The Study of Nasal Insulin in the Fight Against Forgetfulness (SNIFF)

Last updated: November 18, 2024
Sponsor: University of Southern California
Overall Status: Completed

Phase

2/3

Condition

Mild Cognitive Impairment

Alzheimer's Disease

Memory Loss

Treatment

Insulin (Humulin® R U-100)

Placebo

Clinical Study ID

NCT01767909
ADC-046-INI
RF1AG041845
  • Ages 55-85
  • All Genders

Study Summary

An urgent need exists to find effective treatments for Alzheimer's disease (AD) that can arrest or reverse the disease at its earliest stages. The emotional and financial burden of AD to patients, family members, and society is enormous, and is predicted to grow exponentially as the median population age increases. Current FDA-approved therapies are modestly effective at best. This study will examine a novel therapeutic approach using intranasal insulin (INI) that has shown promise in short-term clinical trials. If successful, information gained from the study has the potential to move INI forward rapidly as a therapy for AD. The study will also provide evidence for the mechanisms through which INI may produce benefits by examining key cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers and hippocampal/entorhinal atrophy. These results will have considerable clinical and scientific significance, and provide therapeutically-relevant knowledge about insulin's effects on AD pathophysiology. Growing evidence has shown that insulin carries out multiple functions in the brain, and that insulin dysregulation may contribute to AD pathogenesis.

This study will examine the effects of intranasally-administered insulin on cognition, entorhinal cortex and hippocampal atrophy, and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers in amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) or mild AD. It is hypothesized that after 12 months of treatment with INI compared to placebo, subjects will improve performance on a global measure of cognition, on a memory composite and on daily function. In addition to the examination of CSF biomarkers and hippocampal and entorhinal atrophy, the study aims to examine whether baseline AD biomarker profile, gender, or Apolipoprotein epsilon 4 (APOE-ε4) allele carriage predict treatment response.

In this study, 240 people with aMCI or AD will be given either INI or placebo for 12 months, following an open-label period of 6 months where all participants will be given active drug. The study uses insulin as a therapeutic agent and intranasal administration focusing on nose to brain transport as a mode of delivery.

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Fluent in English or Spanish

  • Diagnosis of aMCI by Petersen criteria or probable AD by National Institute ofNeurological and Communicative Diseases and Stroke/Alzheimer's Disease and RelatedDisorders Association (NINCDS-ADRDA) criteria

  • Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) score at screening is greater than or equal to 20

  • Clinical Dementia Rating is 0.5-1 at screening

  • Logical Memory is less than or equal to 8 for 16 or more years of education, lessthan or equal to 4 for 8-15 years of education, less than or equal to 2 for 0-7years of education. Scores measured at screening on Delayed Paragraph Recall (Paragraph A only) from the Wechsler Memory Scale-Revised

  • Able to complete baseline assessments

  • Modified Hachinski score of less than or equal to 4

  • A study partner able to accompany the participant to most visits and answerquestions about the participant

  • The study partner must have direct contact with the participant more than 2 days perweek (minimum of 10 hours per week) and provide supervision of drug administrationas needed

  • Stable medical condition for 3 months prior to screening visit

  • Stable medications for 4 weeks prior to the screening and baseline visits

  • Stable use of permitted medications

  • At least six years of education or work history

  • Clinical laboratory values must be within normal limits or, if abnormal, must bejudged to be clinically insignificant by the investigator

  • Visual and auditory acuity adequate for neuropsychological testing

Exclusion

Exclusion Criteria:

  • A diagnosis of dementia other than probable AD

  • Probable AD with Down syndrome

  • History of clinically significant stroke

  • Current evidence or history in past two years of epilepsy, focal brain lesion, headinjury with loss of consciousness or Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of MentalDisorders, Fourth Edition (DSM IV) criteria for any major psychiatric disorderincluding psychosis, major depression, bipolar disorder, alcohol or substance abuse

  • Sensory impairment that would preclude the participant from participating in orcooperating with the protocol

  • Diabetes (type 1 or type II) requiring pharmacologic treatment (including bothinsulin dependent and non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus)

  • Current or past use of insulin or any other anti-diabetic medication

  • Evidence of any significant clinical disorder or laboratory finding that renders theparticipant unsuitable for receiving investigational drug including clinicallysignificant or unstable hematologic, hepatic, cardiovascular, pulmonary, endocrine,metabolic, renal or other systemic disease or laboratory abnormality.

