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CompletedNCT00649961MINDUpdated Aug 20, 2019Results posted

Melatonin As A Novel Neuroprotectant In Preterm Infants- Dosage Study

A Phase 2 interventional study of Melatonin injection in Premature Birth and Brain Injury, sponsored by Imperial College London. Completed at 2 sites in United Kingdom. Open to participants aged 23 Weeks to 31 Weeks. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2019-08-20.

Sponsored by Imperial College London · Phase 2, Interventional, and Other

Phase
Phase 2
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
18
Allocation
Not applicable
Ages
23 Weeks to 31 Weeks
Sex
All
01

Study summary

Preterm babies are at risk of brain injury. Melatonin, a naturally occurring hormone, may reduce this risk. The unborn baby receives melatonin from the mother but following premature delivery there maybe a period of prolonged melatonin deficiency. This deficiency may be harmful because studies suggest that melatonin is important in protecting the brain and reducing the risk of brain injury after preterm birth. The purpose of this study is to find the ideal dose of melatonin to give to preterm babies. We intend to study a total of 24 babies less than 31 weeks gestation and who are less than 7 days old.

Read the detailed description

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY AND OBJECTIVES The overall purpose is to investigate whether melatonin, on achieving adult maternal peak blood levels in preterm infants, will reduce brain injury and white matter disease as defined by specialised magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at term. Before testing this hypothesis in a clinical trial, the dose of melatonin required to achieve the desired concentration in preterm infants needs to be determined. This data will be used in the clinical double blinded randomised trial for which a separate application will be made to the ethics committee.

The principal research objective in this study is to determine the dose required to achieve physiological melatonin blood levels in the preterm infants similar to that of the mother. Secondary objective is to define the pharmacokinetic profile of melatonin in preterm infants.

STUDY DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY The proposed clinical trial is a single dose, open label, dose escalation pharmacokinetic study in preterm infants less than 31weeks gestation to achieve adult peak blood concentrations of melatonin (200-250 pmol/L).

The trial will be a multi centre study based in the Neonatal Intensive Care Units in UK.

TREATMENT A single intravenous infusion of melatonin will be given to each infant over 6 hours once in the first 7 days of life. The starting dose is 0.1 microgram/kg/hr which will be increased or decreased incrementally in subsequent groups of infants until the desired melatonin concentration is achieved.

DURATION The duration of treatment will be 6 hours only.

INVESTIGATIONS Pharmacokinetic assessment will be performed on the blood and urine samples will be collected 2 hourly at various timepoints.

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS Pharmacokinetic assessment will be done using appropriate software.

02

Conditions studied

  • Premature Birth
  • Brain Injury

Keywords

  • Premature Birth
  • Brain injury
  • Neuroprotection
  • Melatonin
  • Pharmacokinetics
03

In context

Brain Injuries

2,113 studies on the registry are indexed under Brain Injuries; 385 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 18 is below the median of 48 across 1,331 interventional studies indexed under Brain Injuries.

Browse Brain Injuries studies →

Lead sponsor

Imperial College London is the lead sponsor of 824 studies on the registry; 178 are open to participants now.

Of its 9 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 6 (67%) have results posted.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
23 Weeks to 31 Weeks
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

  • Infants born less than 31 weeks gestation who are less than 7 days old, after parental consent for participation will be included in the study.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Those with major congenital malformation, or cystic periventricular leucomalacia (cPVL) or haemorrhagic parenchymal infarcts (HPI) on cranial ultrasonography prior to enrolment will be excluded from the study.
05

Study design

Phase
Phase 2
Primary purpose
Other
Allocation
Not applicable
Intervention model
Single group
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
18 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Melatonin Open Label Single Arm

    Infants born less than 31 weeks gestation who are less than 7 days old

    Drug: Melatonin injection

Interventions

  • DrugMelatonin injection

    A single intravenous infusion of melatonin will be given to each infant over 6 hours so that successive groups will receive increasing doses until the correct dose for age is found. Based on the pharmacokinetics and clearance of melatonin in adults an approximate dose has been calculated. The starting dose of melatonin will be 0.1 microgram/kg/hr to be given over 6 hours intravenously. The range of expected dose is 0.1-0.5 microgram/kg/hr.

    Also known as: CAS-73314

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. To Find the Dose of Melatonin Required to Achieve Physiological Blood Levels in the Preterm Infants Similar to That of the Mother.

    Time frame: 6 months

07

Results

Posted Feb 28, 2014

Participant flow

We conducted an open label dose ranging study between May 2010 and December 2010 in 3 neonatal intensive care units in the UK.

Participant flow — Overall Study
MilestoneMelatonin Open Label Single Arm
Started18
Completed18
Not completed0

Outcome measures

PrimaryTo Find the Dose of Melatonin Required to Achieve Physiological Blood Levels in the Preterm Infants Similar to That of the Mother.
Time frame:
6 months
Reported as:
Median · pg/ml
To Find the Dose of Melatonin Required to Achieve Physiological Blood Levels in the Preterm Infants Similar to That of the Mother.
pg/mlSingle Arm
To Find the Dose of Melatonin Required to Achieve Physiological Blood Levels in the Preterm Infants Similar to That of the Mother.203.3 (160 to 220)

Adverse events

Collected over 6 month. Non-serious events are listed at a 0% frequency threshold.

Adverse event summary by group
GroupDeathsSeriousOther
Single Arm0/18 (0%)0/18 (0%)0/18 (0%)

Baseline characteristics

Infants born at less than 31 weeks gestation and less than 7 days after birth

Age, Customized
Age, Customized(weeks)Single Arm
Gestation at birth26.63 (24.71 to 30.28)
Sex: Female, Male
Sex: Female, Male(Participants)Single Arm
Female9
Male9
Region of Enrollment
Region of Enrollment(participants)Single Arm
United Kingdom18
08

Study locations

2 sites
  • Royal Bolton Hospital
    Bolton, United Kingdom
  • Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust
    London, W12 0HS, United Kingdom
09

References and documents

Publications

  • Jan JE, Wasdell MB, Freeman RD, Bax M. Evidence supporting the use of melatonin in short gestation infants. J Pineal Res. 2007 Jan;42(1):22-7. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-079X.2006.00398.x. PubMed 17198535 ↗
  • Volpe JJ. Cerebral white matter injury of the premature infant-more common than you think. Pediatrics. 2003 Jul;112(1 Pt 1):176-80. doi: 10.1542/peds.112.1.176. No abstract available. PubMed 12837883 ↗
  • Wood NS, Marlow N, Costeloe K, Gibson AT, Wilkinson AR. Neurologic and developmental disability after extremely preterm birth. EPICure Study Group. N Engl J Med. 2000 Aug 10;343(6):378-84. doi: 10.1056/NEJM200008103430601. PubMed 10933736 ↗
10

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Aug 20, 2019, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
11

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT00649961
Lead sponsor
Imperial College London
Collaborators
British Medical Research Council
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
Apr 1, 2008
Start date
May 2010
Primary completion
Feb 2011
Completion
Feb 2011
Results posted
Feb 28, 2014
Last update
Aug 20, 2019

Study contacts

David Edwards, FRCPCH
principal investigator · Imperial College London
Denis Azzopardi, FRCPCH
principal investigator · Imperial College London
Nazakat Merchant, MRCPCH
principal investigator · Imperial College London

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
No
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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This study is completed, as verified in Aug 2019. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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