Safety of Urate Elevation in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) — SURE-ALS2  

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Clinical Trial

Official title: Safety of Urate Elevation in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)

Status Completed

Clinical Trial Summary

This is a multi-center, 20-week study of inosine treatment.

Study Objectives and Endpoints The primary objective of the study is to determine the safety and tolerability of oral administration of inosine (administered daily) dosed to moderately elevate serum urate over 20 weeks.

The primary outcome measures will be

1. Safety, as measured by adverse events

2. Tolerability, defined as the ability of subjects to complete the entire 20-week study.

As an exploratory objective, we will test the feasibility and utility of a smartphone application for monitoring symptoms and disease progression in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

Clinical Trial Description

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal, neurodegenerative disease for which there is no cure. Multiple lines of evidence have implicated oxidative stress in the pathophysiology of ALS. Urate (uric acid) is an endogenous antioxidant system, and urate may serve as a major defense against oxidative stress. Urate has emerged as a promising neuro-protectant and therapeutic target based on convergent epidemiological, laboratory, and clinical data in multiple neurodegenerative diseases, most notably Parkinson's disease (PD). In PD, urate elevation has been pursued as a potential therapy by administration of inosine, a urate precursor that is available as an over-the-counter supplement. Administration of inosine results in a predictable elevation of urate levels and has been shown to be safe and well tolerated in PD.

Analysis of ALS databases revealed that higher urate levels are an independent predictor of slower progression and prolonged survival in ALS. However, whether elevating urate in people with ALS would result in better outcomes is unknown.

The Principal Investigator has recently concluded a Pilot Study of Inosine in ALS, which was a short, open label, single center study involving 25 subjects [NCT02288091]. The study assessed safety and feasibility of urate elevation in patients with ALS. The Principal Investigator is now pursuing a multi-center Phase II trial to assess the findings of the open label study with longer exposure time. ;

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
• Motor Neuron Disease
• Sclerosis

• NCT number: NCT03168711
• Study type: Interventional
• Source: Massachusetts General Hospital
• Status: Completed
• Phase: Phase 2
• Start date: October 1, 2017
• Completion date: January 7, 2020