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Multiple SclerosisNCT05811949

Effects of Dimethyl Fumarate on Cognitive Performance and Brain Abnormalities in Multiple Sclerosis.

An observational study of Multiple Sclerosis, run by IRCCS Centro Neurolesi Bonino Pulejo at 1 site in Italy.

Completed

Finished. The study has ended and is not enrolling. Results may be posted on the official record.

Official record
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Trial summary

The goal of this observational study is to evaluate the slowing/reduction of cognitive dysfunction progression and to evaluate grey matter (GM) and thalamus structural changes in Relapsing-Remitting Multiple Sclerosis (RRMS) patients after 12 months of treatment with Dimethyl Fumarate (DMF). Read more about this study

Who is it for?
Ages 18 years and older
Conditions the study is for
Multiple Sclerosis
What is being tested?
Dimethyl Fumarate 240 MG [Tecfidera]
How many people
52 participants
Where
1 siteItaly
Study dates
24 Feb 2021to 7 Jun 2023
Phase
Observational
Are there results?
None posted in the registry

Key requirements

Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.

  • Ages 18 years and older
  • All sexes
  • No healthy volunteers
  • Adult, Older adult

Study population: The study is conducted in 52 patients: twenty-six de novo MS patients who start DMF treatment and 26 patients who switch from first-line DMT treatment (interferon, glatiramer acetate, teriflunomide) to treatment with DMF are matched for age and gender. Sample size calculation considers a significance level of 5% and a power of 80% to detect a difference of 0.22 with a standard deviation of 0.5, assuming a patients' loss of 20-30%.

Who may be able to join

  • Patients must voluntarily give written informed consent. Patients must read and fully understand the Informed Consent Form (ICF);
  • Patient diagnosed with MS according to McDonald criteria;
  • Adult patients, males or female patients ≥ 18 years old;
  • Relapsing disease course;
  • Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) ≤5.5;
  • Patients who initiate treatment with DMF 240 mg twice daily according prescribing criteria.

Who cannot join

  • Diagnosis of non-relapsing MS;
  • Use of experimental drug or investigational procedure during the study period;
  • Pregnancy;
  • Severe hepatic impairment;
  • Relapse or corticosteroid use within 30 days prior to baseline MRI scan;
  • Previous use of alemtuzumab, cladribine, rituximab, or mitoxantrone.

Trial locations and contacts

1 site in 1 country.

Italy1 site
  • IRCCS Centro Neurolesi "Bonino-Pulejo"

    Messina, 98124

Other trials in Italy

About this study

Official title: Effects of Dimethyl Fumarate on Cognitive Performances and Gray Matter and Thalamic Pathology in Multiple Sclerosis: a Correlation Study.

The goal of this observational study is to evaluate the slowing/reduction of cognitive dysfunction progression and to evaluate grey matter (GM) and thalamus structural changes in Relapsing-Remitting Multiple Sclerosis (RRMS) patients after 12 months of treatment with Dimethyl Fumarate (DMF).

The main questions it aims to answer are:

Read more
  • Can DMF slow or reduce the progression of cognitive dysfunction in RRMS patients?
  • Can DMF slow the reduction of brain volume in RRMS patients?

At baseline visit, RRMS patients undergo extensive neurological examination in which their disability is evaluated by using Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS). The efficacy assessments of this study are:

  1. The Brief Repeatable Neuropsychological Battery (BRB);
  2. Executive functions: Delis-Kaplan Function System (DKEFS) scale - Sorting Test.

All RRMS patients undergo MRI: conventional MRI measures (T2-, T1-enhancing and T1-hypointense lesions), global brain atrophy, regional brain atrophy and Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) (GM and thalamus) examinations.

Six and 12 months after the baseline visit, the RRMS patients in treatment with DMF undergo the BRB, DKEFS and MRI/DTI study and neurological evaluation (EDSS).

Read the detailed description

Dimethyl fumarate (DMF) is an oral disease-modifying therapy (DMT) approved for management of Relapsing-Remitting Multiple Sclerosis (RRMS) patients. Clinical trials have shown that DMF has a significant beneficial impact on relapse rate, disability accrual and the number of new lesions along with their volumes. In addition, a neuroprotective role of DMF has been suggested to occur on both the gray matter (GM) and thalamus. However, there are no correlation data in the literature between the effects of DMF on cognitive performance and those on the GM, with a focus on thalamic pathology in MS patients.

The primary objectives of this study are:

  1. to evaluate the slowing/reduction of cognitive dysfunction progression in RRMS patients after 12 months of treatment with DMF; ii) to evaluate the effects of DMF on Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) parameters in GM and thalamus.

