NCT01378182

Brief Summary

Wilson's disease is an autosomal recessive genetically inherited disorder of copper metabolism, causing neurological, psychiatric and liver disease. The ATP7B gene on the 13th chromosome is responsible for the disease. Liver has a critical role on copper metabolism. It is the main site of copper accumulation and bile secretion is the only physiologic way of copper elimination. Due to defective production of ceruloplasmin which carries copper, wide amount of free copper precipitates throughout the body but particularly in the liver, eyes and brain. Patients are bound to lifelong chelating agents such as penicillamine, trientine and tetramine dihydrochloride. Unfortunately, these medications may cause severe side-effects such as hypersensitivity reactions, bone marrow suppression, auto-immune disease and sideroblastic anemia. Medical treatment of liver cirrhosis, the last stage of the illness that leads to morbidity and mortality in the Wilson Disease, is difficult. Liver transplantation is still the most effective treatment for the patients with liver cirrhosis in Wilson Disease. However, serious problems are accompanied with liver transplantation. Lack of liver donors, complications during and after the surgery, graft rejection and high costs are the main problems. There are cells in the human body that are capable to renew themselves and differentiate to a diverse range of specialized cell types. These are called "stem cells". Stem cells can be differentiated to specialized cells in appropriate medias in the laboratory. Recently, the differentiation potential of mesenchymal stem cells into hepatocytes is proved by demonstrating hepatocytes containing Y chromosome in the female who has had bone marrow transplantation from male donors. In many laboratory studies, it is observed that human bone marrow derived mesenchymal stem cells, transplanted to animals with induced liver damage, differentiate into the albumin producing hepatocytes without fusion. By these studies, it is understood that mesenchymal stem cells are more potent than other bone marrow elements in context of differentiation to hepatocytes. Even though the number of studies on human for the same purpose is few, findings are supporting those of animal experiments. Mesenchymal stem cells are non-immunogenic. Safety and feasibility of allogeneic transplantations between individuals without need of immunosuppressive drug regimen are proven. Proofs of correcting metabolic defects by this way are also presented in some publications. For the reasons mentioned above, allogeneic mesenchymal stem cell transplantation is a promising treatment modality especially for the hereditary metabolic diseases. By this way, non-immunogeneic mesenchymal stem cells which have healthy genetic structure, can manufacture the required enzyme, will be repopulated in the damaged tissue and contribute to the clinical improvement. In this study, mesenchymal stem cells will be derived from healthy volunteer donor's bone marrow and be expanded in-vitro, and then 1 million cells per kg will be infused to patients with liver cirrhosis related to Wilson disease, 50 million cells via hepatic artery and the remaining cells via peripheral vein. It is aimed to enable liver regeneration, decrease fibrosis rate, improve patient's health conditions, increase ceruloplasmin synthesis, ameliorate disorder of copper metabolism, decrease the need for chelating agents, increase living standards of patients, and prolong waiting time for liver transplantation. Finally it is aimed to establish a new and regenerative treatment protocol alternative to liver transplantation. For observation of clinical and laboratory improvement, patients are planned to be monitored by histopathologic examination of liver biopsies before and at 6th month after the treatment, monthly biochemical and hematologic blood tests and periodic radiologic examinations. This is a hopeful, avant garde and sophisticated study which may constitute new horizons in context of cellular therapies.

Trial Health

87
On Track

Trial Health Score

Automated assessment based on enrollment pace, timeline, and geographic reach

Enrollment
10

participants targeted

Target at below P25 for not_applicable

Timeline
Completed

Started Apr 2011

Longer than P75 for not_applicable

Geographic Reach
1 country

1 active site

Status
completed

Health score is calculated from publicly available data and should be used for screening purposes only.

Trial Relationships

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Study Timeline

Key milestones and dates

Study Start

First participant enrolled

April 1, 2011

Completed
3 months until next milestone

First Submitted

Initial submission to the registry

June 20, 2011

Completed
2 days until next milestone

First Posted

Study publicly available on registry

June 22, 2011

Completed
1.7 years until next milestone

Primary Completion

Last participant's last visit for primary outcome

March 1, 2013

Completed
1.8 years until next milestone

Study Completion

Last participant's last visit for all outcomes

December 1, 2014

Completed
Last Updated

December 31, 2014

Status Verified

December 1, 2014

Enrollment Period

1.9 years

First QC Date

June 20, 2011

Last Update Submit

December 30, 2014

Conditions

Keywords

Transplantation,Stem CellWilson's Disease

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

  • differantiation of transplanted mesenchymal stem cells to hepatocytes in post treatment liver biopsies

    all patients will be transplanted bone marrow derived mesenchymal stem cells belonging to the opposite sex in order to genetically determine the mature hepatocyte

    liver biopsies performed at sixth month after mesenchymal stem cell transplantation

Interventions

1.000.000(one million) cells/kg, IV (1/2 of dose in the Peripheral vein and 1/2 of dose into the right hepatic artery)

Eligibility Criteria

Age18 Years - 65 Years
Sexall
Healthy VolunteersNo
Age GroupsAdult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

  • Clinical, radiologic and pathologically proven Wilson's Disease with hepatic presentation
  • Patients with no hepatic malignancies
  • No co-existing serious respiratory and/or cardiovascular morbidities
  • Patients who approved to join the study group with informed and written consent
  • Patients with platelet count more than 30.000/mm3

You may not qualify if:

  • Clinical diagnosis of Wilson's Disease with neuropsychiatric presentation
  • Current alcohol consumption
  • Patients who have acute or chronic viral hepatitis infection

Contact the study team to confirm eligibility.

Sponsors & Collaborators

Study Sites (1)

Department of Gastroenterology; Gulhane Military Medical Academy

Ankara, 06018, Turkey (Türkiye)

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Hepatolenticular Degeneration

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Liver DiseasesDigestive System DiseasesBasal Ganglia DiseasesBrain DiseasesCentral Nervous System DiseasesNervous System DiseasesBrain Diseases, Metabolic, InbornBrain Diseases, MetabolicMovement DisordersHeredodegenerative Disorders, Nervous SystemNeurodegenerative DiseasesGenetic Diseases, InbornCongenital, Hereditary, and Neonatal Diseases and AbnormalitiesMetabolism, Inborn ErrorsMetal Metabolism, Inborn ErrorsMetabolic DiseasesNutritional and Metabolic Diseases

Study Design

Study Type
interventional
Phase
not applicable
Allocation
NA
Masking
NONE
Purpose
TREATMENT
Intervention Model
SINGLE GROUP
Sponsor Type
OTHER
Responsible Party
SPONSOR INVESTIGATOR
PI Title
Gulhane Military Medical Academy

Study Record Dates

First Submitted

June 20, 2011

First Posted

June 22, 2011

Study Start

April 1, 2011

Primary Completion

March 1, 2013

Study Completion

December 1, 2014

Last Updated

December 31, 2014

Record last verified: 2014-12

Locations