Possible Effects of Propylthiouracil, Riociguat and Perphenazine on Circulation of Healthy Volunteers

Summary

This trial is part of the Horizon 2020 project, REPO-TRIAL, on in-silico, mechanism-based drug repurposing in high unmet-medical-need indications. This project aims to identify causal, rather than symptomatic disease mechanisms for highly precise and effective interventions. Here a signalling module comprised of reactive oxygen species (ROS) formation and cyclic GMP signalling has been identified to be involved in post-stroke blood-brain-barrier disruption and neuronal death. It can be targeted by repurposing three drugs, which inhibit overshooting nitric oxide (NO) and ROS formation, respectively, and stimulate compromised neuroprotective cyclic GMP formation. It is possible that two of the drugs (riociguat, perphenazine) may cause a drop and one drug an elevation of blood pressure (propylthiouracil) leading to an overall drop in blood pressure. On top of that, the three drugs may synergise on blood pressure in a previously not recognised manner. These potential safety concerns, expressed in a scientific advice meeting by the Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices (BfArM), shall be tested in the present phase I safety trial. The trial consists of a screening visit (SCR), a treatment period, and an EOT visit. In the treatment period, after a baseline evaluation, single doses of all three substances will be administered concurrently. Provocation manoeuvres (tilt table) will be performed with the goal of generating maximum safety information on drug-induced blood pressure changes. Concurrently, a 24-h electrocardiogram (ECG) will be recorded (Holter ECG) and blood samples will be drawn for exploratory biomarker analyses, quantification of riociguat, and optional pharmacokinetic analyses of perphenazine and propylthiouracil.

Timeline

Start

2021-03-18

Primary completion

2022-02-28

Completion

2022-02-28

Publications

• Background Casas AI, Geuss E, Kleikers PWM, Mencl S, Herrmann AM, Buendia I, Egea J, Meuth SG, Lopez MG, Kleinschnitz C, Schmidt HHHW. NOX4-dependent neuronal autotoxicity and BBB breakdown explain the superior sensitivity of the brain to ischemic damage. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2017 Nov 14;114(46):12315-12320. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1705034114. Epub 2017 Oct 31.
• Background Casas AI, Hassan AA, Larsen SJ, Gomez-Rangel V, Elbatreek M, Kleikers PWM, Guney E, Egea J, Lopez MG, Baumbach J, Schmidt HHHW. From single drug targets to synergistic network pharmacology in ischemic stroke. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2019 Apr 2;116(14):7129-7136. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1820799116. Epub 2019 Mar 20.
• Background Casas AI, Kleikers PW, Geuss E, Langhauser F, Adler T, Busch DH, Gailus-Durner V, de Angelis MH, Egea J, Lopez MG, Kleinschnitz C, Schmidt HH. Calcium-dependent blood-brain barrier breakdown by NOX5 limits postreperfusion benefit in stroke. J Clin Invest. 2019 Mar 18;129(4):1772-1778. doi: 10.1172/JCI124283. eCollection 2019 Mar 18.
• Background Kleinschnitz C, Grund H, Wingler K, Armitage ME, Jones E, Mittal M, Barit D, Schwarz T, Geis C, Kraft P, Barthel K, Schuhmann MK, Herrmann AM, Meuth SG, Stoll G, Meurer S, Schrewe A, Becker L, Gailus-Durner V, Fuchs H, Klopstock T, de Angelis MH, Jandeleit-Dahm K, Shah AM, Weissmann N, Schmidt HH. Post-stroke inhibition of induced NADPH oxidase type 4 prevents oxidative stress and neurodegeneration. PLoS Biol. 2010 Sep 21;8(9):e1000479. doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.1000479.
• Background Langhauser F, Casas AI, Dao VT, Guney E, Menche J, Geuss E, Kleikers PWM, Lopez MG, Barabasi AL, Kleinschnitz C, Schmidt HHHW. A diseasome cluster-based drug repurposing of soluble guanylate cyclase activators from smooth muscle relaxation to direct neuroprotection. NPJ Syst Biol Appl. 2018 Feb 5;4:8. doi: 10.1038/s41540-017-0039-7. eCollection 2018.

Drugs

Indications

No indication recorded.