Neuroprotection by Cannabinoids in Huntington's Disease

Huntington's Disease Clinical Trial

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

Status Completed

Clinical Trial 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.

The investigators propose a phase II trial with combination of cannabinoids with evaluation of safety, by the profile of adverse events, and efficacy, according to changes of important biomarkers

Clinical Trial Description

n/a

Study Design

Allocation: Randomized, Endpoint Classification: Safety Study, Intervention Model: Crossover Assignment, Masking: Double Blind (Subject, Investigator), Primary Purpose: Treatment

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Huntington Disease
• Huntington's Disease

• NCT number: NCT01502046
• Study type: Interventional
• Source: Fundacion para la Investigacion Biomedica del Hospital Universitario Ramon y Cajal
• Status: Completed
• Phase: Phase 2
• Start date: September 2011
• Completion date: June 2012