IA-PACS-CFS: a double-blinded, randomized, sham-controlled, exploratory trial of immunoadsorption in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) including patients with post-acute COVID-19 CFS (PACS-CFS).

Autoimmunity Biomarker Chronic fatigue syndrome Immunoadsorption Long-COVID Myalgic encephalomyelitis PROMIS Post-acute COVID-19 syndrome

Journal

Trials
ISSN: 1745-6215
Titre abrégé: Trials
Pays: England
ID NLM: 101263253

Informations de publication

Date de publication:
07 Mar 2024
Historique:
received: 11 09 2023
accepted: 13 02 2024
medline: 8 3 2024
pubmed: 8 3 2024
entrez: 8 3 2024
Statut: epublish

Résumé

Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) is a severely debilitating condition which markedly restricts activity and function of affected people. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic ME/CFS related to post-acute COVID-19 syndrome (PACS) can be diagnosed in a subset of patients presenting with persistent fatigue 6 months after a mostly mild SARS-CoV-2 infection by fulfillment of the Canadian Consensus Criteria (CCC 2003). Induction of autoimmunity after viral infection is a mechanism under intensive investigation. In patients with ME/CFS, autoantibodies against thyreoperoxidase (TPO), beta-adrenergic receptors (ß2AR), and muscarinic acetylcholine receptors (MAR) are frequently found, and there is evidence for effectiveness of immunomodulation with B cell depleting therapy, cyclophosphamide, or intravenous immunoglobulins (IVIG). Preliminary studies on the treatment of ME/CFS patients with immunoadsorption (IA), an apheresis that removes antibodies from plasma, suggest clinical improvement. However, evidence from placebo-controlled trials is currently missing. In this double-blinded, randomized, sham-controlled, exploratory trial the therapeutic effect of five cycles of IA every other day in patients with ME/CFS, including patients with post-acute COVID-19 chronic fatigue syndrome (PACS-CFS), will be evaluated using the validated Chalder Fatigue Scale, a patient-reported outcome measurement. A total of 66 patients will be randomized at a 2:1 ratio: 44 patients will receive IA (active treatment group) and 22 patients will receive a sham apheresis (control group). Moreover, safety, tolerability, and the effect of IA on patient-reported outcome parameters, biomarker-related objectives, cognitive outcome measurements, and physical parameters will be assessed. Patients will be hospitalized at the clinical site from day 1 to day 10 to receive five IA treatments and medical visits. Four follow-up visits (including two visits at site and two visits via telephone call) at month 1 (day 30), 2 (day 60), 4 (day 120), and 6 (day 180; EOS, end of study visit) will take place. Although ME/CFS including PACS-CFS causes an immense individual, social, and economic burden, we lack efficient therapeutic options. The present study aims to investigate the efficacy of immunoadsorption and to contribute to the etiological understanding and establishment of diagnostic tools for ME/CFS. Registration Number: NCT05710770 . Registered on 02 February 2023.

Sections du résumé

BACKGROUND BACKGROUND
Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) is a severely debilitating condition which markedly restricts activity and function of affected people. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic ME/CFS related to post-acute COVID-19 syndrome (PACS) can be diagnosed in a subset of patients presenting with persistent fatigue 6 months after a mostly mild SARS-CoV-2 infection by fulfillment of the Canadian Consensus Criteria (CCC 2003). Induction of autoimmunity after viral infection is a mechanism under intensive investigation. In patients with ME/CFS, autoantibodies against thyreoperoxidase (TPO), beta-adrenergic receptors (ß2AR), and muscarinic acetylcholine receptors (MAR) are frequently found, and there is evidence for effectiveness of immunomodulation with B cell depleting therapy, cyclophosphamide, or intravenous immunoglobulins (IVIG). Preliminary studies on the treatment of ME/CFS patients with immunoadsorption (IA), an apheresis that removes antibodies from plasma, suggest clinical improvement. However, evidence from placebo-controlled trials is currently missing.
METHODS METHODS
In this double-blinded, randomized, sham-controlled, exploratory trial the therapeutic effect of five cycles of IA every other day in patients with ME/CFS, including patients with post-acute COVID-19 chronic fatigue syndrome (PACS-CFS), will be evaluated using the validated Chalder Fatigue Scale, a patient-reported outcome measurement. A total of 66 patients will be randomized at a 2:1 ratio: 44 patients will receive IA (active treatment group) and 22 patients will receive a sham apheresis (control group). Moreover, safety, tolerability, and the effect of IA on patient-reported outcome parameters, biomarker-related objectives, cognitive outcome measurements, and physical parameters will be assessed. Patients will be hospitalized at the clinical site from day 1 to day 10 to receive five IA treatments and medical visits. Four follow-up visits (including two visits at site and two visits via telephone call) at month 1 (day 30), 2 (day 60), 4 (day 120), and 6 (day 180; EOS, end of study visit) will take place.
DISCUSSION CONCLUSIONS
Although ME/CFS including PACS-CFS causes an immense individual, social, and economic burden, we lack efficient therapeutic options. The present study aims to investigate the efficacy of immunoadsorption and to contribute to the etiological understanding and establishment of diagnostic tools for ME/CFS.
TRIAL REGISTRATION BACKGROUND
Registration Number: NCT05710770 . Registered on 02 February 2023.