The secondary objective is to evaluate how the effects on cognitive dysfunction progression are associated to the effect of slowing the brain volume reduction at MRI (antiatrophic effect) and to change of Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) parameters that DMT might have in RRMS patients, in the GM and thalamus.

The tertiary objective is to assess whether differences exist between patients with RRMS de novo to DMF treatment and patients switching from first-line DMT to DMF.

After signing informed consent, demographics, medical history and current therapies are collected for each RRMS patient enrolled. RRMS patients undergo extensive neurological examination in which their disability is evaluated by using EDSS. The efficacy assessments of this study are:

  1. The Brief Repeatable Neuropsychological Battery (BRB)
  2. Executive functions: Delis-Kaplan Function System (DKEFS) scale - Sorting Test.

All MS patients undergo MRI: conventional MRI measures (T2-, T1-enhancing and T1-hypointense lesions), global brain atrophy, regional brain atrophy and DTI (GM and thalamus) examinations.

Six and 12 months after the baseline visit, the RRMS patients in treatment with DMF undergo the BRB, DKEFS and MRI/DTI study and neurological evaluation (EDSS).

Being tested
Dimethyl Fumarate 240 MG [Tecfidera]
Medical subject headings
Multiple Sclerosis

What participants receive

What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.

  • Dimethyl Fumarate 240 MG [Tecfidera]Drug

    DMF is admnistered to RRMS patients who are candidates for treatment according to clinical practice at a dosage of 120 mg twice daily, increased to 240 mg twice daily after 7 days.

Study groups in NCT05811949
Study groupRoleWhat they receive
RRMS patients with de novo DMF treatmentRRMS patients with de novo treatment who start DMF.
Receives: Drug: Dimethyl Fumarate 240 MG [Tecfidera]
RRMS patients switching to DMF.RRMS patients who switch from first-line DMT treatment (interferon, glatiramer acetate, teriflunomide) to treatment with DMF.
Receives: Drug: Dimethyl Fumarate 240 MG [Tecfidera]

What is being measured

The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.

  1. Change in subjects' cognitive performance

    Change from baseline in Selective Reminding Test - Long-Term Storage (SRT-LTS) Raw Score of Brief Repeatable Battery (BRB) at 6 months. This is one of the five tests of BRB for episodic memory (verbal learning and delayed recall). A word recalled on two consecutive trials is considered to have entered long-term storage (LTS) on the first of these trials and scored as LTS on all following trials. The total score ranged from 0 to 72. Higher values represent a better outcome.

    Measured: Month 0 Baseline to Month 6 Follow-up

  2. Change in subjects' cognitive performance

    Change from baseline in Selective Reminding Test - Consistent Long Term Retrieval (SRT-CLTR) Raw Score of Brief Repeatable Battery (BRB) at 6 months. This is one of the five tests of BRB for episodic memory (verbal learning and delayed recall). A word recalled on two consecutive trials is considered to have entered long-term storage (LTS) on the first of these trials and scored as LTS on all following trials. The total of the words in LTS of all six trials is then summed. If a word in LTS is consistently recalled on all subsequent trials, it is then scored as Consistent Long Term Retrieval (CLTR). The total of the words in CLTR of all six trials is summed. The total score ranged from 0 to 72. Higher values represent a better outcome.

    Measured: Month 0 Baseline to Month 6 Follow-up

  3. Change in subjects' cognitive performance

    Change from baseline in Spatial Recall Test (SPART) Raw Score of Brief Repeatable Battery (BRB) at 6 months. The spatial recall test assesses visuospatial learning and delayed recall. The total score ranged from 0 to 30. Higher values represent a better outcome.

    Measured: Month 0 Baseline to Month 6 Follow-up

  4. Change in subjects' cognitive performance

    Change from baseline in Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT) Raw Score of Brief Repeatable Battery (BRB) at 6 months. Symbol Digit Modality Test (SDMT) for sustained attention and information processing speed. The score is the number of correct answers in 90 seconds. The total score ranged from 0 to 110. Higher values represent a better outcome.

    Measured: Month 0 Baseline to Month 6 Follow-up

  5. Change in subjects' cognitive performance

    Change from baseline in Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test - 3 Seconds (PASAT 3) Raw Score of Brief Repeatable Battery (BRB) at 6 months. Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test (PASAT) for working memory (and sustained attention and information processing speed). The total score ranged from 0 to 60. Higher values represent a better outcome.

