Clinical trial NCT01355796: Inhaled Xylitol Versus Saline in Stable Subjects With Cystic Fibrosis
Official title: Randomized Cross Over Study of Inhaled Hypertonic Xylitol Versus Hypertonic Saline in Stable Subjects With Cystic Fibrosis
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: PHASE1
PHASE2
Conditions: Cystic Fibrosis
Lead sponsor: University of Iowa
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: Ann & Robert H Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago
name: Northwestern University
First posted: 2011-05-18
Enrollment: 30
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 16
Standard ages: CHILD
ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: CROSSOVER
Primary purpose: TREATMENT

Brief summary: Cystic fibrosis (CF) lung disease is characterized by chronic bacterial colonization and recurrent infection of the airways. Lowering the airway surface liquid (ASL) salt concentration has been shown to increase activity of salt sensitive antimicrobial peptides.

Xylitol is a 5-carbon sugar that can lower the ASL salt concentration, thus enhancing innate immunity.In this study, the investigators plan to study the safety and efficacy of 2 weeks of inhaled xylitol compared to 2 weeks of hypertonic saline in a randomized crossover design in stable subjects with cystic fibrosis

Detailed description: Cystic fibrosis (CF) lung disease is characterized by chronic bacterial colonization and recurrent infection of the airways. Disruption of the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator chloride channels in subjects with CF results in altered fluid and electrolyte transport across the airway epithelium thereby initiating infections.

These infections eventually destroy the lungs and contribute to significant morbidity and mortality in patients with CF. It is well known that antibacterial activity of innate immune mediators such as lysozyme and beta defensins in human airway surface liquid (ASL) is salt-sensitive; an increase in salt concentration inhibits their activity.

Conversely, their activity is increased by low ionic strength. Lowering the ASL salt concentration and increasing the ASL volume might therefore potentiate innate immunity and therefore decrease or prevent airway infections in subjects with CF.

Xylitol, a five-carbon sugar with low transepithelial permeability, which is poorly metabolized by bacteria can lower the salt concentration of both cystic fibrosis (CF) and non-CF epithelia in vitro. Xylitol is an artificial sweetener that has been successfully used in chewing gums to prevent dental caries; it has been used as an oral sugar substitute without significant adverse effects. It has also been shown to decrease the incidence of acute otitis media by 20-40%; nasal application to normal human subjects was found to decrease colonization with coagulase negative staphylococcus. The investigators found that aerosolized iso-osmolar xylitol was safe in mice, healthy volunteers and stable subjects with CF when administered over a single day. In a recent study, the investigators observed that single doses of 10% followed by 15% xylitol was well tolerated by subjects with cystic fibrosis who were stable.

In this study, the investigators plan to study the safety and efficacy of 2 weeks of inhaled xylitol compared to 2 weeks of hypertonic saline in a randomized crossover design in stable subjects with cystic fibrosis

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Documented diagnosis of CF (medical record evidence of 2 identified CFTR(Cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator) mutations or a positive sweat chloride test or nasal voltage difference, and 1 or more clinical findings of CF)
* Age 16 or greater
* FEV1\>30% predicted
* Oxygen saturation \> or equal too 90% on room air
* Clinically stable, without evidence of pulmona4ry exacerbation for at least 2 weeks prior to screening (defined as use of oral or intravenous antibiotics for cystic fibrosis exacerbation)
* Use of effective contraception in women
* Ability to provide written informed consent and assent
* Successful completion of the trial doses of study drugs

Exclusion Criteria:

* Pregnancy
* Hemoptysis more than 100 mL within the last 30 days
* Change in chronic medication within the last 30 days
* History of elevated serum creatinine (\> than or equal to 2 mg/dl) within 30 days or at screening
* History of lung and other solid organ transplantation
* Wait-listed for lung or other solid organ transplant
* Known intolerance to inhaled hypertonic saline

Primary outcomes:
measure: Change in FEV1 % Predicted From Baseline
timeFrame: Baseline and 14 days
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Sputum Density
timeFrame: baseline and 14 days
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Chicago
country: United States
facility: Northwestern University
state: Illinois
city: Chicago
country: United States
facility: Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago
state: Illinois
Study officials:
affiliation: University of Iowa
name: Joseph Zabner, MD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
affiliation: University of Iowa
name: Lakshmi Durairaj, MD
role: STUDY_DIRECTOR
References:
citation: Rowe SM, Miller S, Sorscher EJ. Cystic fibrosis. N Engl J Med. 2005 May 12;352(19):1992-2001. doi: 10.1056/NEJMra043184. No abstract available.
citation: Zabner J, Smith JJ, Karp PH, Widdicombe JH, Welsh MJ. Loss of CFTR chloride channels alters salt absorption by cystic fibrosis airway epithelia in vitro. Mol Cell. 1998 Sep;2(3):397-403. doi: 10.1016/s1097-2765(00)80284-1.
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citation: Makinen KK, Bennett CA, Hujoel PP, Isokangas PJ, Isotupa KP, Pape HR Jr, Makinen PL. Xylitol chewing gums and caries rates: a 40-month cohort study. J Dent Res. 1995 Dec;74(12):1904-13. doi: 10.1177/00220345950740121501.
citation: Soderling E, Makinen KK, Chen CY, Pape HR Jr, Loesche W, Makinen PL. Effect of sorbitol, xylitol, and xylitol/sorbitol chewing gums on dental plaque. Caries Res. 1989;23(5):378-84. doi: 10.1159/000261212.
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citation: Durairaj L, Launspach J, Watt JL, Businga TR, Kline JN, Thorne PS, Zabner J. Safety assessment of inhaled xylitol in mice and healthy volunteers. Respir Res. 2004 Sep 16;5(1):13. doi: 10.1186/1465-9921-5-13.
citation: Singh PK, Jia HP, Wiles K, Hesselberth J, Liu L, Conway BA, Greenberg EP, Valore EV, Welsh MJ, Ganz T, Tack BF, McCray PB Jr. Production of beta-defensins by human airway epithelia. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1998 Dec 8;95(25):14961-6. doi: 10.1073/pnas.95.25.14961.
citation: Zabner J, Seiler MP, Launspach JL, Karp PH, Kearney WR, Look DC, Smith JJ, Welsh MJ. The osmolyte xylitol reduces the salt concentration of airway surface liquid and may enhance bacterial killing. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2000 Oct 10;97(21):11614-9. doi: 10.1073/pnas.97.21.11614.
citation: Durairaj L, Launspach J, Watt JL, Mohamad Z, Kline J, Zabner J. Safety assessment of inhaled xylitol in subjects with cystic fibrosis. J Cyst Fibros. 2007 Jan;6(1):31-4. doi: 10.1016/j.jcf.2006.05.002. Epub 2006 Jun 15.
citation: Durairaj L, Neelakantan S, Launspach J, Watt JL, Allaman MM, Kearney WR, Veng-Pedersen P, Zabner J. Bronchoscopic assessment of airway retention time of aerosolized xylitol. Respir Res. 2006 Feb 16;7(1):27. doi: 10.1186/1465-9921-7-27.
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