Department of Neurology and Clinical Neurophysiology, St Olavs Hospital
Trondheim, Norway
NCT Number: NCT05068830
Introduction Given that exercise training reduces the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease (AD), induces changes in the blood composition and has widespread systemic benefits, it is reasonable to hypothesize that exercised plasma may have rejuvenative properties. The main objective is to test safety and tolerability of transfusing exercised plasma (ExPlas) from young, healthy, fit adults to patients with early AD. The study is a pilot for a future efficacy study. The key secondary objectives are examining the effect of plasma transfusions on cognitive function, fitness level, vascular risk profile, assessment of cerebral blood flow and hippocampal volume, quality of life, functional connectivity assessed by resting state functional MRI and biomarkers in blood and cerebrospinal fluid.
Methods and analysis ExPlas is a double-blinded, randomized controlled clinical single center trial. Patients aged 50-75 years with diagnosis mild cognitive impairment or early AD will be recruited from two Norwegian hospitals. ExPlas is plasma drawn by plasmapheresis once a month for 4 months, from a total of 30 donors (aged 18-40, BMI ≤27 kg/m2 and VO2max >50 mL/kg/min). All units will be virus inactivated by the Intercept method in accordance with procedures at St. Olavs Hospital. Comparison with isotonic saline allows differentiation from a non-blood product. The main study consists of 6 rounds of examinations in addition to 12 plasma transfusions divided over three 4-weeks periods during study year-1. Follow-up examinations after 2 and 5 years after baseline is also planned.
Ethics and dissemination Written informed consent will be obtained from all participants and participation is voluntary. All participants have a next of kin who will follow them throughout the study and represent the patient's interest. The study is approved by the Regional Committee for Medical and Health Research Ethics (REK 2018/702) and the Norwegian Medicines Agency (EudraCT No. 2018-000148-24).
This study is active but is not currently recruiting participants.
Notify Me50 year–75 year
All sexes
Interventional
Phase 2
Trondheim, Norway
Healthy volunteers accepted: No
Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.
Patient inclusion criteria:
Patient exclusion criteria:
Related to medical history:
Related to medications or other treatments:
Related to magnetic resonance imaging:
Certain metallic implants like joint replacements may be permitted, provided that specific manufacturer specifications are available, and that the device is known to be safe for 7T MRI. In case a patient is not eligible for the 7T scanner, the 3T scanner will be used.
ExPlas (plasma from fit donors) is a Investigational Medicinal Product. ExPlas is plasma drawn by plasmapheresis once a month for 4 months, from a total of 30 donors (aged 18-40, BMI ≤27 kg/m2 and VO2max >50 mL/kg/min) at the Blood Bank at St. Olavs Hospital. All unites will be virus inactivated by the Intercept method (Cerus corporation, US) in accordance with the procedures at Blood Bank at St. Olavs Hospital.
The transfusion volume will be 200 mL at every time point.
The main study consists of 6 rounds of examinations in addition to 12 plasma transfusions during the time span of one year (weekly transfusions in 3 four-week periods) and one round of examinations 2 years after baseline. A follow-up visit is also planned 5 years after baseline.
Octaplasma is defined as a Investigational Medicinal Product. Octaplasma is human pooled plasma produced by Octapharma (Lachen, Switzerland). The transfusion volume will be 200 mL at every time point .
The main study consists of 6 rounds of examinations in addition to 12 plasma transfusions during the time span of one year (weekly transfusions in 3 four-week periods) and one round of examinations 2 years after baseline. A follow-up visit is also planned 5 years after baseline.
Saline is provided by the hospital pharmacies in Central Norway. The infusion volume will be 200 mL at every time point.
The main study consists of 6 rounds of examinations in addition to 12 saline infusions during the time span of one year (weekly transfusions in 3 four-week periods) and one round of examinations 2 years after baseline. A follow-up visit is also planned 5 years after baseline.
Time frame: 1 year
as a measure for safety and tolerability of the treatment
Time frame: 1 year
as a measure for feasibility
Time frame: 1, 2 and 5 years
Change in performance in the CERAD (The Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease) Ten word Test. CERAD Word List consists of three test parts; immediate recall, delayed recall and recognition. The scoring range for immediate recall is 0-30, for delayed recall 0-10 and for recognition 0-20. Higher scores indicate better learning performance, memory performance and recognition performance.
