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Trial to Evaluate the Safety of Lovastatin in Individuals With Neurofibromatosis Type I (NF1)

NCT00352599 · Status: COMPLETED · Phase: PHASE1 · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 44

Last updated 2016-11-22

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

Neurofibromatosis type I (NF1) is a genetic disorder that affects approximately 1 in 3500 individuals. Half of people with NF1 inherit the condition from a parent, and half have a new occurrence of the condition. The manifestation of NF1 is highly variable and multiple organ systems are typically affected. Some of the more common symptoms include benign neurofibromas, café au lait spots, Lisch nodules (tan spots on the iris of the eye). Some individuals with NF1 also exhibit more severe associated conditions, such as optic pathway tumors (gliomas) or bones bending or curving. Neurocognitive deficits and specific learning disabilities occur in approximately 30 to 50% of individuals with NF1 and are regarded by some observers and sufferers to be among the most troubling features of a disease. The most commonly reported findings are deficits in visuoperceptual ability, motor coordination, expressive and receptive language, and executive functioning, which requires intact short-term memory and attention. Patients with NF1 also show a slight depression in mean IQ scores compared to healthy adults without the disorder.

While cognitive deficits are now a widely-recognized feature of Neurofibromatosis Type 1 (NF1), the precise cause of these deficits still remain to be determined. Dr. Alcino Silva, a co- investigator on this study, has developed an animal model of NF1 in which mice have a specific mutation of the \*NF1\* gene. These mice are physically normal but show specific learning impairments. Dr. Silva's lab found that treatment with a medication called lovastatin, a drug typically used for high cholesterol, reversed some of the spatial deficits seen in these animals. Lovastatin is a medication commonly used to treat high cholesterol and has been proven to be relatively safe and tolerable in humans.

The investigators are now conducting a randomized, double-blinded, placebo- controlled, trial of lovastatin in patients with NF1. Participants will be randomly assigned to lovastatin or placebo and treated for approximately 14 weeks with baseline and follow-up assessments to evaluate safety and any effects on neurocognitive test performance.

Conditions

  • Neurofibromatosis 1

Interventions

DRUG

Lovastatin

DRUG

Lovastatin

Lovastatin capsules daily for 14 weeks (titrated up from 10 mg to 40 mg)

DRUG

placebo pill

Sponsors & Collaborators

Principal Investigators

  • Carrie E Bearden, PhD · University of California, Los Angeles

Study Design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
QUADRUPLE
Model
PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age
10 Years
Max Age
50 Years
Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2009-09-30
Primary Completion
2014-03-31
Completion
2014-03-31

Countries

  • United States

Study Locations

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Entities

Companies

Read the full study record

This page highlights key information. For complete eligibility criteria, study locations, investigator contacts, and the full protocol, visit the original record on ClinicalTrials.gov.

View NCT00352599 on ClinicalTrials.gov