Antipsychotic Effects of Sorghum Bicolor (JOBELYN) in the Treatment of Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia and Disorders With Psychotic Features Clinical Trial

Official title:

Phase 2 Study of the Antipsychotic Effects of Sorghum Bicolor (JOBELYN) in the Treatment of Schizophrenia.

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Not yet recruiting

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT02240173
• Other study ID #: MOjo
• Status: Not yet recruiting
• Phase: Phase 1/Phase 2
• First received: September 11, 2014
• Last updated: February 14, 2017
• Start date: June 2017
• Est. completion date: December 2017

Study information

• Verified date: February 2017
• Source: Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital, Yaba
• Contact: Adefemi Adeoye, M.D.
• Phone: +2348034752025
• Email: phemmy_aa[@]yahoo.com
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

Sorghum bicolor is a naturally growing plant which has been of health benefit to the people of West Africa who traditionally prepare its leaf for various nutritional and health reasons.The food and nutritional fact analysis showed that Jobelyn is rich in Carbohydrates, Protein, Dietary Fiber, Iron, Natural Vitamins like B12 and Vitamin C. It also contains Selenium, Omega 3,6 and 9 and other essential elements and fatty acids. Although the determinants of mental health are complex, the emerging and compelling evidence for nutrition as a crucial factor in the high prevalence and incidence of mental disorders suggests that diet is as important to psychiatry as it is to cardiology, endocrinology, and gastroenterology. Evidence is steadily growing for the relation between dietary quality (and potential nutritional deficiencies) and mental health, and for the select use of nutrient-based supplements to address deficiencies, or as monotherapies or augmentation therapies. There is currently strong advocacy for the recognition of diet and nutrition as central determinants of both physical and mental health.Its anti-inflammatory and haematocrit boosting properties have been well documented though the precise mechanism of action is still largely unknown. Its use has recently been extended to the field of mental health where findings in animal study suggest it could be of help in relieve of psychosis. The need for this study is therefore aimed at investigating the effect of this drug in patients with schizophrenia which is the prototypical psychotic disorder.

Description:

Schizophrenia is a major psychiatric disorder with a chronic and debilitating course. It is the archetypal psychotic disorder with a prevalence of about 1% worldwide. The treatment of this psychotic disorder has evolved over the years after the discovery of Chlorpromazine. Despite the availability of several treatment options in practice, research into the possibility of creating a drug breakthrough continues.

Sorghum bicolor, a naturally growing plant rich in several phytochemical including proanthocyanidins, anthocyanidins, apigenin, proapigeninidin, apigeninidin, luteolin, naringenins, flavonoids, and polyphenols (Omogbiya et al 2012) and prepared as a capsule called Jobelyn. This plant has been found to be of health benefit to the people of West Africa who traditionally prepare its leaf for various nutritional and health reasons. The anti-inflammatory and haematocrit boosting properties have been well documented and utilized though the precise mechanism of action is still not entirely known (Benson et al. 2013). Its usefulness in neuropsychiatric conditions has recently been explored albeit through animal studies.

In animals, Jobelyn has been suggested to have anti-amnestic property which has been suggested to be related to its antioxidant activity (Umukoro et al. 2013a). Other studies also suggested that Jobelyn has an anti-aggressive effect (Umukoro et al. 2012) and antidepressant like property probably related to its stimulation of serotonergic pathways (Umukoro et al. 2013b). Jobelyn has also been suggested to exhibit anti-psychotic-like activity with the benefit of lacking extra-pyramidal side effect risks and therefore being postulated to be of possible benefit in the symptomatic relief of psychosis (Omogbiya et al. 2012).

There is however limited information in terms of the suggested neuropsychiatric conditions especially in humans despite the recognized safety profile consequent upon its use as haematocrit boosting agent. This study therefore aims at exploring the usefulness of Jobelyn in the treatment of patients with Schizophrenia as an adjunct to standard treatment.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Not yet recruiting
• Enrollment: 100
• Est. completion date: December 2017
• Est. primary completion date: December 2017
• Accepts healthy volunteers: No
• Gender: All
• Age group: N/A and older

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

Participants will be adults with current diagnosis of schizophrenia (meeting the ICD-10 criteria).

