Functional Neuroimaging in Fibromyalgia Patients Receiving tDCS

Chronic Pain Clinical Trial

Official title:

Study of the Brain With Optic Functional Neuroimaging in Patients With Chronic Pain Using Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Recruiting

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT01904097
• Other study ID #: 120128
• Status: Recruiting
• Phase: Phase 2
• First received: July 8, 2013
• Last updated: July 17, 2013
• Start date: March 2013
• Est. completion date: December 2014

Study information

• Verified date: July 2013
• Source: Hospital de Clinicas de Porto Alegre
• Contact: Wolnei Caumo, MD, PhD
• Phone: 51 3359 8083
• Email: caumo[@]cpovo.net
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Health authority: Brazil: National Committee of Ethics in Research
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

The purpose of this study is to evaluate effectiveness and cerebral neuronal ability to adaptation in patients with fibromyalgia who receive pregabalin and transcranial direct current stimulation.

Description:

Fibromyalgia syndrome occurs in around 2% of the population (predominantly women), and is characterized by its poor response to conventional therapies. Therapeutic approaches modulating inhibitory pathways, including pharmacologic options as pregabalin, and non pharmacological ones as transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) have been proven to be of limited utility independently. Aiming to evaluate a better understanding of the pathophysiogenic mechanisms and the effect of these treatments on neuroplasticity, this study was designed evaluating neurophysiologic, neurochemical and clinical parameters. Neurophysiologic parameters and functions to be assessed will include pain threshold, motor evoked potential, silent period, intracortical facilitation and inhibition assessed by Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) and optic functional neuroimaging. Neurochemical measurements considered will be neurotrophins (BDNF) and inflammatory mediators (TNF, IL1, IL6, IL10 and cortisol). Clinical characteristics will be assessed using validated scales capable to detect functional capacity, quality of life (WHOCOHL), catastrophism, sleep disruptions (Pittsburgh) and depressive symptoms (Beck Depression Inventory). Considering the above described hypothesis, the present randomized clinical trial with blinded patients and evaluators is proposed. It pretends to analyze short-, mid- and long-term neurobiological mechanisms triggered by the selected interventions.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Recruiting
• Enrollment: 34
• Est. completion date: December 2014
• Est. primary completion date: July 2014
• Accepts healthy volunteers: No
• Gender: Female
• Age group: 18 Years to 65 Years

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• - Diagnosis of fibromyalgia according to the American College of Rheumatology criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

• Psychiatric or neurologic disorder that unable patient to consent and follow study protocol.

• De-compensated systemic disease.

• Chronic inflammatory disease (e.g. Systemic Lupus Erythematous, Rheumatoid Arthritis).

Study Design

Allocation: Randomized, Endpoint Classification: Efficacy Study, Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment, Masking: Single Blind (Subject), Primary Purpose: Treatment

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Chronic Pain
• Fibromyalgia
• Myofascial Pain Syndromes

Intervention

Drug:
• Pregabalin
Pregabalin 150 mg per oral BID (i.e. twice per day).

Other:
• Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation
The tDCS consists of application of low intensity direct current (2 mA), with the anode placed in the dominant motor cortex (M1) and the cathode in the ipsilateral supraorbital region during 30 minutes each session, using sponge electrodes soaked with normal saline solution.
• Sham Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation
The sham tDCS consists of the same montage of the active tDCS, but the device is turned off 30 seconds after initiating stimulation (without letting the patient notice it). Rest of the montage is kept identical as the active one during the 30 minutes that the session lasts.

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
Brazil	Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre	Porto Alegre	Rio Grande do Sul

Sponsors (1)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
Hospital de Clinicas de Porto Alegre

Country where clinical trial is conducted

Brazil, 

References & Publications (9)

Arnold LM. Biology and therapy of fibromyalgia. New therapies in fibromyalgia. Arthritis Res Ther. 2006;8(4):212. Review. — View Citation

Burgmer M, Pogatzki-Zahn E, Gaubitz M, Wessoleck E, Heuft G, Pfleiderer B. Altered brain activity during pain processing in fibromyalgia. Neuroimage. 2009 Jan 15;44(2):502-8. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2008.09.008. Epub 2008 Sep 24. — View Citation

