Clinical trial NCT01833364: Autologous Peripheral Nerve Grafts Into the Substantia Nigra of Subjects With PD Undergoing Deep Brain Stimulation
Official title: A Pilot Study to Evaluate the Safety and Feasibility of Implanting Autologous Peripheral Nerve Grafts Into the Substantia Nigra of Subjects With Parkinson's Disease Undergoing Deep Brain Stimulation Surgery and Treatment
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Parkinson's Disease
Keywords: Parkinson's Disease
Deep Brain Stimulation
Peripheral Nerve Graft
Lead sponsor: University of Kentucky
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: University of Kentucky
First posted: 2013-04-16
Enrollment: 8
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 40
Maximum age (years): 75
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Allocation: NA
Intervention model: SINGLE_GROUP
Primary purpose: TREATMENT

Brief summary: By doing this study, the investigators hope to learn provide safety data that can be used to generate a larger phase III clinical trial. If successful, it would promote the development of a new treatment for PD in which patients are able to provide their own tissue as a source of a supportive environment for the injured and dying cells and thereby possibly stopping the progression of the illness or even improve the symptoms of PD.

The purpose of this research is to gather information on the safety and feasibility of nerve graft implantation is. The results of this study will be shared with the University of Kentucky, Center for Clinical and Translational Science (group providing financial support for the study) and other federal agencies, if required.

The overall goal of this research is to develop a novel, regenerative treatment strategy for idiopathic Parkinson's disease (PD) that is safe, cost effective and widely available to patients.

Detailed description: This pilot study is designed to test the safety and feasibility of the implantation of the subject's own peripheral nerve tissue into an area of the brain called the substantia nigra. Only subjects who have elected to undergo DBS surgery will be asked to participate in this research study.

The implantation of the nerve graft will take place in the operating room at the end of the second stage surgery for DBS. Subjects will be asked to donate a piece of their own peripheral nerve tissue that will be used to create the graft for their implantation. The peripheral nerve tissue is obtained from a small incision (approximately 2 inches) above and on the outer-side of one ankle. The initial incision is created during stage I of the DBS procedure and will take place under general anesthesia. The incision will be closed with internal sutures, and a dressing will cover the incision after the procedure.

The nerve will be harvested during stage II of the DBS procedure. This involves opening the same incision using local anesthesia injected around the incision site. Once a small piece (about an inch) of the nerve is removed, the incision will be sutured closed with internal stitches. These stitches will dissolve on their own and will not need to be removed in the office.

Follow-up. Subjects will be followed in our clinic for for DBS follow-up visits and treatment, none of those visits are part of this study.

Prior to coming in for study visits subjects will need to stop taking their PD medications 12 hours before each visit. Subjects will be allowed to restart their normal PD medication during the examination.

Subjects will undergo formal Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) evaluations at screening and months 1, 3, 6, 9 and 12. In order to visually document potential changes in their Parkinson's Disease symptoms following their DBS surgery, we will be videotaping study related neurological testing sessions.

Subject will also be videotaped at screening, and visits 1, 3, 6, 9, 12.

A neuropsychological exam will be performed at screening and again at month 12.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Elected to have DBS Surgery
* Parkinson's Disease for 5 years or more
* Ages 40-75

Exclusion Criteria:

* Have previously undergone PD surgery or any intracranial surgery
* Unwilling to delay taking PD medications during the study
* Unable to follow the directions of the study team
* Unable to attend all study visits
* Have participated in previous clinical studies and received an investigational product within 30 days of screening

Primary outcomes:
measure: Safety and Tolerability of Nerve Graft Implantation
timeFrame: One year
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Peripheral Nerve Graft Efficacy -- clinical improvement
timeFrame: 1 year
measure: Peripheral Nerve Graft Efficacy -- Therapy Reduction
timeFrame: 1 year
measure: Peripheral Nerve Graft Efficacy -- Quality of Life
timeFrame: 1 year
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Lexington
country: United States
facility: University of Kentucky Medical Center
state: Kentucky
city: Lexington
country: United States
facility: University of Kentucky Medical Center
state: Kentucky
Study officials:
affiliation: University of Kentucky, Department of Neurosurgery
name: Craig van Horne, MD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: van Horne CG, Quintero JE, Slevin JT, Anderson-Mooney A, Gurwell JA, Welleford AS, Lamm JR, Wagner RP, Gerhardt GA. Peripheral nerve grafts implanted into the substantia nigra in patients with Parkinson's disease during deep brain stimulation surgery: 1-year follow-up study of safety, feasibility, and clinical outcome. J Neurosurg. 2018 Dec 1;129(6):1550-1561. doi: 10.3171/2017.8.JNS163222. Epub 2018 Feb 18.
citation: van Horne CG, Quintero JE, Gurwell JA, Wagner RP, Slevin JT, Gerhardt GA. Implantation of autologous peripheral nerve grafts into the substantia nigra of subjects with idiopathic Parkinson's disease treated with bilateral STN DBS: a report of safety and feasibility. J Neurosurg. 2017 Apr;126(4):1140-1147. doi: 10.3171/2016.2.JNS151988. Epub 2016 May 6.