Treatment Study of Carnosine Versus Placebo in Gulf War Illness (GWI)

NCT ID: NCT00810368

Last Updated: 2019-06-28

Study Results

Results available

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Basic Information

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Recruitment Status

COMPLETED

Clinical Phase

PHASE2

Total Enrollment

33 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2008-08-31

Study Completion Date

2012-07-31

Brief Summary

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The purpose of this study is to perform a randomized double-blind, placebo-controlled, 12 week study of the effects of carnosine on cognitive, psychometric, autonomic, and muscle strength outcomes in 100 GWI subjects.

Detailed Description

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Background: Homocarnosine (beta-alanine - gamma-aminobutyric acid) is one of the most abundant dipeptides in the brain. It has important antioxidant properties. Both beta-alanine and GABA are neurotransmitters, suggesting that cleavage of this dipeptide by carnosine dipeptidase 1 (CNDP1) may have important regulatory functions in vivo.

Drug: Homocarnosine is not available. Carnosine (beta-alanine - histidine) is an over-the-counter dietary supplement that shares the antioxidant properties. We proposed that oral carnosine would be absorbed from the gut, cross the blood brain barrier, reduce presumed brain oxidant stress that participated in illness pathology, and improve subject health.

Hypothesis: Carnosine supplementation for 12 weeks by mouth in Gulf War Illness subjects would improve cognitive and other outcomes compared to placebo treatment.

Subjects: Gulf War Illness subjects met 1996 Fukuda criteria for Chronic Multisymptom Illness.

Design: Pilot study. Double blind randomized placebo controlled with comparisons between Week 0 (Baseline, pre-randomization) and Week 12 (end of study) Outcomes: This pilot study included included cognitive testing, magnetic resonance imaging during the 2-back working memory task, self-report of psychometric and other subjective symptoms, tenderness testing by dolormetry, and pain threshold to assess reproducibility in the placebo-treated subjects, and potential treatment effects in the active study drug subjects. The study and each of the outcomes at weeks 0 and 12 are described in detail in the final published paper and in its extensive supplementary on-line materials (Baraniuk JN et al. Glob J Health Sci. 2013 5:69-81. PMID:23618477 PMCID:PMC4209301).

An improvement on accuracy on the 2-back working memory task between 0 and 12 weeks was the primary outcome.

Other evaluations were secondary outcomes.

Conditions

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Persian Gulf Syndrome

Study Design

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Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

PARALLEL

Primary Study Purpose

TREATMENT

Blinding Strategy

QUADRUPLE

Participants Caregivers Investigators Outcome Assessors

Study Groups

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Carnosine treatment group

Carnosine treatment group

Group Type ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Carnosine

Intervention Type DRUG

500mg Carnosine x2 daily

Placebo control group

Placebo control group

Group Type PLACEBO_COMPARATOR

Placebo

Intervention Type DRUG

Microcrystalline cellulose placebo tablets x2 daily

Interventions

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Carnosine

500mg Carnosine x2 daily

Intervention Type DRUG

Placebo

Microcrystalline cellulose placebo tablets x2 daily

Intervention Type DRUG

Other Intervention Names

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Pathway Carnosine supplied by Village Green Apothecary Village Green Apothecary

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

* Evidence of military enlistment between August 1, 1990 and July 31, 1991, and deployment for 30 consecutive days to:

* Persian Gulf waters and adjacent land areas,
* Other global locations, or,
* U.S. only. 1990-1991 enlistment status:
* Active duty
* National Guard
* Reserves

Exclusion Criteria

* HIV/AIDS
* Pregnant Women
* Active Duty Military Personnel
* Children
* Incarceration
Minimum Eligible Age

34 Years

Maximum Eligible Age

82 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sponsors

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Georgetown University

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

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James Baraniuk, MD

Professor of Medicine

Responsibility Role PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

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James N Baraniuk, MD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Georgetown University

Locations

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Georgetown University

Washington D.C., District of Columbia, United States

Site Status

Countries

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United States

References

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Gray GC, Reed RJ, Kaiser KS, Smith TC, Gastanaga VM. Self-reported symptoms and medical conditions among 11,868 Gulf War-era veterans: the Seabee Health Study. Am J Epidemiol. 2002 Jun 1;155(11):1033-44. doi: 10.1093/aje/155.11.1033.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 12034582 (View on PubMed)

Baraniuk JN, Casado B, Maibach H, Clauw DJ, Pannell LK, Hess S S. A Chronic Fatigue Syndrome - related proteome in human cerebrospinal fluid. BMC Neurol. 2005 Dec 1;5:22. doi: 10.1186/1471-2377-5-22.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 16321154 (View on PubMed)

Janssen B, Hohenadel D, Brinkkoetter P, Peters V, Rind N, Fischer C, Rychlik I, Cerna M, Romzova M, de Heer E, Baelde H, Bakker SJ, Zirie M, Rondeau E, Mathieson P, Saleem MA, Meyer J, Koppel H, Sauerhoefer S, Bartram CR, Nawroth P, Hammes HP, Yard BA, Zschocke J, van der Woude FJ. Carnosine as a protective factor in diabetic nephropathy: association with a leucine repeat of the carnosinase gene CNDP1. Diabetes. 2005 Aug;54(8):2320-7. doi: 10.2337/diabetes.54.8.2320.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 16046297 (View on PubMed)

Chez MG, Buchanan CP, Aimonovitch MC, Becker M, Schaefer K, Black C, Komen J. Double-blind, placebo-controlled study of L-carnosine supplementation in children with autistic spectrum disorders. J Child Neurol. 2002 Nov;17(11):833-7. doi: 10.1177/08830738020170111501.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 12585724 (View on PubMed)

Baraniuk JN, El-Amin S, Corey R, Rayhan R, Timbol C. Carnosine treatment for gulf war illness: a randomized controlled trial. Glob J Health Sci. 2013 Feb 4;5(3):69-81. doi: 10.5539/gjhs.v5n3p69.

Reference Type RESULT
PMID: 23618477 (View on PubMed)

Related Links

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Other Identifiers

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USAMRMC PR# W91ZSQ-7149-N602

Identifier Type: OTHER_GRANT

Identifier Source: secondary_id

HRPO Log No. A-14542.2

Identifier Type: OTHER

Identifier Source: secondary_id

2008-068

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id

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