Chizh BA, Göhring M, Tröster A, Quartey GK, Schmelz M, Koppert W. Effects of oral pregabalin and aprepitant on pain and central sensitization in the electrical hyperalgesia model in human volunteers. Br J Anaesth. 2007 Feb;98(2):246-54. — View Citation

Dooley DJ, Mieske CA, Borosky SA. Inhibition of K(+)-evoked glutamate release from rat neocortical and hippocampal slices by gabapentin. Neurosci Lett. 2000 Feb 18;280(2):107-10. — View Citation

Fregni F, Gimenes R, Valle AC, Ferreira MJ, Rocha RR, Natalle L, Bravo R, Rigonatti SP, Freedman SD, Nitsche MA, Pascual-Leone A, Boggio PS. A randomized, sham-controlled, proof of principle study of transcranial direct current stimulation for the treatment of pain in fibromyalgia. Arthritis Rheum. 2006 Dec;54(12):3988-98. — View Citation

Nitsche MA, Fricke K, Henschke U, Schlitterlau A, Liebetanz D, Lang N, Henning S, Tergau F, Paulus W. Pharmacological modulation of cortical excitability shifts induced by transcranial direct current stimulation in humans. J Physiol. 2003 Nov 15;553(Pt 1):293-301. Epub 2003 Aug 29. — View Citation

Russell IJ, Raphael KG. Fibromyalgia syndrome: presentation, diagnosis, differential diagnosis, and vulnerability. CNS Spectr. 2008 Mar;13(3 Suppl 5):6-11. Review. — View Citation

Taber KH, Hillman EM, Hurley RA. Optical imaging: a new window to the adult brain. J Neuropsychiatry Clin Neurosci. 2010 Fall;22(4):iv, 357-60. doi: 10.1176/appi.neuropsych.22.4.iv. — View Citation

Ziemann U, Lönnecker S, Steinhoff BJ, Paulus W. Effects of antiepileptic drugs on motor cortex excitability in humans: a transcranial magnetic stimulation study. Ann Neurol. 1996 Sep;40(3):367-78. — View Citation