  • Active neoplastic disease, history of cancer five years prior to screening (historyof skin melanoma or stable prostate cancer are not excluded)

  • History of seizure within the past five years

  • Pregnancy or possible pregnancy

  • Contraindications to Lumbar Puncture (LP) procedure: prior lumbosacral spinesurgery, severe degenerative joint disease or deformity of the spine, platelets isless than 100,000 or history of bleeding disorder

  • Use of anticoagulants warfarin (Coumadin) and dabigatran (Pradaxa) due to LPrequirement

  • Contraindications for MRI (claustrophobia, craniofacial metal implants of any kind,pacemakers)

  • Residence in a skilled nursing facility at screening

  • Use of an investigational agent within two months or screening visit

  • Regular use of narcotics, anticonvulsants, medications with significantanticholinergic activity, antiparkinsonian medications or any other exclusionarymedications

Study Design

Total Participants: 240
Treatment Group(s): 2
Primary Treatment: Insulin (Humulin® R U-100)
Phase: 2/3
Study Start date:
January 08, 2014
Estimated Completion Date:
December 11, 2018

Connect with a study center

  • Banner Alzheimer's Institute

    Phoenix, Arizona 85006
    United States

    Site Not Available

  • Barrow Neurology Clinics

    Phoenix, Arizona 85013
    United States

    Site Not Available

  • Banner Sun Health Research Institute

    Sun City, Arizona 85351
    United States

    Site Not Available

  • University of California, Irvine

    Irvine, California 92697
    United States

    Site Not Available

  • University of California, San Diego

    La Jolla, California 92037
    United States

    Site Not Available

  • Yale University School of Medicine

    New Haven, Connecticut 06510
    United States

    Site Not Available

  • Georgetown University

    Washington, District of Columbia 20057
    United States

    Site Not Available

  • Howard University

    Washington, District of Columbia 20060
    United States

    Site Not Available

  • Howard University

    Washington, D.C., District of Columbia 20060
    United States

    Site Not Available

  • Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville

    Jacksonville, Florida 32224
    United States

    Site Not Available

  • University of South Florida - Health Byrd Alzheimer Institute

    Tampa, Florida 33613
    United States

    Site Not Available

  • Emory University

    Atlanta, Georgia 30322
    United States

    Site Not Available

  • Northwestern University

    Chicago, Illinois 60611
    United States

    Site Not Available

  • Rush University Medical Center

    Chicago, Illinois 60614
    United States

    Site Not Available

  • Indiana University

    Indianapolis, Indiana 46202
    United States

    Site Not Available

  • University of Kansas

    Fairway, Kansas 66205
    United States

    Site Not Available

  • University of Kentucky

    Lexington, Kentucky 40504
    United States

    Site Not Available

  • Johns Hopkins University

    Baltimore, Maryland 21224
    United States

    Site Not Available

  • Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

    Boston, Massachusetts 02215
    United States

    Site Not Available

  • Brigham and Women's Hospital

    Boston, Massachusetts 02115
    United States

    Site Not Available

  • Mayo Clinic, Rochester

    Rochester, Minnesota 55905
    United States

    Site Not Available

  • Washington University in St. Louis

    Saint Louis, Missouri 63108
    United States

    Site Not Available

  • Washington University in St. Louis

    St. Louis, Missouri 63141
    United States

    Site Not Available

  • University of New Mexico

    Albuquerque, New Mexico 87106
    United States

    Site Not Available

  • Mount Sinai School of Medicine

    New York, New York 10029
    United States

    Site Not Available

  • University of Rochester Medical Center

    Rochester, New York 14620
    United States

    Site Not Available

  • Wake Forest University Health Sciences

    Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27157
    United States

    Site Not Available

  • Case Western Reserve University

    Beachwood, Ohio 44122
    United States

    Site Not Available

  • Tulsa Clinical Research

    Tulsa, Oklahoma 74104
    United States

    Site Not Available

  • Oregon Health and Science University

    Portland, Oregon 97239
    United States

    Site Not Available

  • University of Pennsylvania

    Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104
    United States

    Site Not Available

  • Rhode Island Hospital

    Providence, Rhode Island 02903
    United States

    Site Not Available

  • Roper St. Francis Hospital

    Charleston, South Carolina 29401
    United States

    Site Not Available

  • Medical University of South Carolina

    North Charleston, South Carolina 29406
    United States

    Site Not Available

  • University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center

    Dallas, Texas 75390
    United States

    Site Not Available

  • Baylor College of Medicine

    Houston, Texas 77030
    United States

    Site Not Available

  • U of WA / VA Puget Sound Alzheimer's Disease Research Center

    Seattle, Washington 98108
    United States

    Site Not Available

Not the study for you?

Let us help you find the best match. Sign up as a volunteer and receive email notifications when clinical trials are posted in the medical category of interest to you.