Domperidone in Secondary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis (SPMS)

Summary

The purpose of this clinical trial is to determine if Domperidone in a dose of 40 mg daily can prevent worsening of walking ability in people secondary progressive MS. The number of participants in this study will be 62. A maximum of 75 people with secondary progressive MS will be included. Each patient will be followed for 12 months from inclusion. Domperidone is a medication which has been shown to increase levels of the hormone prolactin. The best understood function of prolactin is the stimulation of milk production in women after delivery. However, the increase in prolactin levels seen in patients treated with standard doses of Domperidone (in doses of up to 80mg per day) usually does not lead to clinical symptoms. Prolactin has been shown to improve myelin repair in mice. Domperidone therefore may also improve myelin repair in people with MS. Domperidone is currently approved in Canada to treat slow moving bowels and nausea, for instance in patients with Parkinson's Disease or Diabetes Mellitus, where too slowly moving bowels can cause constipation. Domperidone is available as a tablet that is usually taken four times per day. Doses up to 80mg per day may be used but we estimate that a dose of only 40mg daily will be needed to stimulate myelin repair. Domperidone is usually well tolerated.

Timeline

Start

2015-02

Primary completion

2020-01-03

Completion

2020-01-03

Publications

• Background Noseworthy JH, Lucchinetti C, Rodriguez M, Weinshenker BG. Multiple sclerosis. N Engl J Med. 2000 Sep 28;343(13):938-52. doi: 10.1056/NEJM200009283431307. No abstract available.
• Background Nylander A, Hafler DA. Multiple sclerosis. J Clin Invest. 2012 Apr;122(4):1180-8. doi: 10.1172/JCI58649. Epub 2012 Apr 2.
• Background Weinshenker BG, Bass B, Rice GP, Noseworthy J, Carriere W, Baskerville J, Ebers GC. The natural history of multiple sclerosis: a geographically based study. 2. Predictive value of the early clinical course. Brain. 1989 Dec;112 ( Pt 6):1419-28. doi: 10.1093/brain/112.6.1419.
• Background Lassmann H, van Horssen J, Mahad D. Progressive multiple sclerosis: pathology and pathogenesis. Nat Rev Neurol. 2012 Nov 5;8(11):647-56. doi: 10.1038/nrneurol.2012.168. Epub 2012 Sep 25.
• Background Rovaris M, Confavreux C, Furlan R, Kappos L, Comi G, Filippi M. Secondary progressive multiple sclerosis: current knowledge and future challenges. Lancet Neurol. 2006 Apr;5(4):343-54. doi: 10.1016/S1474-4422(06)70410-0.
• Background Patrikios P, Stadelmann C, Kutzelnigg A, Rauschka H, Schmidbauer M, Laursen H, Sorensen PS, Bruck W, Lucchinetti C, Lassmann H. Remyelination is extensive in a subset of multiple sclerosis patients. Brain. 2006 Dec;129(Pt 12):3165-72. doi: 10.1093/brain/awl217. Epub 2006 Aug 18.
• Background Franklin RJ, ffrench-Constant C, Edgar JM, Smith KJ. Neuroprotection and repair in multiple sclerosis. Nat Rev Neurol. 2012 Nov 5;8(11):624-34. doi: 10.1038/nrneurol.2012.200. Epub 2012 Oct 2.
• Background Tselis A, Khan OA, Lisak RP. Approaches to neuroprotective strategies in multiple sclerosis. Expert Opin Pharmacother. 2010 Dec;11(17):2869-78. doi: 10.1517/14656566.2010.508070. Epub 2010 Aug 5.
• Background Zhornitsky S, Yong VW, Weiss S, Metz LM. Prolactin in multiple sclerosis. Mult Scler. 2013 Jan;19(1):15-23. doi: 10.1177/1352458512458555. Epub 2012 Aug 29.
• Background Rudick R, Antel J, Confavreux C, Cutter G, Ellison G, Fischer J, Lublin F, Miller A, Petkau J, Rao S, Reingold S, Syndulko K, Thompson A, Wallenberg J, Weinshenker B, Willoughby E. Recommendations from the National Multiple Sclerosis Society Clinical Outcomes Assessment Task Force. Ann Neurol. 1997 Sep;42(3):379-82. doi: 10.1002/ana.410420318.
• Koch MW, Sage K, Kaur S, Kim J, Cerchiaro G, Yong VW, Cutter GR, Metz LM. Repurposing Domperidone in Secondary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis: A Simon 2-Stage Phase 2 Futility Trial. Neurology. 2021 May 4;96(18):e2313-e2322. doi: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000011863. Epub 2021 Mar 23.

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Indications