of neurofilaments in the axon. Currently, there is no effective therapy, with onset occurring before the age of seven, and death usually occurring between the first and third decade of life.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Terminated
• Enrollment: 13
• Est. completion date: October 2015
• Est. primary completion date: December 2014
• Accepts healthy volunteers: No
• Gender: All
• Age group: N/A and older

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

1. Clinical diagnosis of Giant Axonal Neuropathy.

2. Documentation of the presence of a mutation in the GAN gene as determined by gene sequencing from a CAP/CLIA certified laboratory or an equivalent organization.

3. Parents or if applicable subjects must give informed consent must be capable of complying with the study procedures.

4. Willing and able to comply with all protocol requirements and procedures.

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Unwilling or unable to travel to Columbia University Medical Center.

2. Unstable medical condition precluding participation.

3. Significant respiratory compromise that would interfere with safe travel to site of evaluation.

4. Having a contraindication to the MRI safety requirements, including pacemaker or other implanted electrical device, brain stimulator, some types of dental implants, aneurysm clips (metal clips on the wall of a large artery), metallic prostheses (including metal pins and rods, heart valves, and cochlear implants), implanted delivery pump, shrapnel fragments, or history of claustrophobia.

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Giant Axonal Neuropathy
• Peripheral Nervous System Diseases

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
United States	Columbia University Pediatric Neuromuscular Center	New York	New York

Sponsors (2)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
Columbia University	University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Country where clinical trial is conducted

United States, 

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Gross Motor Function Measure (GMFM)		Up to 24 months
Secondary	Nerve Conduction Study (NCS)/Motor Unit Number Estimation (MUNE)		Up to 24 months
Secondary	Somatosensory Evoked Potential (SSEP)		Up to 24 months
Secondary	Brainstem Auditory Evoked Response (BAER)		Up to 24 months
Secondary	Pulmonary Function Testing (PFT)/Forced Vital Capacity (FVC)		Up to 24 months

External Links

•   Link