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Other	Serum biomarkers levels: The brain derived neurotrophic factor, salivary cortisol, tumor necrosis factor alpha, Interleukin 1, 6 and 10 levels will be measured.	Will be assessed before and 1 hour after a single dose of 150 mg of Pregabalin. Patients will also receive pregabalin 150 mg BID + tDCS (or sham tDCS) daily during 2 weeks, and then twice per week until week 8th. Motor cortex blood flow will be assessed 2 and 8 weeks after initiating the allocated intervention. Total: Four Evaluations.	Day 1 (1 hour before receiving the 1st dose of pregabalin; and 1 hour after the first dose of pregabalin); week 2 and week 8 after initiating the allocated intervention.	No
Other	Level of depressive symptoms.	Will be assessed before initiating treatment. Patients will receive pregabalin 150 mg BID + tDCS (or sham tDCS) daily during 2 weeks, and then twice per week until week 8th. Depression symptoms will be assessed using the Beck Depression Inventory, which covers neurovegetative symptoms of depression. It will be assessed 2 and 8 weeks after initiating the allocated intervention. Total: Three Evaluations.	Day 1 (1 hour before receiving the 1st dose of pregabalin), week 2 and week 8 after initiating the allocated intervention.	No
Other	Sleep quality.	Will be assessed before initiating treatment. Patients will receive pregabalin 150 mg BID + tDCS (or sham tDCS) daily during 2 weeks, and then twice per week until week 8th. Sleep quality will be assessed using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and the 10 cm scale of sleep quality. It will be assessed 2 and 8 weeks after initiating the allocated intervention. Total: Three Evaluations.	Day 1 (1 hour before receiving the 1st dose of pregabalin), week 2 and week 8 after initiating the allocated intervention.	No
Other	Pain catastrophizing thoughts.	The level of catastrophic thinking will be assessed by the scale of catastrophic thoughts adapted to the Brazilian population (BP-PCS). Will be assessed before initiating treatment. Patients will receive pregabalin 150 mg PO BID + tDCS (or sham tDCS) daily during 2 weeks, and then twice per week until week 8th. Pain catastrophizing thoughts will be assessed 2 and 8 weeks after initiating the allocated intervention. Total: Three Evaluations.	Day 1 (1 hour before receiving the 1st dose of pregabalin), week 2 and week 8 after initiating the allocated intervention.	No
Primary	Change in the pressure pain threshold.	Assessed with pressure algometer. Will be assessed before and 1 hour after a single dose of 150 mg of Pregabalin. Patients will also receive pregabalin 150 mg BID + tDCS (or sham tDCS) daily during 2 weeks, and then twice per week until week 8th. Pain thresholds will be assessed 2 and 8 weeks after initiating the allocated intervention. Total: Four evaluations.	Day 1 (1 hour before receiving the 1st dose of pregabalin; and 1 hour after the first dose of pregabalin); week 2 and week 8 after initiating the allocated intervention.	No
Primary	Change in cortical excitability parameters assessed by transcranial magnetic stimulation.	Will be assessed before and 1 hour after a single dose of 150 mg of Pregabalin. Patients will also receive pregabalin 150 mg BID + tDCS (or sham tDCS) daily during 2 weeks, and then twice per week until week 8th. Cortical Excitability will be assessed 2 and 8 weeks after initiating the allocated intervention. Total: Four Evaluations.	Day 1 (1 hour before receiving the 1st dose of pregabalin; and 1 hour after the first dose of pregabalin); week 2 and week 8 after initiating the allocated intervention.	No
Primary	Changes in motor cortex blood flow assessed by near infrared spectroscopy.	Will be assessed before and 1 hour after a single dose of 150 mg of Pregabalin. Patients will also receive pregabalin 150 mg BID + tDCS (or sham tDCS) daily during 2 weeks, and then twice per week until week 8th. Motor cortex blood flow will be assessed 2 and 8 weeks after initiating the allocated intervention. Total: Four Evaluations.	Day 1 (1 hour before receiving the 1st dose of pregabalin; and 1 hour after the first dose of pregabalin); week 2 and week 8 after initiating the allocated intervention.	No
Secondary	Change in the temperature pain threshold.	Will be assessed before and 1 hour after a single dose of 150 mg of Pregabalin. Patients will also receive pregabalin 150 mg BID + tDCS (or sham tDCS) daily during 2 weeks, and then twice per week until week 8th. Pain thresholds will be assessed 2 and 8 weeks after initiating the allocated intervention. Total: Four Evaluations.	Day 1 (1 hour before receiving the 1st dose of pregabalin; and 1 hour after the first dose of pregabalin); week 2 and week 8 after initiating the allocated intervention.	No
Secondary	Change in the visual analogue scale for pain to prolonged thermal stimuli.	Will be assessed before and 1 hour after a single dose of 150 mg of Pregabalin. Patients will also receive pregabalin 150 mg BID + tDCS (or sham tDCS) daily during 2 weeks, and then twice per week until week 8th. Pain to prolonged thermal stimuli will be assessed 2 and 8 weeks after initiating the allocated intervention. Total: Four Evaluations.	Day 1 (1 hour before receiving the 1st dose of pregabalin; and 1 hour after the first dose of pregabalin); week 2 and week 8 after initiating the allocated intervention.	No
Secondary	Change in average daily pain assessed with the visual analogue scale.	Patients will be asked to daily write down their average pain level (assessed by the Visual Analogue Scale, self-administered) in a paper diary. Total evaluations: 84.	Starting on day 1, each day until Week 12. Total: 84 Evaluations.	No
Secondary	Change in the Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire.	Will be assessed before initiating treatment. Patients will receive pregabalin 150 mg BID + tDCS (or sham tDCS) daily during 2 weeks, and then twice per week until week 8th. Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire will be assessed 2, 8 and 12 weeks after initiating the allocated intervention. Total: Four Evaluations.	Day 1 (1 hour before receiving the 1st dose of pregabalin); week 2, week 8 and week 12 after initiating the allocated intervention.	No
Secondary	Change in quality of life assessed by the WHOQOL (World Health Organization Quality of Life), reduced form, adapted to Brazilian Portuguese.	Will be assessed before initiating treatment. Patients will receive pregabalin 150 mg BID + tDCS (or sham tDCS) daily during 2 weeks, and then twice per week until week 8th. Quality of life will be assessed 2, 8 and 12 weeks after initiating the allocated intervention. Total: Four Evaluations.	Day 1 (1 hour before receiving the 1st dose of pregabalin), week 2, week 8 and week 12 after initiating the allocated intervention.	No