Identifiants

pubmed: 38454468
doi: 10.1186/s13063-024-07982-5
pii: 10.1186/s13063-024-07982-5
doi:

Banques de données

ClinicalTrials.gov
['NCT05710770']

Types de publication

Journal Article

Langues

eng

Sous-ensembles de citation

IM

Pagination

172

Informations de copyright

© 2024. The Author(s).

Références

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Auteurs

Hannah Preßler (H)

Department of Neurology and Experimental Neurology, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and Berlin Institute of Health, Charitéplatz 1, Berlin, 10117, Germany.
Excellence Cluster NeuroCure, Berlin, Germany.

Marie-Luise Machule (ML)

Department of Neurology and Experimental Neurology, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and Berlin Institute of Health, Charitéplatz 1, Berlin, 10117, Germany.
German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) Berlin, Berlin, Germany.

Friederike Ufer (F)

Department of Neurology and Experimental Neurology, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and Berlin Institute of Health, Charitéplatz 1, Berlin, 10117, Germany.
German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) Berlin, Berlin, Germany.

Isabel Bünger (I)

Department of Neurology and Experimental Neurology, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and Berlin Institute of Health, Charitéplatz 1, Berlin, 10117, Germany.
German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) Berlin, Berlin, Germany.

Lucie Yuanting Li (LY)

Department of Neurology and Experimental Neurology, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and Berlin Institute of Health, Charitéplatz 1, Berlin, 10117, Germany.
German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) Berlin, Berlin, Germany.

Emilie Buchholz (E)

Department of Neurology and Experimental Neurology, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and Berlin Institute of Health, Charitéplatz 1, Berlin, 10117, Germany.
German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) Berlin, Berlin, Germany.

Claudia Werner (C)

Clinical Research Organisation GmbH, Charitéplatz 1, Berlin, 10117, Germany.

Esther Beraha (E)

Clinical Research Organisation GmbH, Charitéplatz 1, Berlin, 10117, Germany.

Frank Wagner (F)

Clinical Research Organisation GmbH, Charitéplatz 1, Berlin, 10117, Germany.

Matthes Metz (M)

Department of Biostatistics, GCP-Service International Ltd. & Co. KG, Bremen, Germany.

Susen Burock (S)

Clinical Trial Office, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Charitéplatz 1, Berlin, 10117, Germany.

Lisa Bruckert (L)

Clinical Trial Office, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Charitéplatz 1, Berlin, 10117, Germany.

Christiana Franke (C)

Department of Neurology and Experimental Neurology, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and Berlin Institute of Health, Charitéplatz 1, Berlin, 10117, Germany.
German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) Berlin, Berlin, Germany.

Nicola Wilck (N)

Department of Nephrology and Medical Intensive Care Medicine, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
Experimental and Clinical Research Center (ECRC), a cooperation of Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin and Max Delbruck Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC), Berlin, 13125, Germany.
Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association (MDC), Berlin, 13125, Germany.

Anne Krüger (A)

Department of Nephrology and Medical Intensive Care Medicine, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.

Alexander Reshetnik (A)

Department of Nephrology and Medical Intensive Care Medicine, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.

Kai-Uwe Eckardt (KU)

Department of Nephrology and Medical Intensive Care Medicine, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
Department of Nephrology and Hypertension, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen, Germany.

Matthias Endres (M)

Department of Neurology and Experimental Neurology, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and Berlin Institute of Health, Charitéplatz 1, Berlin, 10117, Germany.
Excellence Cluster NeuroCure, Berlin, Germany.
German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
Center for Stroke Research Berlin, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.

Harald Prüss (H)

Department of Neurology and Experimental Neurology, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and Berlin Institute of Health, Charitéplatz 1, Berlin, 10117, Germany. harald.pruess@charite.de.
German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) Berlin, Berlin, Germany. harald.pruess@charite.de.

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