Exercise in Multiple Sclerosis

Multiple Sclerosis Clinical Trial

Official title:

Effects of Exercise on Brain Structure and Function in Multiple Sclerosis

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Terminated

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT02716701
• Other study ID #: 4607-B
• Status: Terminated
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: January 2016
• Est. completion date: August 13, 2020

Study information

• Verified date: August 2020
• Source: University of Minnesota
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

Exercise therapy in MS patients has proven benefits on mobility, mood, motor function and quality of life. While the beneficial effects of exercise on cardiovascular and musculoskeletal function are well known, there has recently been increased focus on the positive effects of exercise on brain structure and function. The goal of this study is to determine whether exercise can promote beneficial changes in brain function in MS patients.

Description:

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a chronic, disabling neurologic disease characterized by damage to myelin and axons in the central nervous system (CNS). Current therapy for MS primarily consists of immunomodulatory drugs aimed at preventing future CNS injury; no treatments are currently available to repair existing damage, and symptomatic treatments to improve neurological function are quite limited. Rehabilitation approaches, such as exercise, have long been a staple of MS therapy. Exercise therapy in MS patients has proven benefits on mobility, mood, motor function and quality of life. While the beneficial effects of exercise on cardiovascular and musculoskeletal function are well known, there has recently been increased focus on the positive effects of exercise on brain structure and function. The overall aim of this proposal is to determine whether exercise can promote beneficial changes in brain function in MS patients. The investigator's central hypothesis is that cardiovascular exercise alters both brain structure and brain function in MS patients, and that these changes can be identified and monitored via imaging techniques that evaluate regional brain volumes and functional connectivity. When brain activity measured at one area fluctuates in a coherent manner with that recorded in a different area, those brain regions are considered to be functionally connected. Using resting-state magnetoencephalography (MEG), the investigator's laboratory has demonstrated that these patterns of correlated brain activity are abnormal in MS patients.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Terminated
• Enrollment: 40
• Est. completion date: August 13, 2020
• Est. primary completion date: August 12, 2020
• Accepts healthy volunteers: No
• Gender: All
• Age group: 18 Years to 100 Years

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• Male or female patients with a confirmed diagnosis of MS by revised McDonald criteria

• Age = 18 years

• Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) 0-6.0, inclusive.

• Able to understand the consent process, and the use of the wristband activity tracker.

• Sedentary by self-report (answers no to the question: "Do you exercise regularly?"

• Willing to make sincere effort to comply with the study objective of increasing their physical activity as much as possible (with goal of at least 100% increase) and to maintain that increased activity level for six months (if randomized to the exercise group).

Exclusion Criteria:

• Current serious medical condition which would likely limit subject's ability to achieve sustained increase in physical activity, or put them at risk for doing so in the investigators' opinion (e.g. significant cardiovascular or respiratory disease, cancer, cancer, orthopedic disease, etc)

• Subjects that have a central nervous system disorder (in addition to MS) that is not considered secondary to MS

• Subjects that have implanted metal, pacemaker, etc. that may interfere with the MEG/MRI scan or who are otherwise unable to complete the MEG/MRI scan procedure without sedation (e.g. due to claustrophobia, obesity)

• weight > 300 pounds

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Multiple Sclerosis
• Sclerosis

Intervention

Behavioral:
• Exercise Group

Other:
• Control Group

• wristband activity tracker

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
United States	VA Medical Center	Minneapolis	Minnesota

Sponsors (1)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
University of Minnesota

Country where clinical trial is conducted

United States, 

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Change from baseline in brain structure as measured by magnetic resonance imaging scans at 7 months	Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans will be done at 1 month (baseline) and 7 months after subjects begin wearing a wristband activity tracker.	7 months
Primary	Change from baseline in brain structure as measured by magnetoencephalography (MEG) scans at 7 months	MEG scans will be done at 1 month (baseline) and 7 months after subjects begin wearing a wristband activity tracker	7 months