A Trial of Validation and Restoration of Immune Dysfunction in Severe Infections and Sepsis

NCT ID: NCT03332225

Last Updated: 2020-07-29

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

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Recruitment Status

COMPLETED

Clinical Phase

PHASE2

Total Enrollment

36 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2017-12-15

Study Completion Date

2019-12-31

Brief Summary

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The aim of the study is to conduct one RCT of personalized immunotherapy in sepsis targeting patients who lie either on the predominantly hyper-inflammatory arm or on the predominantly hypo-inflammatory arm of the spectrum of the host response. These patients will be selected by the use of a panel of biomarkers and laboratory findings and they will be randomly allocated to placebo or immunotherapy treatment according to their needs.

Detailed Description

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Sepsis is a life-threatening organ dysfunction that results from the dysregulated host response to an infection. Accumulating knowledge suggests that this dysregulated host response has a broad spectrum where some patients lie to the two extremes of this spectrum whereas the majority of patients lie in between. The first extreme encompasses patients who are dominated from a hyper-inflammatory response to an infectious insult. On the other extreme lie patients who do not have any hyper-inflammatory response; instead these patients are dominated by an exhausted immune response to an infectious stimulus. The remaining patients have features of both hyper- and hypo-inflammatory responses.

Randomized clinical trials (RCTs) that have investigated the effects of immunotherapy in sepsis have all failed to establish beneficial effects for the patients. The reasons for that are multiple but one of the most important is the current notion that sepsis is a complex disorder with heterogeneity regarding patient characteristics. Thus, it is necessary to try and find ways to personalise the immunomodulatory treatment of sepsis. In the clinical trial proposed here, two personalised approaches will be investigated.

Some 25 years ago, there were high expectations of the blockade of interleukin (IL)-1 in sepsis using the human recombinant IL-1 receptor antagonist, anakinra. The expectations were based on animal experiments as well as positive results in a single-centre clinical trial. However, in a large international trial, anakinra did not show benefit over placebo. Still, it became clear from this study, enrolling 906 patients that intravenous anakinra was a very safe drug: there was neither excess mortality in these critically ill patients, nor increased susceptibility to secondary infections. In a post-hoc analysis of this trial published in 2016, it was demonstrated that a subgroup of 34 patients showed a clinical picture compatible with macrophage activation syndrome. Since bone marrow was not performed in these patients, the investigators prefer to call this macrophage activation like syndrome (MALS). MALS is a dreaded complication with a mortality rate in the order of 70%. The post-hoc analysis showed that patients receiving anakinra had 30% significant survival benefit compared to those receiving placebo. From these data it can be concluded that it is important to recognize patients with this complication of sepsis and that anakinra might be a beneficial drug.

A survey of the database of sepsis patients in the Hellenic Sepsis Study Group revealed that 5% of the patients with septic shock suffered from MALS. It was found in this study that MAS can be easily and reliably diagnosed by measuring ferritin in the blood. A cut off of 4.420ng/ml had specificity more than 97%.

Another important clinical phenomenon in sepsis is that patients may run into a phase of immunoparalysis. In this situation, the immune cells do not produce any more proinflammatory cytokines and switch to production of anti-inflammatory cytokines such as IL-10; they also loose important functional markers such HLA-DR. Patients with immunoparalysis have a 50% risk of dying in the subsequent 28 days. There is evidence from preclinical studies and from the endotoxin challenge model in human volunteers that immunoparalysis is reversible at least to some extent. The best candidate drug for this would be interferon gamma (IFNγ). Immunosuppression established in healthy volunteers after experimental endotoxemia was reversed after administration of recombinant human interferon-gamma (rhIFNγ). rhIFNγ was also investigated for this purpose in nine patients at septic shock in a small open-label and non-randomized clinical trial; reversal of immunoparalysis was achieved. The extensive experience with IFNγ teaches that it is a safe drug, the main side effect being fever and flu-like syndrome, which can be mitigated by premedication with a prostaglandin inhibitor like paracetamol. In patients with autoimmune diseases like systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and multiple sclerosis flares of the disease induced by IFNγ have been described. So these diseases are contraindications for the drug.

The purpose of this study is to investigate in a randomised placebo-controlled clinical trial with a double-dummy design in patients with septic shock, whether personalised immunotherapy directed against either MALS or immunoparalysis is able to change the perspective for these critically ill patients.

MALS is considered as a more direct life-threatening manifestation of sepsis than immunoparalysis. For that reason all patients will be randomised with evidence of MALS for anakinra or placebo, irrespective the state of immunity as measured by HLA-DR positivity.

