MS:TSPO study
Research type
Research Study
Full title
An experimental medicine study to validate The 18 kD Translocator Protein as a novel neuroimmunodulatory target
IRAS ID
218514
Contact name
Paul Matthews
Contact email
Eudract number
n/a
Duration of Study in the UK
3 years, 0 months, 2 days
Research summary
In multiple sclerosis (MS) cells of the immune system attack the brain causing tissue damage. In secondary progressive MS (SPMS) these repeated immune attacks have stopped but despite this new damage continues to appear. TSPO is a protein found in the brain and cells of the immune system, whose levels increase during MS. We would like to know whether drugs that bind TSPO could dampen the immune responses in patients with SPMS. We will be testing two drugs that affect TSPO; etifoxine and XBD173.
In stage 1 we will recruit subjects with SPMS from neurology clinics at hospitals associated with Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust. We will also recruit healthy volunteers in order to provide a comparison to these patients. The volunteers recruited will be invited to the clinical research facility (CRF) at Hammersmith Hospital. The volunteers will receive with one of the two drugs every day for 7 days. We will perform blood tests before the first dose and after the last dose to investigate the effects of the drugs, including the expression of genes and immune cell activity. We will then choose the drug that has the greatest effect in stage 1 of the study to give to another group of volunteers with SPMS for 7 days in stage 2. These individuals will undergo the same investigations as in stage 1 before but will also have brain scans to look for any changes in the amount of TSPO and cell activity.
REC name
London - West London & GTAC Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
17/LO/0566
Date of REC Opinion
14 Jun 2017
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion