News New Zealand Clinical Trial to Test Potential of Antipsychotics to Treat SPMS New Zealand Clinical Trial to Test Potential of Antipsychotics to Treat SPMS by Patricia Silva, PhD | June 16, 2016 Share this article: Share article via email Copy article link The SPMS research team at Wellington Hospital. An immunologist atĀ Victoria University of WellingtonĀ is leading a clinical trial that will use existing drugs in a new way to try toĀ treat secondary progressiveĀ multiple sclerosis (SPMS), a disease form that affects more than one-third of all multiple sclerosisĀ patients but has no effective treatment options. Anne La Flamme, a professor of Immunology and Cell Biology at Victoria, willĀ lead the research team in examiningĀ the safety and efficacyĀ of two antipsychotic drugs in SPMS patients, people in whom the disease has advanced following an initial relapsing-remitting course. TheĀ placebo-controlled and randomized clinical trial (ACTRN12616000178448), currently recruiting participants, will be based at the Wellington Regional Hospital in New Zealand. The trial team at Wellington Hospital. L-R: Dr David Abernethy (lead clinical investigator and co-principal investigator), Dr David Bourke, Liz Goode, Dr Eloise Watson, Jonathan Barrett, Imogen Milner and Professor Anne La Flamme. Standing in front, Dr Purwa Joshi.Regional Hospital in New Zealand. According to Professor La Flamme, repurposing medicines is anĀ approach often usedĀ in MS drug development.Ā āThe majority of agents used to treat the most common form of MS ā relapsing remitting MS ā were originally used for something else, like viral infections and leukaemia,ā sheĀ said in a news release. āWeāre looking at two medications, clozapine and risperidone, which were designed to treat a variety of health disorders such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and autism.” The antipsychotics are both are both approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), withĀ risperidone one of the few such drugs indicatedĀ for use in children. “Clozapine and risperidone have always been targeted to mental illness but our studies show they are able to tone down the immune system in the brain, which is what causes MS, and this anti-inflammatory action is promising,ā Professor La Flamme said. The trial will run for six months, and participants will be divided into three groups: a clozapine arm, a risperidone arm, and a control group. Its main goal isĀ to investigate the “acceptability” of the drugs among participants (measured using the Treatment Satisfaction Questionnaire for Medication), and secondary outcomes are the drugs’ efficacy, as measured by the MS Functional Composite and the Expanded Disability Status Score. Professor La Flamme is working alongside with Dr. David Abernethy, a neurologist from Capital & Coast District Health Board, and Associate Professor Bronwen Connor with the University of Auckland. More information about the trial, including details on how to participate, can beĀ obtained by contactingĀ aĀ trial nurse, Liz Goode, atĀ [email protected]. Print This Page About the Author Patricia Silva, PhD PatrĆcia holds a PhD in medical microbiology and infectious diseases from the Leiden University Medical Center, Netherlands, and completed a postdoctoral research fellowship at the Instituto de Medicina Molecular, Lisbon, Portugal. Her work in academia was mainly focused on molecular biology and the genetic traits of infectious agents such as viruses and parasites. PatrĆcia earned several travel awards to present her work at international scientific meetings. She is a published author of several peer-reviewed science articles. Tags clinical trial, immune system, SPMS
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