The aim of the study is to conduct one RCT of personalized immunotherapy in sepsis targeting patients who lie either on the predominantly hyper-inflammatory arm or on the predominantly hypo-inflammatory arm of the spectrum of the host response. These patients will be selected by the use of a panel of biomarkers and laboratory findings and they will be allocated to placebo or immunotherapy treatment according to their needs.

Conditions

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Sepsis Macrophage Activation Syndrome

Study Design

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Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

PARALLEL

Treatment with recombinant human interferon-gamma or anakinra
Primary Study Purpose

TREATMENT

Blinding Strategy

QUADRUPLE

Participants Caregivers Investigators Outcome Assessors

Study Groups

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Anakinra

Treatment with iv anakinra 200 mg three times daily (every eight hours) for seven days and sc 1ml N/S 0.9% every other day for 15 days

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Anakinra

Intervention Type DRUG

Treatment with anakinra

IV Placebo

Treatment with iv 1ml N/S 0.9% three times daily (every eight hours) for seven days and sc 1ml N/S 0.9% every other day for 15 days

Group Type PLACEBO_COMPARATOR

Placebo

Intervention Type DRUG

Treatment with Placebo

Recombinant human interferon-gamma

Treatment with sc recombinant human interferon-gamma every other day for a total of 15 days and with iv 1ml N/S 0.9% three times daily (every eight hours) for seven days

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Recombinant human interferon-gamma

Intervention Type DRUG

Treatment with recombinant human interferon-gamma

Interventions

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Anakinra

Treatment with anakinra

Intervention Type DRUG

Recombinant human interferon-gamma

Treatment with recombinant human interferon-gamma

Intervention Type DRUG

Placebo

Treatment with Placebo

Intervention Type DRUG

Other Intervention Names

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Kineret Imukin Saline Solution

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

* Age equal to or above 18 years
* Male or female gender
* In case of women, unwillingness to remain pregnant during the study period
* Written informed consent provided by the patient or by one first-degree relative/spouse in case of patients unable to consent
* Community-acquired pneumonia or hospital-acquired pneumonia or ventilator-associated pneumonia or primary bacteremia or acute cholangitis
* Sepsis defined by the Sepsis-3 definitions.
* Patients with laboratory diagnosis of MALS or hypo-inflammation (immune-paralysis) based on two consecutive blood sampling with 24 hours apart. MALS is defined as the presence of ferritin \>4,420 ng/ml and hypo-inflammation as HLA-DR expression on CD14-monocytes (co-expression) less than 30%

Exclusion Criteria

* Age below 18 years
* Denial for written informed consent
* Acute pyelonephritis or intraabdominal infection other than AC, meningitis or skin infection. It is explicitly stated that in the case of a patient with both AC and any other type of intraabdominal infection, the patient cannot be enrolled.
* Any stage IV malignancy
* Any do not resuscitate decision
* In the case of BSI, patients with blood cultures growing coagulase-negative staphylococci or skin commensals or catheter-related infections cannot be enrolled.
* Active tuberculosis (TB) as defined by the co-administration of drugs for the treatment of TB
* Infection by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)
* Any primary immunodeficiency
* Oral or IV intake of corticosteroids at a daily dose equal or greater than 0.4 mg prednisone or greater the last 15 days
* Any anti-cytokine biological treatment the last one month
* Medical history of systemic lupus erythematosus
* Medical history of multiple sclerosis or any other demyelinating disorder
* Pregnancy or lactation. Women of child-bearing potential will be screened by a urine pregnancy test before inclusion in the study
Minimum Eligible Age

18 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sponsors

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Hellenic Institute for the Study of Sepsis

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

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Responsibility Role SPONSOR

Principal Investigators

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Antonios Papadopoulos, MD, PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

National Kapodistrian University of Athens, Medical School

Locations

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2nd Department of Critical Care Medicine

