Firefighter Aged Garlic Extract Investigation With CoQ10 as a Treatment for Heart Disease (FAITH)

NCT ID: NCT00860847

Last Updated: 2015-03-12

Study Results

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Basic Information

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Recruitment Status

COMPLETED

Clinical Phase

PHASE3

Total Enrollment

65 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2009-05-31

Study Completion Date

2010-09-30

Brief Summary

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1. Statement of Problem

According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), 43.7% of all firefighters that died on the job experienced sudden cardiac death. The job also affords an incredible amount of stress. Cholesterol therapy has been well demonstrated to reduce coronary plaque progression. However is certainly not the only factor in evaluating for progression of coronary artery disease (CAD), and other factors must play a role. Garlic therapy has been shown to retard atherosclerosis independently.
2. Hypothesis and Specific Aims The hypothesis of this proposal is: In comparison to the placebo group, Aged Garlic Extract (AGE) therapy + Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) will be effective in slowing progression of coronary artery calcification (CAC) in firefighters with established atherosclerosis, independent of baseline blood pressure, statin use or other cardiovascular risk factors.

Specific Aims:

1. Compare the effects of cholesterol lowering effects in a firefighter population of patients under the influence of Aged Garlic Extract + CoQ10 or placebo.
2. Compare whether degree of change in atherosclerotic coronary artery plaque burden will change at a different rate under the influence of Aged Garlic Extract + CoQ10 compared to placebo treatment.
3. Compare whether Aged Garlic Extract + CoQ10 therapy induces changes in baseline values including biological and biochemical parameters, such as LDL cholesterol, homocysteine, C-reactive protein (CRP), and endothelial function.

Detailed Description

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Inclusion Criteria

* Calcium scan with Agatston score \>20
* Age 35-84 years
* Subjects must provide written informed consent after the scope and nature of the investigation has been explained to them
* Subjects should be stable on their concomitant medications for at least 12 weeks prior to randomization
* Subjects who agree to refrain from supplemental garlic or significant dietary garlic

Exclusion Criteria

* A contraindication to Aged Garlic Extract therapy including: known hypersensitivity to drug.
* Any unstable medical, psychiatric or substance abuse disorder that in the opinion of the investigator or principal investigator is likely to affect the subject's ability to complete the study or precludes the subject's participation in the study
* Weight in excess of 325 pounds
* Bleeding disorder
* History of myocardial infarction, stroke or life-threatening arrhythmia within the prior six months
* Resting hypotension (a resting systolic blood pressure of \<90 mm Hg) or hypertension (a resting blood pressure \> 170 mm Hg or a resting diastolic blood pressure of \>110 mm Hg)
* NYHA Class III or IV heart failure
* History of malignancy within the last 5 years (other than skin cancer) or evidence of active cancer which would require concomitant cancer chemotherapy
* Serum creatinine \> 1.4 mg/dl
* Triglycerides \> 400 at visit 1
* Diabetic subjects with HbA1c \> 12%
* Drug or alcohol abuse, or current intake of more than 14 standard drinks per week
* Concurrent enrollment in another placebo-controlled trial
* Presence of metal clips (i.e. bypass patients) or intracoronary stenting that preclude accurate measure of coronary calcification
* Partial ileal bypass or known gastrointestinal disease limiting drug absorption
* Current intake of garlic supplement or other prohibited drug (Appendix B)
* Current tobacco use
* Current use of anticoagulants (except for antiplatelet agents)
* Chronic renal failure
* Hematological or biochemical values at screening outside the reference ranges considered as clinically significant in the opinion of the investigator or PI

Outcome Measures Primary - Rate of change in total coronary calcium scores by CT The Agatston score was calculated by multiplying the lesion area (mm\^2) by a density factor. The density was measured in Hounsfield units, and score of 1 for 130-199 HU, 2 for 200-299 HU, 3 for 300-399 HU, and 4 for 400 HU and greater.

Secondary Change in blood values and endothelial function over 6 and 12 months:

1. Plasma lipids: total plasma cholesterol and triglycerides, LDL-Cholesterol, HDL-Cholesterol, and VLDL-Cholesterol determined by the precipitation method;
2. Endothelial markers and inflammation: C-reactive protein and Homocysteine, as well as GSH

Conditions

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Coronary Atherosclerosis Coronary Artery Calcification Coronary Stenosis

Study Design

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Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

PARALLEL

Primary Study Purpose

PREVENTION

Blinding Strategy

QUADRUPLE

Participants Caregivers Investigators Outcome Assessors

Study Groups

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Aged Garlic Extract and Coenzyme Q10

AGE (1200 mg) and CoQ10 (120 mg)

This is a combination of aged garlic extract and co-enzyme Q10

Group Type ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Aged garlic extract and Coenzyme Q10

Intervention Type DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT

AGE (1200 mg) and CoQ10 (120 mg)

Placebo

placebo pills will be given

Group Type NO_INTERVENTION

No interventions assigned to this group

Interventions

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Aged garlic extract and Coenzyme Q10

AGE (1200 mg) and CoQ10 (120 mg)