    Measured: Month 0 Baseline to Month 6 Follow-up

  6. Change in subjects' cognitive performance

    Change from baseline in Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test - 2 (PASAT 2) Raw Score of Brief Repeatable Battery (BRB) at 6 months. Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test (PASAT) for working memory (and sustained attention and information processing speed). The total score ranged from 0 to 60. Higher values represent a better outcome.

    Measured: Month 0 Baseline to Month 6 Follow-up

  7. Change in subjects' cognitive performance

    Change from baseline in Selective Reminding Test - Delayed Recall (SRT-D) Raw Score of Brief Repeatable Battery (BRB) at 6 months. The tests SRT (Selective Reminding Test) for episodic memory (verbal learning and delayed recall).The total score ranged from 0 to 12. Higher values represent a better outcome.

    Measured: Month 0 Baseline to Month 6 Follow-up

  8. Change in subjects' cognitive performance

    Change from baseline in Spatial Recall Test - Delayed Recall (SPART-D) of Brief Repeatable Battery (BRB) at 6 months. Spatial Recall Test (SPART) for visuospatial learning and delayed recall. Spatial Recall Test (10/36): The spatial recall test assesses visuospatial learning and delayed recall (10/36-D). The total score ranged from 0 to 10. Higher values represent a better outcome.

    Measured: Month 0 Baseline to Month 6 Follow-up

  9. Change in subjects' cognitive performance

    Change from baseline in Word List Generation (WLG) of Brief Repeatable Battery (BRB) at 6 months. Word List Generation (COWAT/WLG): The COWAT assesses verbal fluency on semantic stimulus by asking the patient to produce as many words as possible belonging to a semantic category. No maximum range is available. Higher values represent a better outcome. The score is the number of correct words. The more words the patient pronounces, the better it is. We can imagine that the minimum value might be zero words, but it is not a score scale.

    Measured: Month 0 Baseline to Month 6 Follow-up

  10. Change in subjects' cognitive performance

    Change from baseline in Selective Reminding Test - Long-Term Storage (SRT-LTS) Raw Score of Brief Repeatable Battery (BRB) at 12 months. One of the five tests of BRB is SRT (Selective Reminding Test) for episodic memory (verbal learning and delayed recall). A word recalled on two consecutive trials is considered to have entered long-term storage (LTS) on the first of these trials and scored as LTS on all following trials. The total score ranged from 0 to 72. Higher values represent a better outcome.

    Measured: Month 0 Baseline to Month 12 Follow-up

  11. Change in subjects' cognitive performance

    Change from baseline in Selective Reminding Test - Consistent Long Term Retrieval (SRT-CLTR) Raw Score of Brief Repeatable Battery (BRB) at 12 months. One of the five tests of BRB is SRT (Selective Reminding Test) for episodic memory (verbal learning and delayed recall). A word recalled on two consecutive trials is considered to have entered long-term storage (LTS) on the first of these trials and scored as LTS on all following trials. The total of the words in LTS of all six trials is then summed. If a word in LTS is consistently recalled on all subsequent trials, it is then scored as Consistent Long Term Retrieval (CLTR). The total of the words in CLTR of all six trials is summed. The total score ranged from 0 to 72. Higher values represent a better outcome.

    Measured: Month 0 Baseline to Month 12 Follow-up

  12. Change in subjects' cognitive performance

    Change from baseline in Spatial Recall Test (SPART) Raw Score of Brief Repeatable Battery (BRB) at 12 months. The spatial recall test assesses visuospatial learning and delayed recall. The total score ranged from 0 to 30. Higher values represent a better outcome.

    Measured: Month 0 Baseline to Month 12 Follow-up

  13. Change in subjects' cognitive performance

    Change from baseline in Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT) Raw Score of Brief Repeatable Battery (BRB) at 12 months. Symbol Digit Modality Test (SDMT) for sustained attention and information processing speed. The score is the number of correct answers in 90 seconds. The total score ranged from 0 to 110. Higher values represent a better outcome

    Measured: Month 0 Baseline to Month 12 Follow-up

  14. Change in subjects' cognitive performance

    Change from baseline in Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test - 3 Seconds (PASAT 3) Raw Score of Brief Repeatable Battery (BRB) at 12 months. Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test (PASAT) for working memory (and sustained attention and information processing speed). The total score ranged from 0 to 60. Higher values represent a better outcome.