• Adults who are above 18 years of age and gave informed consent

• Currently meet the ICD-10 diagnosis of Schizophrenia and confirmed with MINI- PLUS

• Antipsychotic naive before recruitment into study or defaulted from treatment for at least 6 months 'prior to contact with study

• Not on Jobelyn or Megafit currently or in the past 6months prior to contact with study

Exclusion Criteria:

• Having another current ICD-l0 diagnosis or a seizure disorder

• Serious or chronic physical illness

• Known severe drug allergies or hypersensitivity to Jobelyn, Megafit or Haloperidol

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Schizophrenia
• Schizophrenia and Disorders With Psychotic Features
• Schizophrenia Spectrum and Other Psychotic Disorders

Intervention

Dietary Supplement:
• Jobelyn
Jobelyn is a dietary supplement made from Sorghum bicolor

Drug:
• Haloperidol
Conventional drug normally used for psychotic problems

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
Nigeria	Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital Yaba - Lagos	Lagos

Sponsors (1)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital, Yaba

Country where clinical trial is conducted

Nigeria, 

References & Publications (11)

Ayuba GI, Jensen GS, Benson KF, Okubena AM, Okubena O. Clinical efficacy of a West African sorghum bicolor-based traditional herbal preparation Jobelyn shows increased hemoglobin and CD4+ T-lymphocyte counts in HIV-positive patients. J Altern Complement Med. 2014 Jan;20(1):53-6. doi: 10.1089/acm.2013.0125. — View Citation

Benson KF, Beaman JL, Ou B, Okubena A, Okubena O, Jensen GS. West African Sorghum bicolor leaf sheaths have anti-inflammatory and immune-modulating properties in vitro. J Med Food. 2013 Mar;16(3):230-8. doi: 10.1089/jmf.2012.0214. — View Citation

Geera B, Ojwang LO, Awika JM. New highly stable dimeric 3-deoxyanthocyanidin pigments from sorghum bicolor leaf sheath. J Food Sci. 2012 May;77(5):C566-72. doi: 10.1111/j.1750-3841.2012.02668.x. — View Citation

Omogbiya IA, Umukoro S, Aderibigbe AO, Bakre AG. Jobelyn® pretreatment ameliorates symptoms of psychosis in experimental models. J Basic Clin Physiol Pharmacol. 2013;24(4):331-6. doi: 10.1515/jbcpp-2012-0073. — View Citation

Response of Trypanosoma brucei brucei-induced anaemia to a commercial herbal preparation ........... 4 African Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 2 (9), pp. 307-311, September 2003

The influence of African Herbal Formula on the haematological parameters of trypanosome infected rats VI Okochi, J Okpuzor, MO Okubena, AK Awoyemi African Journal of Biotechnology Vol.2(9) 2003: 312-316

Thermal stability of 3-deoxyanthocyanidin pigments Liyi Yang , Linda Dykes , Joseph M. Awika Journal of Food Chemistry http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2014.03.105

Toxicological Profiles of Commercial Herbal Preparation, Jobelyn® nternational Journal of Health Research, December 2009; 2(4): 369-374 © Poracom Academic Publishers. All rights reserved. Available at http://www.ijhr.org

Umukoro S, Adrian Omogbiya I, Taghogho Eduviere A. Evaluation of the Effect of Jobelyn® on Chemoconvulsants- Induced Seizure in Mice. BCN. 2013; 4 (2) 4 (2) :19-23 URL http://bcn.iums.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-151&slc_lang=en&sid=1

Umukoro S, Omogbiya IA, Eduviere TA. Effect of Jobelyn® on intruder- and isolation-induced aggressive behavior in mice. J Basic Clin Physiol Pharmacol. 2013;24(4):263-9. doi: 10.1515/jbcpp-2012-0069. — View Citation

Umukoro S, Ugbomah A, Aderibigbe A, Omogbiya A. Antioxidant Property of Jobelyn as the Possible Mechanism Underlying its Anti-amnesic Activity in Rodents. Basic Clin Neurosci. 2013 Winter;4(1):42-9. — View Citation

* Note: There are 11 references in all — Click here to view all references

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Other	Side effects	This will be measured using a side-effect scale designed for the study	8 Weeks
Primary	The primary outcome will be the changes in psychotic symptoms	This will be rated using the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS).	8 Weeks
Secondary	Patient's general health and social functioning	To be assessed using the Clinical Global Impression Scale.	8 Weeks