Azithromycin in the Management of Patients With Acute Exacerbation of Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis

NCT05842681 · Status: RECRUITING · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 1000

Last updated 2026-05-13

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

This randomized controlled trial evaluates the therapeutic role of azithromycin in acute exacerbations of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (AE-IPF). Baseline severity classification and stratification were performed using the SCALE-IPF framework (Severity Classification and Lung Evaluation for Prognosis in IPF; locked April 2023) to ensure balanced disease severity across randomized arms. End-of-study analyses included descriptive and stratified phenotyping using the Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis Phenotypes Identification Model (IPIM); locked April 2023).

Following a protocol amendment approved in September 2025, the study expanded into a multi-arm therapeutic platform evaluating both azithromycin timing strategies and combination antifibrotic-immunomodulatory therapy in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Additional treatment arms involving pirfenidone with or without azithromycin were incorporated without altering the original randomized comparisons or baseline study framework.

Both frameworks were developed within the Assiut University IPF Research Program (2022-2026), a coordinated institutional effort investigating clinical, prognostic, and therapeutic dimensions of IPF. Neither framework altered randomization procedures, treatment allocation, or study endpoints; they were applied to improve standardization, reproducibility, and interpretability of results.

Conditions

Interventions

DRUG

Azithromycin

A single daily oral dose of azithromycin 500 mg for five days during acute exacerbation, followed by azithromycin 500 mg orally three times weekly as maintenance therapy during longitudinal follow-up according to tolerability and standard clinical safety monitoring.

DRUG

Methylprednisolone

methylprednisolone 500 mg single intra-venous daily dose for three days

DRUG

Pirfenidone

Pirfenidone will be administered according to the standard full-dose protocol as 801 mg orally three times daily, equivalent to a total daily dose of 2403 mg/day, administered as three 267 mg tablets/capsules three times daily according to tolerability and standard clinical safety monitoring.

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • Assiut University

    lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

  • ahmad M shaddad · Assiut university-Faculty of Medicine

Study Design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Model
PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age
18 Years
Max Age
80 Years
Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2023-06-01
Primary Completion
2027-01-01
Completion
2027-02-28

Countries

  • Egypt

Study Locations

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Entities

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 NCT05842681 on ClinicalTrials.gov