    Measured: Month 0 Baseline to Month 12 Follow-up

  15. Change in subjects' cognitive performance

    Change from baseline in Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test - 2 (PASAT 2) Raw Score of Brief Repeatable Battery (BRB) at 12 months. +Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test (PASAT) for working memory (and sustained attention and information processing speed). The total score ranged from 0 to 60. Higher values represent a better outcome.

    Measured: Month 0 Baseline to Month 12 Follow-up

  16. Change in subjects' cognitive performance

    Change from baseline in Selective Reminding Test - Delayed Recall (SRT-D) Raw Score of Brief Repeatable Battery (BRB) at 12 months. The tests SRT (Selective Reminding Test) for episodic memory (verbal learning and delayed recall).The total score ranged from 0 to 12. Higher values represent a better outcome.

    Measured: Month 0 Baseline to Month 12 Follow-up

  17. Change in subjects' cognitive performance

    Change from baseline in Spatial Recall Test - Delayed Recall (SPART-D) of Brief Repeatable Battery (BRB) at 12 months. Spatial Recall Test (SPART) for visuospatial learning and delayed recall.Spatial Recall Test (10/36): The spatial recall test assesses visuospatial learning and delayed recall (10/36-D). The total score ranged from 0 to 10. Higher values represent a better outcome.

    Measured: Month 0 Baseline to Month 12 Follow-up

  18. Change in subjects' cognitive performance

    Change from baseline in Word List Generation (WLG) of Brief Repeatable Battery (BRB) at 12 months. Word List Generation (COWAT/WLG): The COWAT assesses verbal fluency on semantic stimulus by asking the patient to produce as many words as possible belonging to a semantic category. No maximum range is available. Higher values represent a better outcome. The score is the number of correct words. The more words the patient pronounces, the better it is. We can imagine that the minimum value might be zero words, but it is not a score scale.

    Measured: Month 0 Baseline to Month 12 Follow-up

  19. Change in subjects' cognitive performance

    Change from baseline in Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System (DKEFS) Condition 1: Free Sorting, Confirmed Correct Sort - Card Set 1+2 at 6 months. The standard form consists of the practice card set, card set 1 and card set 2. The alternate form consists of the same practice card set, card set 3 and card set 4. The DKFES test consisted of two testing procedures: free sorting and sort recognition. In free sorting, six scores are obtained: Confirmed Correct sorts for card sets 1 and 2 (or 3 and 4 for version B), sum of confirmed Correct Sorts. In sort recognition, a description score for card set 1 and 2 (or 3 and 4 for version B) is obtained, as well as the sum of description scores of both sets. The total score ranges from 0 to 16. Higher values represent a better outcome.

    Measured: Month 0 Baseline to Month 6 Follow-up

  20. Change in subjects' cognitive performance

    Change from baseline in DKEFS Condition 1: Free Sorting, Free Sorting, Description Score, Card Set 1+2 at 6 months. The standard form consists of the practice card set, card set 1 and card set 2. The alternate form consists of the same practice card set, card set 3 and card set 4. In free sorting, six scores were obtained: Confirmed Correct sorts for card sets 1 and 2 (or 3 and 4 for version B), sum of confirmed Correct Sorts, Free Sorting Description score for card set 1 and 2 (or 3 and 4 for version B) and sum of Free Sorting Description scores. In sort recognition, a description score for card set 1 and 2 (or 3 and 4 for version B) was obtained, as well as the sum of description scores of both sets. The total score ranged from 0 to 64. Higher values represent a better outcome.

    Measured: Month 0 Baseline to Month 6 Follow-up

  21. Change in subjects' cognitive performance

    Change from baseline in DKEFS Condition 2: Sort Recognition, Sort Recognition Description Score- Card Set 1+22 at 6 months. The standard form consists of the practice card set, card set 1 and card set 2. The alternate form consists of the same practice card set, card set 3 and card set 4. Free sorting and sort recognition. In free sorting, six scores were obtained: Confirmed Correct sorts for card sets 1 and 2 (or 3 and 4 for version B), sum of confirmed Correct Sorts, Free Sorting Description score for card set 1 and 2 (or 3 and 4 for version B) and sum of Free Sorting Description scores. The total score ranged from 0 to 64. Higher values represent a better outcome.

    Measured: Month 0 Baseline to Month 6 Follow-up

  22. Change in subjects' cognitive performance

    Change from baseline in Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System (DKEFS) Condition 1: Free Sorting, Confirmed Correct Sort - Card Set 1+2 at 12 months. The standard form consists of the practice card set, card set 1 and card set 2. The alternate form consists of the same practice card set, card set 3 and card set 4. The DKFES test consisted of two testing procedures: free sorting and sort recognition. In free sorting, six scores are obtained: Confirmed Correct sorts for card sets 1 and 2 (or 3 and 4 for version B), sum of confirmed Correct Sorts. In sort recognition, a description score for card set 1 and 2 (or 3 and 4 for version B) is obtained, as well as the sum of description scores of both sets. The total score ranges from 0 to 16. Higher values represent a better outcome.