Athens, Haidari, Greece

Site Status

4th Department of Internal Medicine

Athens, Haidari, Greece

Site Status

Intensive Care Unit, Ioannina University Hospital

Ioannina, Ioannina, Greece

Site Status

Intensive Care Unit, Center for Accident Rehabilitation (KAT) of Athens

Athens, Kifissia, Greece

Site Status

Department of Internal Medicine, Patras University Hospital

Pátrai, Rion, Greece

Site Status

Intensive Care Unit, Alexandroupolis University Hospital

Alexandroupoli, , Greece

Site Status

1st Department of Pulmonary Medicine and Intensive Care Unit

Athens, , Greece

Site Status

Intensive Care Unit, "Latsio", Thriasio Elefsis General Hospital

Elefsina, , Greece

Site Status

Intensive Care Unit, "Koutlimbaneio & Triantafylleio" Larissa General Hospital

Larissa, , Greece

Site Status

Department of Internal Medicine, Larissa University Hospital

Larissa, , Greece

Site Status

Intensive Care Unit, "Tzanio" Piraeus General Hospital

Piraeus, , Greece

Site Status

Intensive Care Unit, "Aghios Dimitrios" Thessaloniki General Hospital

Thessaloniki, , Greece

Site Status

Intensive Care Unit, "G.Gennimatas" Thessaloniki General Hospital

Thessaloniki, , Greece

Site Status

Countries

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Greece

References

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Singer M, Deutschman CS, Seymour CW, Shankar-Hari M, Annane D, Bauer M, Bellomo R, Bernard GR, Chiche JD, Coopersmith CM, Hotchkiss RS, Levy MM, Marshall JC, Martin GS, Opal SM, Rubenfeld GD, van der Poll T, Vincent JL, Angus DC. The Third International Consensus Definitions for Sepsis and Septic Shock (Sepsis-3). JAMA. 2016 Feb 23;315(8):801-10. doi: 10.1001/jama.2016.0287.

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Kyriazopoulou E, Leventogiannis K, Norrby-Teglund A, Dimopoulos G, Pantazi A, Orfanos SE, Rovina N, Tsangaris I, Gkavogianni T, Botsa E, Chassiou E, Kotanidou A, Kontouli C, Chaloulis P, Velissaris D, Savva A, Cullberg JS, Akinosoglou K, Gogos C, Armaganidis A, Giamarellos-Bourboulis EJ; Hellenic Sepsis Study Group. Macrophage activation-like syndrome: an immunological entity associated with rapid progression to death in sepsis. BMC Med. 2017 Sep 18;15(1):172. doi: 10.1186/s12916-017-0930-5.

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Giamarellos-Bourboulis EJ, Tsaganos T, Tsangaris I, Lada M, Routsi C, Sinapidis D, Koupetori M, Bristianou M, Adamis G, Mandragos K, Dalekos GN, Kritselis I, Giannikopoulos G, Koutelidakis I, Pavlaki M, Antoniadou E, Vlachogiannis G, Koulouras V, Prekates A, Dimopoulos G, Koutsoukou A, Pnevmatikos I, Ioakeimidou A, Kotanidou A, Orfanos SE, Armaganidis A, Gogos C; Hellenic Sepsis Study Group. Validation of the new Sepsis-3 definitions: proposal for improvement in early risk identification. Clin Microbiol Infect. 2017 Feb;23(2):104-109. doi: 10.1016/j.cmi.2016.11.003. Epub 2016 Nov 14.

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Kranidioti E, Ricano-Ponce I, Antonakos N, Kyriazopoulou E, Kotsaki A, Tsangaris I, Markopoulou D, Rovina N, Antoniadou E, Koutsodimitropoulos I, Dalekos GN, Vlachogianni G, Akinosoglou K, Koulouras V, Komnos A, Kontopoulou T, Dimopoulos G, Netea MG, Kumar V, Giamarellos-Bourboulis EJ. Modulation of Metabolomic Profile in Sepsis According to the State of Immune Activation. Crit Care Med. 2024 Nov 1;52(11):e536-e544. doi: 10.1097/CCM.0000000000006391. Epub 2024 Aug 23.

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Leventogiannis K, Kyriazopoulou E, Antonakos N, Kotsaki A, Tsangaris I, Markopoulou D, Grondman I, Rovina N, Theodorou V, Antoniadou E, Koutsodimitropoulos I, Dalekos G, Vlachogianni G, Akinosoglou K, Koulouras V, Komnos A, Kontopoulou T, Prekates A, Koutsoukou A, van der Meer JWM, Dimopoulos G, Kyprianou M, Netea MG, Giamarellos-Bourboulis EJ. Toward personalized immunotherapy in sepsis: The PROVIDE randomized clinical trial. Cell Rep Med. 2022 Nov 15;3(11):100817. doi: 10.1016/j.xcrm.2022.100817.

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Karakike E, Giamarellos-Bourboulis EJ. Macrophage Activation-Like Syndrome: A Distinct Entity Leading to Early Death in Sepsis. Front Immunol. 2019 Jan 31;10:55. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2019.00055. eCollection 2019.

Reference Type DERIVED
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Other Identifiers

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2017-002171-26

Identifier Type: EUDRACT_NUMBER

Identifier Source: secondary_id

PROVIDE

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id

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