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Mechanistic Clinical Trial of PCSK9 Inhibition for AAA

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University of Pennsylvania

Status and phase

Begins enrollment in 4 months
Early Phase 1

Conditions

Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm

Treatments

Drug: Placebo
Drug: Evolocumab

Study type

Interventional

Funder types

Other
Industry
NIH

Identifiers

NCT06081153
R01HL166991 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)
852428

Details and patient eligibility

About

The goal of this mechanistic clinical trial is to assess whether lowering the low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels in the blood with the injections of the medication evolocumab will have any effect on the tissue or cells of patients with abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA). Researchers will compare participants receiving evolocumab injections to participants receiving placebo injections to see how the tissue and cells of the aorta are affected by changes in LDL-C levels.

Full description

After being informed about the study and its potential risks, all patients giving informed consent will undergo a baseline visit and be randomized to received either evolocumab 140mg subcutaneously or placebo. This baseline visit includes a vital signs assessment, laboratory tests, medical history and medication review, a pregnancy test (if applicable), and training on how to perform drug injections. Participants will receive 3 doses/autoinjectors of study drug or placebo and be instructed to perform injections every 14 days starting 5 weeks prior to their scheduled AAA repair. If the baseline assessment occurs 5 weeks prior to their scheduled AAA, the first injection will be performed during this visit. Participants will have the option of coming back to the site for injections 2 and 3 or perform these injections at home under telehealth supervision. At the time of open AAA repair, participants will repeat laboratory tests and have a sample of aneurysm tissue taken. Participants will then have a follow up phone call 4 weeks after AAA repair to assess for any adverse events. At the conclusion of the study investigators will examine gene expression and protein levels in the aortic tissue to determine the impact of LDL-C lowering with evolocumab.

Enrollment

44 estimated patients

Sex

All

Ages

18+ years old

Volunteers

No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

  1. Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) requiring open surgical repair
  2. Age > 18
  3. Provision of signed and dated informed consent form
  4. Stated willingness to comply with all study procedures and availability for the duration of the study

Exclusion criteria

  1. Prior use of a PCSK9 inhibitor (evolocumab, alirocumab, inclisiran) within 6 months of the baseline visit
  2. LDL-C < 40 mg/dL (within 3 months of baseline visit)
  3. Known allergy to PCSK9 inhibitor
  4. Aortic dissection
  5. Vascular connective tissue disorders
  6. Type I-III or V Thoraco-abdominal Aortic Aneurysm
  7. Vasculitis or inflammatory aneurysm
  8. Pregnant or lactating women
  9. Poorly controlled diabetes (A1C > 10%)
  10. Chronic kidney disease Stage 4/5 or End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) on hemodialysis (HD)
  11. Liver Disease (alanine transaminase [ALT] or aspartate aminotransferase [ALT] > 3.0 x upper limits of normal) (within 3 months of baseline visit)
  12. Known latex or naturally rubber allergy
  13. Treatment with another investigational product within 30 days or 5 half-lives of the investigation drug before consent (whichever is longer) that would have an impact on endpoints associated with this trial.
  14. Any other condition that the Investigator feels prohibits participants' ability to comply with study or follow up.

Trial design

Primary purpose

Other

Allocation

Randomized

Interventional model

Parallel Assignment

Masking

Quadruple Blind

44 participants in 2 patient groups, including a placebo group

Evolocumab
Experimental group
Description:
Evolocumab is the drug that will be administered in this study. It will be administered as a 140mg subcutaneous injection every 14 days for 5 weeks (for a total of 3 doses).
Treatment:
Drug: Evolocumab
Placebo
Placebo Comparator group
Description:
This arm is a matching placebo that will be administered in the same fashion as the study drug if the patient is randomized to placebo.
Treatment:
Drug: Placebo

Trial contacts and locations

0

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Central trial contact

Scott Damrauer, MD

Data sourced from clinicaltrials.gov

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