    Measured: Month 0 Baseline to Month 12 Follow-up

  23. Change in subjects' cognitive performance

    Change from baseline in DKEFS Condition 1: Free Sorting, Free Sorting, Description Score, Card Set 1+2 at 12 months. The standard form consists of the practice card set, card set 1 and card set 2. The alternate form consists of the same practice card set, card set 3 and card set 4. In free sorting, six scores were obtained: Confirmed Correct sorts for card sets 1 and 2 (or 3 and 4 for version B), sum of confirmed Correct Sorts, Free Sorting Description score for card set 1 and 2 (or 3 and 4 for version B) and sum of Free Sorting Description scores. In sort recognition, a description score for card set 1 and 2 (or 3 and 4 for version B) was obtained, as well as the sum of description scores of both sets. The total score ranged from 0 to 64. Higher values represent a better outcome.

    Measured: Month 0 Baseline to Month 12 Follow-up

  24. Change in subjects' cognitive performance

    Change from baseline in DKEFS Condition 2: Sort Recognition, Sort Recognition Description Score - Card Set 1+22 at 12 months. The standard form consists of the practice card set, card set 1 and card set 2. The alternate form consists of the same practice card set, card set 3 and card set 4. Free sorting and sort recognition. In free sorting, six scores were obtained: Confirmed Correct sorts for card sets 1 and 2 (or 3 and 4 for version B), sum of confirmed Correct Sorts, Free Sorting Description score for card set 1 and 2 (or 3 and 4 for version B) and sum of Free Sorting Description scores. The total score ranged from 0 to 64. Higher values represent a better outcome.

    Measured: Month 0 Baseline to Month 12 Follow-up

  25. Changes brain MRI parameters

    Change from baseline GM and thalamus volume at 6 months.

    Measured: Month 0 Baseline to Month 6 Follow-up

  26. Changes brain MRI parameters

    Change from baseline GM and thalamus volume at 12 months.

    Measured: Month 0 Baseline to Month 12 Follow-up

  27. Changes brain MRI parameters

    Change from baseline DTI measures in the GM and thalamus at 6 months.

    Measured: Month 0 Baseline to Month 6 Follow-up

  28. Changes brain MRI parameters

    Change from baseline DTI measures in the GM and thalamus at 12 months.

    Measured: Month 0 Baseline to Month 12 Follow-up

Secondary outcomes (1)
  1. Correlation between scores of cognitive battery and brain MRI parameters

    Correlation data between each test of cognitive battery, in terms of mean changes in total score observed at endpoint vs. baseline, and brain volume reduction and DTI parameters (in GM and thalamus), as mean change after 12 months of treatment.

    Measured: Baseline and 6 and 12 months after.

Timeline

From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.

  1. First posted13 Apr 2023
  2. Study start24 Feb 2021
  3. Primary completion11 Oct 2022
  4. Study completion7 Jun 2023

Resources

More details

For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.

Study design
Study type
Observational
Observational model
Cohort
Time perspective
Prospective
Enrolment
52 participants (actual)
IDs, dates and publications
ClinicalTrials.gov ID
NCT05811949
Sponsor's protocol ID
MSDMF_2020
Status last verified
Oct 2024
First submitted
17 Mar 2023
Last updated
15 Oct 2024
Results posted
No
Data monitoring committee
No
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
Individual data sharing
Undecided

Questions about this trial

What is this clinical trial studying?

An observational study of Multiple Sclerosis, run by IRCCS Centro Neurolesi Bonino Pulejo at 1 site in Italy.

The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.

Who may be eligible to take part?

The sponsor lists 6 inclusion and 6 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.

Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?

The record says: finished, as of the sponsor's last update on 15 Oct 2024. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.

Where is the study taking place?

The record lists 1 site in Italy. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.

What are the possible benefits and risks?

They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.

Are results available for this study?

The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.

How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?

The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.

What does the primary outcome measure?

Change in subjects' cognitive performance (time frame: Month 0 Baseline to Month 6 Follow-up). The study lists 28 primary outcomes in all. It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.

Where can I read the original study information?
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?

No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.

How often is this information updated?

AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 15 Oct 2024.

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