Intervention Type DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT

Other Intervention Names

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Kyolic formula 110

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

* Calcium scan with Agatston score \>20
* Age 35-84 years
* Subjects must provide written informed consent after the scope and nature of the investigation has been explained to them
* Subjects should be stable on their concomitant medications for at least 12 weeks prior to randomization
* Subjects who agree to refrain from supplemental garlic or significant dietary garlic

Exclusion Criteria

* A contraindication to Aged Garlic Extract therapy including: known hypersensitivity to drug.
* Any unstable medical, psychiatric or substance abuse disorder that in the opinion of the investigator or principal investigator is likely to affect the subject's ability to complete the study or precludes the subject's participation in the study
* Weight in excess of 325 pounds
* Bleeding disorder
* History of myocardial infarction, stroke or life-threatening arrhythmia within the prior six months
* Resting hypotension (a resting systolic blood pressure of \<90 mm Hg) or hypertension (a resting blood pressure \> 170 mm Hg or a resting diastolic blood pressure of \>110 mm Hg)
* NYHA Class III or IV heart failure
* History of malignancy within the last 5 years (other than skin cancer) or evidence of active cancer which would require concomitant cancer chemotherapy
* Serum creatinine \> 1.4 mg/dl
* Triglycerides \> 400 at visit 1
* Diabetic subjects with HbA1c \> 12%
* Drug or alcohol abuse, or current intake of more than 14 standard drinks per week
* Concurrent enrollment in another placebo-controlled trial
* Presence of metal clips (i.e. bypass patients) or intracoronary stenting that preclude accurate measure of coronary calcification
* Partial ileal bypass or known gastrointestinal disease limiting drug absorption
* Current intake of garlic supplement or other prohibited drug (Appendix B)
* Current tobacco use
* Current use of anticoagulants (except for antiplatelet agents)
* Chronic renal failure
* Hematological or biochemical values at screening outside the reference ranges considered as clinically significant in the opinion of the investigator or PI
Minimum Eligible Age

35 Years

Maximum Eligible Age

84 Years

Eligible Sex

MALE

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sponsors

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Lundquist Institute for Biomedical Innovation at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

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Matthew J. Budoff

Professor of Medicine

Responsibility Role PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

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Matthew J Budoff, MD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

University of California, Los Angeles

Locations

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Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute

Torrance, California, United States

Site Status

Countries

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United States

References

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Libby P, Schoenbeck U, Mach F, Selwyn AP, Ganz P. Current concepts in cardiovascular pathology: the role of LDL cholesterol in plaque rupture and stabilization. Am J Med. 1998 Feb 23;104(2A):14S-18S. doi: 10.1016/s0002-9343(98)00041-2.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 9550502 (View on PubMed)

Lau BH, Li L, Yoon P. Thymic peptide protects vascular endothelial cells from hydrogen peroxide-induced oxidant injury. Life Sci. 1993;52(22):1787-96. doi: 10.1016/0024-3205(93)90468-i.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 8492641 (View on PubMed)

Weissberg PL, Bennett MR. Atherosclerosis--an inflammatory disease. N Engl J Med. 1999 Jun 17;340(24):1928-9. No abstract available.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 10375320 (View on PubMed)

Raggi P, Callister TQ, Shaw LJ. Progression of coronary artery calcium and risk of first myocardial infarction in patients receiving cholesterol-lowering therapy. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2004 Jul;24(7):1272-7. doi: 10.1161/01.ATV.0000127024.40516.ef. Epub 2004 Apr 1.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 15059806 (View on PubMed)

Budoff MJ, Takasu J, Flores FR, Niihara Y, Lu B, Lau BH, Rosen RT, Amagase H. Inhibiting progression of coronary calcification using Aged Garlic Extract in patients receiving statin therapy: a preliminary study. Prev Med. 2004 Nov;39(5):985-91. doi: 10.1016/j.ypmed.2004.04.012.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 15475033 (View on PubMed)

Steiner M, Lin RS. Changes in platelet function and susceptibility of lipoproteins to oxidation associated with administration of aged garlic extract. J Cardiovasc Pharmacol. 1998 Jun;31(6):904-8. doi: 10.1097/00005344-199806000-00014.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 9641475 (View on PubMed)

BEUTLER E, DURON O, KELLY BM. Improved method for the determination of blood glutathione. J Lab Clin Med. 1963 May;61:882-8. No abstract available.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 13967893 (View on PubMed)

Mao S, Bakhsheshi H, Lu B, Liu SC, Oudiz RJ, Budoff MJ. Effect of electrocardiogram triggering on reproducibility of coronary artery calcium scoring. Radiology. 2001 Sep;220(3):707-11. doi: 10.1148/radiol.2203001129.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 11526270 (View on PubMed)

Ahmadi N, Hajsadeghi F, Gul K, Vane J, Usman N, Flores F, Nasir K, Hecht H, Naghavi M, Budoff M. Relations between digital thermal monitoring of vascular function, the Framingham risk score, and coronary artery calcium score. J Cardiovasc Comput Tomogr. 2008 Nov;2(6):382-8. doi: 10.1016/j.jcct.2008.09.001. Epub 2008 Sep 26.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 19083982 (View on PubMed)

Other Identifiers

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Wakunaga of America Co., Ltd.

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id

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