Anti-secretory Factor as a Treatment for Adults With Severe Traumatic Head Injury

Summary

Introduction/Background Brain swelling/brain edema can occur due to many pathologies of the brain, such as infections, ischemia and trauma.

The edema can be either primarily intra-cellular or extra-cellular. The mechanisms by which edema arise are not fully known but it is proposed that inside the damaged brain, fluid will pass over the blood-brain barrier of the vessels into the extra-cellular space. The accumulation of fluid will lead to an increase in distance between the cell and its closest capillary, which may lead to energy failure and intra-cellular edema. The extra volume of the fluid leads to increased intracranial pressure, which in turn leads to an increase in blood pressure, aggravating the edema. In addition to the physiological changes that occur, the edema will be increased by the immunological response to the tissue damage with release of pro-inflammatory cytokines that give rise to both extra- and intra-cellular edema.

Today, no treatment has been proven efficient against traumatic brain edema. AF - anti-secretory factor is a 41 kDa protein that exists in humans and most animals. It was discovered due to its ability to inhibit experimental diarrhea.

AF has been proven to have an effect on Mb Menière and glaucoma. In animal models, AF has been proven efficient in reducing increased intracranial pressure caused by trauma and virus infection in the brain.

Salovum®, an egg yolk powder enriched in AF, is registered in the European Union as a medical food.

Methods: 5 adult patients with severe traumatic brain injury will be included in the trial via next of kin consent.

Medical interventions are protocol based. The protocol includes first, second and third treatment levels.

Patients included in the trial, will receive two micro-dialysis (MD) catheters in addition to standard treatment. One catheter will be placed in a separate burr hole close to the ICP and LICOX catheter, the other MD catheter will be placed in vicinity of the damaged barin tissue.

Patients will receive Salovum® 6 hours after trial inclusion. Patient dosage is 1g/kg body weight/24 hours, divided into 6 doses and administered orally, via tubing every 4 hours for 5 consecutive days.

Objective: Primary end-point is to investigate if Salovum® has a beneficiary effect on ICP.

Secondary endpoints are to investigate if Salovum® has a beneficiary effect on treatment intensity levels (TIL), brain-oxygenation, microdialysis bio-chemistry and cytokine expression in plasma and microdialysate.

Conditions

• Head Trauma
• Intensive Care Neurological Disorder
• Edema Brain

Interventions

DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT

Salovum

Salovum is freeze dried egg yolk, highly enriched with anti-secretory factor. Salovum is registered as a medical food by the EU

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Peter Siesjö

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• David Cederberg, Consultant · Dept of Neurosurgery, Skane University Hospital, Lund, Sweden

Study Design

Allocation

NA

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

NONE

Model

SINGLE_GROUP

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Max Age

65 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2018-03-01

Primary Completion

2018-12-10

Completion

2018-12-10