An Open-Label Trial of Tocilizumab in Schizophrenia

Summary

This study is a Phase 1 clinical trail to determine the safety, tolerability, and efficacy of Tocilizumab (Actemra) as an adjunct to antipsychotic medications in stable outpatients with schizophrenia. Tocilizumab (structural formula C6428H9976N1720O2018S42) is a recombinant humanized anti-human interleukin-6 (IL-6) receptor monoclonal antibody of the immunoglobulin (Ig) gamma-1 subclass. Tocilizumab is formulated as a concentrate for solution for infusion, and will be administered by intravenous infusion. The investigators propose an 8-week trial to determine the safety, tolerability, and effectiveness of tocilizumab, given in addition to antipsychotic medications, in 10 stable outpatients with schizophrenia. The investigators hypothesize that tocilizumab will be associated with clinically significant improvement in cognition and total psychotic symptoms over the course of the trial. Tocilizumab is administered as an intravenous infusion every 4 weeks. Following a screening evaluation, participants will receive two infusions of tocilizumab, one at baseline and another at week 4 of the study. The investigators will measure changes in cognitive function and symptoms over an 8-week period. Complementing previous positive clinical trials of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, this would be a "proof-of-concept" study that targeting specific cytokines is a viable treatment for schizophrenia. Interleukin 6 and its receptor were discovered and cloned at Osaka University, Japan, by Tadamitsu Kishimoto in the 1980s. In 1997, Chugai Pharmaceuticals began the clinical development of tocilizumab for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. Clinical studies for Castleman's disease and systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis started in 2001 and 2002, respectively. Hoffmann-La Roche co-developed the drug due to a license agreement in 2003. Data presented in 2008 showed the effectiveness of tocilizumab in combination therapy with methotrexate for rheumatoid arthritis treatment. In further studies, it was effective and generally well tolerated when administered either as monotherapy or in combination with conventional disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs in adult patients with moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis.

Timeline

Start

2012-09

Primary completion

2014-12

Completion

2014-12

Publications

• Background Muller N. COX-2 inhibitors as antidepressants and antipsychotics: clinical evidence. Curr Opin Investig Drugs. 2010 Jan;11(1):31-42.
• Background Muller N, Krause D, Dehning S, Musil R, Schennach-Wolff R, Obermeier M, Moller HJ, Klauss V, Schwarz MJ, Riedel M. Celecoxib treatment in an early stage of schizophrenia: results of a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of celecoxib augmentation of amisulpride treatment. Schizophr Res. 2010 Aug;121(1-3):118-24. doi: 10.1016/j.schres.2010.04.015. Epub 2010 May 31.
• Background Muller N, Ulmschneider M, Scheppach C, Schwarz MJ, Ackenheil M, Moller HJ, Gruber R, Riedel M. COX-2 inhibition as a treatment approach in schizophrenia: immunological considerations and clinical effects of celecoxib add-on therapy. Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci. 2004 Feb;254(1):14-22. doi: 10.1007/s00406-004-0478-1.
• Background Laan W, Grobbee DE, Selten JP, Heijnen CJ, Kahn RS, Burger H. Adjuvant aspirin therapy reduces symptoms of schizophrenia spectrum disorders: results from a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. J Clin Psychiatry. 2010 May;71(5):520-7. doi: 10.4088/JCP.09m05117yel.
• Background Muller N, Riedel M, Schwarz MJ, Engel RR. Clinical effects of COX-2 inhibitors on cognition in schizophrenia. Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci. 2005 Apr;255(2):149-51. doi: 10.1007/s00406-004-0548-4. Epub 2004 Nov 19.
• Background Miller BJ, Buckley P, Seabolt W, Mellor A, Kirkpatrick B. Meta-analysis of cytokine alterations in schizophrenia: clinical status and antipsychotic effects. Biol Psychiatry. 2011 Oct 1;70(7):663-71. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2011.04.013. Epub 2011 Jun 8.
• Background Marsland AL, Petersen KL, Sathanoori R, Muldoon MF, Neumann SA, Ryan C, Flory JD, Manuck SB. Interleukin-6 covaries inversely with cognitive performance among middle-aged community volunteers. Psychosom Med. 2006 Nov-Dec;68(6):895-903. doi: 10.1097/01.psy.0000238451.22174.92.
• Background Marsland AL, Gianaros PJ, Abramowitch SM, Manuck SB, Hariri AR. Interleukin-6 covaries inversely with hippocampal grey matter volume in middle-aged adults. Biol Psychiatry. 2008 Sep 15;64(6):484-90. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2008.04.016. Epub 2008 Jun 2.
• Background Mondelli V, Cattaneo A, Murri MB, Di Forti M, Handley R, Hepgul N, Miorelli A, Navari S, Papadopoulos AS, Aitchison KJ, Morgan C, Murray RM, Dazzan P, Pariante CM. Stress and inflammation reduce brain-derived neurotrophic factor expression in first-episode psychosis: a pathway to smaller hippocampal volume. J Clin Psychiatry. 2011 Dec;72(12):1677-1684. doi: 10.4088/JCP.10m06745. Epub 2011 May 18.
• Background Paul-Samojedny M, Kowalczyk M, Suchanek R, Owczarek A, Fila-Danilow A, Szczygiel A, Kowalski J. Functional polymorphism in the interleukin-6 and interleukin-10 genes in patients with paranoid schizophrenia--a case-control study. J Mol Neurosci. 2010 Sep;42(1):112-9. doi: 10.1007/s12031-010-9365-6.
• Background Sun S, Wang F, Wei J, Cao LY, Qi LY, Xiu MH, Chen S, Li XH, Kosten TA, Kosten TR, Zhang XY. Association between interleukin-6 receptor polymorphism and patients with schizophrenia. Schizophr Res. 2008 Jul;102(1-3):346-7. doi: 10.1016/j.schres.2008.04.018. Epub 2008 May 27. No abstract available.
• Background Smith SE, Li J, Garbett K, Mirnics K, Patterson PH. Maternal immune activation alters fetal brain development through interleukin-6. J Neurosci. 2007 Oct 3;27(40):10695-702. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2178-07.2007.
• Background Brown AS, Derkits EJ. Prenatal infection and schizophrenia: a review of epidemiologic and translational studies. Am J Psychiatry. 2010 Mar;167(3):261-80. doi: 10.1176/appi.ajp.2009.09030361. Epub 2010 Feb 1.
• Background Romero E, Ali C, Molina-Holgado E, Castellano B, Guaza C, Borrell J. Neurobehavioral and immunological consequences of prenatal immune activation in rats. Influence of antipsychotics. Neuropsychopharmacology. 2007 Aug;32(8):1791-804. doi: 10.1038/sj.npp.1301292. Epub 2006 Dec 20.
• Background Romero E, Guaza C, Castellano B, Borrell J. Ontogeny of sensorimotor gating and immune impairment induced by prenatal immune challenge in rats: implications for the etiopathology of schizophrenia. Mol Psychiatry. 2010 Apr;15(4):372-83. doi: 10.1038/mp.2008.44. Epub 2008 Apr 15.
• Background Behrens MM, Ali SS, Dugan LL. Interleukin-6 mediates the increase in NADPH-oxidase in the ketamine model of schizophrenia. J Neurosci. 2008 Dec 17;28(51):13957-66. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4457-08.2008.

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