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The Effect of Donepezil (Aricept(Registered Trademark)) on REM Sleep in Children With Autism

NCT00695136 · Status: COMPLETED · Phase: PHASE1/PHASE2 · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 17

Last updated 2013-04-24

Study results available
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Summary

This study will test whether donepezil (Aricept(Registered Trademark)), a drug that is approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat Alzheimer's disease, can increase rapid eye movement (REM) sleep in children with autism and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Some children with autism and ASD spend very little time in REM sleep. In some studies, decreased REM sleep has been associated with learning and behavior problems. Donepezil can increase REM sleep in some adults with different disorders. If it can increase REM sleep in children in this study, it might be able to be used in future studies to see if it can help learning and behavior problems in children with autism and ASD.

Children between 2 and 10 years of age with autism or an ASD whose percentage of REM sleep time is well below the average for children of the same age may be eligible for this study. Candidates are screened with a medical history, physical and neurological examinations, blood tests, electroencephalogram (EEG) and a sleep study. The sleep study requires an overnight stay at the NIH Clinical Center in which the child is monitored with electrodes for EEG and heartbeat recording, a tube taped below the nose to measure airflow, a probe on a finger to record oxygen levels and a small watch-like machine on the wrist to record movements.

Participating children may be required to have up to six overnight stays for sleep studies at the Clinical Center. The children start by taking 1.25 mg of donepezil for 2 to 4 weeks. Then they are admitted to the NIH Clinical Center for a sleep study, blood tests and EKG. Those whose REM sleep increases to normal levels stay on 1.25 mg of donepezil for 8 more weeks, after which they are admitted to the Clinical Center for a final physical examination, blood draw and sleep study. That ends their participation in the study.

Children whose REM sleep does not increase to normal on 1.25 mg of donepezil are given a higher dose (2.5 mg) for 2 to 4 weeks, and the above procedure is repeated. Those whose REM sleep does not increase to normal on 2.5 mg of donepezil take 5 mg of the drug for 2 to 4 weeks, and the above procedure is repeated once more. Children whose REM sleep does not increase to normal on 5 mg of donepezil stop the medication and end their participation in the study.

At each study visit, study researchers talk to the parents and examine the children to determine if donepezil is affecting the child's behavior and if the child is hav...

Conditions

Interventions

DRUG

Donepezil hydrochloride

BEHAVIORAL

Increase REM sleep percentage

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)

    lead NIH

Study Design

Allocation
NA
Masking
NONE
Model
SINGLE_GROUP

Eligibility

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

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2008-06-30
Primary Completion
2011-01-31
Completion
2011-01-31

Countries

  • United States

Study Locations

More Related Trials

Entities

Diseases

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 NCT00695136 on ClinicalTrials.gov