Famotidine in Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia Clinical Trial

Official title:

Histamine H2 Antagonism as Adjuvant Therapy in Treatment Resistant Schizophrenia

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Recruiting

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT01946295
• Other study ID #: 2012-005513-40
• Status: Recruiting
• Phase: Phase 2/Phase 3
• First received: August 23, 2013
• Last updated: April 13, 2015
• Start date: March 2014
• Est. completion date: August 2016

Study information

• Verified date: April 2015
• Source: Helsinki University
• Contact: Jesper Ekelund, MD,PhD
• Phone: +358503317987
• Email: jesper.ekelund[@]helsinki.fi
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Health authority: Finland: Finnish Medicines Agency
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

Objective of the trial is to study if famotidine add-on treatment is more effective than placebo add-on in reducing symptoms of schizophrenia among patients receiving insufficient response to ongoing antipsychotic treatment.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Recruiting
• Enrollment: 140
• Est. completion date: August 2016
• Est. primary completion date: August 2016
• Accepts healthy volunteers: No
• Gender: Both
• Age group: 18 Years to 65 Years

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• ICD-10 diagnosis of schizophrenia (F20.00-20.39, F20.5, F20.9) who have had the disorder for at least 5 years and who are on disability pension. (This means that their treatment response is not satisfactory and for the purpose of this study, the subjects are potentially treatment resistant).

• Clinical Global Impression (CGI) severity score of at least 3.

• No changes in schizophrenia treatment within 12 weeks before study inclusion.

• Written informed consent

• The subjects must fulfil schizophrenia criteria both according to DSM- IV (295.10, .20, .30, .60, .90) (American Psychiatric association) and the Research Diagnostic Criteria for schizophrenia (RDC) [40]. They must also have at least mild residual symptoms (CGI 3 points). The DSM-IV diagnosis will be verified by use of the SCID-I [41]. The DSM-IV is clearly the most commonly used in psychiatric research, so this is important to be able to generalize the findings. However, several previous studies have used the RDC, so to be able to compare the results, we will diagnose the patients according to both systems.

• Women of child-bearing age will be included only of they use adequate contraception, or if we can otherwise verify that the subject is not pregnant (s-HCG), the possibility of pregnancy is negligible (e.g. the personnel of the housing facility reports that the person has not had sexual relationships for years) and the subject approves to remain sexually abstinent for the duration of the study.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Epilepsy or a history of unclear seizures, stroke, Parkinson's disease, AIDS

• History of substance addiction or abuse within 3 months prior to enrolment.

• Individuals who are deemed at risk for aggressive behaviour or suicide

• If their laboratory tests, EKG or other clinical observation warrants exclusion, they will be excluded

• Women who are pregnant or breast-feeding subjects will not be included in the study.

• Patients with any serious unstable physical illness will also be excluded

• Patients who have been deemed to be legally incapacitated according to Finnish or Swedish law.

• Regular Uuse of H2-antagonists as prescribed by a physician.

• Known allergy to famotidine or any other component of interventional drug will be excluded.

• Ongoing treatment with clozapine and dixyrazine.

• Clinical condition "very much improved" or "much improved", assessed by CGI, during the placebo lead-in

• Renal insufficiency (P-creatinine not within normal range. Glomerular filtration rate <30 ml/min according to the Cockcroft-Gault formula. )

• Liver insufficiency (S-ALAT elevated more than 2-fold above the laboratory specific normal range)

Study Design

Allocation: Randomized, Endpoint Classification: Efficacy Study, Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment, Masking: Double Blind (Subject, Caregiver, Investigator, Outcomes Assessor), Primary Purpose: Treatment

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Schizophrenia

Intervention

Drug:
• Famotidine
100mg x 2 p.o.
• Placebo

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
Finland	Helsinki University	Helsinki
Finland	Helsinki University Central Hospital Psychiatry Centre	Helsinki
Finland	Social services and Healthcare, City of Helsinki	Helsinki
Finland	Kellokoski Hospital	Hyvinkää
Sweden	Karolinska Institutet	Stockholm
Sweden	Norra Stockholms Psykiatri, Stockholm County Council	Stockholm

Sponsors (6)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
Jesper Ekelund	Ahokas foundation, Finland, Karolinska Institutet, Social services and Healthcare, City of Helsinki, Finland, Stanley Medical Research Institute, Stockholm County Council, Sweden

Countries where clinical trial is conducted

Finland,  Sweden, 

References & Publications (1)

Meskanen K, Ekelund H, Laitinen J, Neuvonen PJ, Haukka J, Panula P, Ekelund J. A randomized clinical trial of histamine 2 receptor antagonism in treatment-resistant schizophrenia. J Clin Psychopharmacol. 2013 Aug;33(4):472-8. doi: 10.1097/JCP.0b013e3182970490. — View Citation

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Change from Baseline in Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) at 8 weeks	In addition PANSS ratings are done at screening, every two weeks during treatment and two weeks after end of treatment.	Rating at start of treatment (0 weeks) and at end of treatment (8 weeks)	No
Secondary	Change from Baseline in Clinical Global Impression (CGI) scale at 8 weeks	In addition CGI ratings are done at screening, every two weeks during treatment and two weeks after end of treatment.	Rating at start of treatment (0 weeks) and at end of treatment (8 weeks)	No
Secondary	Change from Baseline in Calgary Depression Scale (CDS) at 8 weeks		Rating at start of treatment (0 weeks) and at end of treatment (8 weeks)	No
Secondary	Change from Baseline in The Overall Anxiety Severity and Impairment Scale (OASIS)at 8 weeks		Rating at start of treatment (0 weeks) and at end of treatment (8 weeks)	No
Secondary	Change from Baseline in CogState scores at 8 weeks	A standardized, language independent computerized battery of cognitive tests (CogState®). This battery has been validated and shown to be a sensitive indicator of mild impairments in the following cognitive domains: psychomotor speed, attention, working memory and episodic learning and memory.	Rating at start of treatment (0 weeks) and at end of treatment (8 weeks)	No
Secondary	Change from baseline in nightly sleep duration measured with actigraphy at 8 weeks	Average nightly sleep duration of seven nights before and after intervention measured with an actigraph	Measurement at start of treatment (0 weeks) and at end of treatment (8 weeks)	No