Time frame: 1, 2, and 5 years
Change in the Mini-Mental State Examination Score. An MMSE score of ≥20 is criteria for inclusion. Higher scores >28 indicate normal cognitive function. Scores in the middle range 25-27 may indicate cognitive impairment. Lower scores <24 indicate cognitive impairment.
Time frame: 1, 2, and 5 years
Change in performance in Trail-Making test A and B. The Trail Making Tests are scored by how long it takes to complete the tests. Norms for completion time variate with age and educational level. Longer completion time indicates impaired visual attention, processing speed and executive function.
Time frame: 1, 2, and 5 years
Change in scores in the Clock Drawing Test. The Clock Drawing Test has a scoring range 0-5. Higher scores indicate normal cognitive function. Lower scores <4 may indicate cognitive impairment, spatial dysfunction or neglect.
Time frame: 1, 2, and 5 years
Change in scores in Controlled Oral Word Association Test (COWAT)-FAS. Scoring is based on how many words the person produces within 1 minute. The minimum score is 0, and there is no maximum score. Higher scores indicate better verbal fluency. Scoring norms are based on the persons age and education level.
Time frame: 1, 2, and 5 years
Change in scores in Visual Object and Space Perception (VOSP) Silhouettes. Visual Object and Space Perception (VOSP) Silhouettes has a scoring range 0-30. Higher scores > 20 indicate normal visuospatial function, and lower scores < 20 indicate visuospatial dysfunction.
Time frame: 1, 2, and 5 years
Change in Clinical Dementia Rating Scale Global score and Sum of Boxes. Clinical Dementia Rating Scale (CDR) is a clinical scale for the staging of dementia. The Global Score ranges dementia severity from 0-3. The Sum of Boxes ranges dementia severity from 0-18. Higher scores indicate more severe disease.
Time frame: 1, 2, and 5 years
Change in The Lawton Instrumental Activities of Daily Living Scale (IADL). The Lawton Instrumental Activities of Daily Living Scale (IADL) evaluates the person's ability to perform complex everyday activities. The score ranges from 8-31. Higher scores indicate lower functional level.
Time frame: 1, 2, and 5 years
Change in 6 minutes' walk-test
Time frame: 1, 2, and 5 years
Change in/Reduced hippocampal atrophy and preservation of functional connectivity assessed by resting state functional MRI. A secondary aim is to identify any effect of treatment group on MRI markers of both neurodegenerative and cerebrovascular disease.
Time frame: 1, 2, and 5 years
Quality of Life SF-36 Questionnaire. Computer-based scoring services for the SF-36v2 are available through QualityMetric™ or its licensed certified vendors.
Time frame: 1, 2, and 5 years
Change in biomarkers in blood (APOE). As there exist no single ideal biomarker of AD this endpoint is partly exploratory. Biological material will be stored for future analysis in the search for new biomarkers.
Time frame: 1, 2, and 5 years
Change in biomarkers in cerebrospinal fluid (Amyloid Beta 1-42, Amyloid Beta 1-40, phosphor tau and total tau). As there exist no single ideal biomarker of AD this endpoint is partly exploratory. Biological material will be stored for future analysis in the search for new biomarkers.
Time frame: 1, 2, and 5 years
Changes in cardiac dimensions - left ventricular end diastolic diameter (mm).
Time frame: 1, 2, and 5 years
Changes in cardiac dimensions - right ventricular dimension (mm).
Time frame: 1, 2, and 5 years
Changes in cardiac volumes - left ventricular and diastolic volume (mL).
Time frame: 1, 2, and 5 years
Changes in cardiac volumes. Right ventricular volume (mL).
Time frame: 1, 2, and 5 years
Changes in functional indices - ejection fraction (%).
Time frame: 1, 2, and 5 years
Changes in functional indices - left ventricular strain (%).
Time frame: 1, 2, and 5 years
Changes in functional indices - ventricular velocity (cm/s).
Time frame: 1, 2, and 5 years
Changes in functional indices - right ventricular strain (%).
Time frame: 1, 2, and 5 years
Changes in functional indices - left ventricular stiffness.
Norwegian University of Science and Technology
Other
Safety and Efficacy of Plasma Transfusion From Exercise-trained Donors in Patients With Early Alzheimer's Disease: The ExPlas Study
Acronym: ExPlas
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