First-line Antimetabolites as Steroid-sparing Treatment Uveitis Pilot Trial

Summary

The proposed study is a masked trial, with stratified block randomization by site, designed to determine which treatment, methotrexate or mycophenolate mofetil, is more effective as first-line steroid-sparing treatment for patients with non-infectious uveitis requiring corticosteroid-sparing therapy.

One hundred non-infectious uveitis patients in need of corticosteroid-sparing therapy will be randomized to receive either oral methotrexate or oral mycophenolate mofetil at Aravind Eye Hospitals (Madurai and Coimbatore, South India). They will be followed monthly for 6 months after enrollment or until treatment failure. The investigators hypothesize that the proportion achieving corticosteroid-sparing success at 6 months for patients taking mycophenolate mofetil will be improved in comparison with patients taking methotrexate.

Conditions

• Uveitis

Interventions

DRUG

Methotrexate

All methotrexate doses will be taken orally once per week in a divided dose (half in the morning, half in the evening), and should be taken with food. For the first two weeks, a loading dose of 15 mg/week orally will be administered to assess tolerability. After two weeks, the dose will be ramped up to 25 mg/week until the end of follow-up or until treatment failure due to intolerability, adverse events, or of lack of efficacy. If the study ophthalmologist decides to reduce the study treatment dose due to intolerability, the dose will be reduced to 20 mg per week while maintaining masking. If side effects persist and the study ophthalmologist wishes to reduce the dose a second time, the dose will be reduced to 15 mg per week.

DRUG

Mycophenolate mofetil

Mycophenolate mofetil will be taken twice daily on an empty stomach. For the first two weeks, a loading dose of 500 mg/BID orally will be administered to assess tolerability. After two weeks, the dose will be ramped up to 1 g/BID until the end of follow-up or until treatment failure due to intolerability, adverse events, or lack of efficacy. If the study ophthalmologist decides to reduce the study treatment dose due to intolerability, the dose will be reduced to 750 mg/BID while maintaining masking. If side effects persist and the study ophthalmologist wishes to reduce the dose a second time, the dose will be reduced to 500 mg/BID.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Aravind Eye Hospitals, India

  collaborator OTHER

• University of California, San Francisco

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• S R Rathinam, MD · Aravind Eye Hospital

• M B Babu, MD · Aravind Eye Hospital

• Nisha Acharya, MD MS · Proctor Foundation, UCSF

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

DOUBLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

16 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2010-10-31

Primary Completion

2012-06-30

Completion

2012-06-30

Countries

• India

Study Locations