ClinicalTrials.gg
Status unknownNCT01202812Updated Oct 25, 2010

A Randomized Trial of LOVAZA in Pediatric Sickle Cell Disease (SCD)

A Phase 2 interventional study of Omega-3 Fatty Acids: Eicosapentaenoic Acid (EPA) and Docosahexaenoic Acid (DHA) and Placebo Capsules in Sickle Cell Disease, HEMOGLOBIN SS and Hemoglobin S Beta-0 Thalassemia, sponsored by Thomas Jefferson University. Status unknown at 2 sites in United States. Open to participants aged 10 Years to 19 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2010-10-25.

Sponsored by Thomas Jefferson University · Phase 2, Interventional, and Treatment

The sponsor has not verified this record recently (last verified Oct 2010), so the status shown — last known as Not yet recruiting — may be out of date.
Phase
Phase 2
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
48
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
10 Years to 19 Years
Sex
All
01

Study summary

The purpose of the study is to determine the effectiveness of LOVAZA (fish oil capsules) to decrease inflammation in children and adolescents with Sickle Cell Disease (SCD). It has been found that besides the damage caused by sickle red blood cells themselves, the inflammatory response that occurs in SCD patients could potentially play a significant role in the occurrence of painful episodes or pain crises. The investigators will also study whether the subject/caregiver feels that there is an improvement in the child's quality of life by taking the medication. Besides the effect of LOVAZA on inflammation,the investigators are also testing whether the drug will have a beneficial effect on blood clotting ability (which is known to be increased in SCD) and on the anemia (low red blood cells) that is part of the disease entity.

02

Conditions studied

  • Sickle Cell Disease
  • HEMOGLOBIN SS
  • Hemoglobin S Beta-0 Thalassemia
  • Inflammation
  • Quality of Life

Keywords

  • Sickle Cell Anemia
  • Sickle Cell Disease
  • Hemoglobin SS Disease
  • Hemoglobin S beta-0 Thalassemia
  • Inflammation
  • Quality of Life
  • Sickle Thalassemia
  • C-Reative Protein
  • Hemolytic Anemia
  • Hemostasis
  • Biomarkers
  • Coagulation
  • Omega-3 Fatty Acids
  • Eicosapentaenoic Acid
  • Docosahexaenoic Acid
  • Fish Oils
  • Drug: Placebo
  • Drug: LOVAZA
03

In context

Anemia, Sickle Cell

1,134 studies on the registry are indexed under Anemia, Sickle Cell; 238 are open to participants now.

This study's planned enrollment of 48 is above the median of 40 across 769 interventional studies indexed under Anemia, Sickle Cell.

Browse Anemia, Sickle Cell studies →

Lead sponsor

Thomas Jefferson University is the lead sponsor of 393 studies on the registry; 70 are open to participants now.

Of its 45 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 21 (47%) have results posted.

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

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
10 Years to 19 Years
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.

Inclusion criteria

Subjects who meet all of the following criteria are eligible for enrollment into the study:

  • Participant has signed the /assent with parent signing informed consent as age appropriate.
  • Established diagnosis of HbSS or HbSβo Thal.
  • History of ≥3 vasocclusive pain events in preceding 12 months.
  • Regular compliance with comprehensive care.
  • Aged 10 years or greater and less than 20 years.
  • At enrollment, subject should be in his/her steady or baseline state.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria

  • Subjects with levels \<5.5gm/dL.
  • Inability to take or tolerate oral medications.
  • Poor compliance with previous treatment regimens.
  • Hepatic dysfunction ( also known as ALT >2X or conjugated >2X the patients baseline within the last 6 weeks).
  • Renal dysfunction (A creatinine level within the past 6 weeks of ≥ 1.0mg/dL for children and ≥ 1.2mg/dL for a subject ≥ 18 years of age).
  • Allergy to fish or shell fish.
  • Triglyceride levels \<80mg/dL.
  • Pregnancy.
  • Chronic Transfusion Therapy.
  • Transfusion within the last 30 days.
  • Persistent pain from sickle-complications (e.g. avascular necrosis).
  • A vasocclusive pain episode lasting longer than 2 weeks or >12 pain episodes in preceding year.
  • Daily narcotic usage.
  • Treatment with any drug or regular fish oil supplementations in last 60 days.
  • Currently receiving another investigational agent, or on such an agent with the last 60 days.
  • Dosage changes in preceding 3 months if on hydroxyurea.
  • Bleeding disorder or patient on concomitant anti-coagulation.
  • Conditional or abnormal TCD result or stroke.
  • Other chronic illness that could adversely affect subjects performance such as or TB.
  • Children in Care (CiC): A child in care is a child who has been placed under the control or protection of an agency, organization, institution or entity by the courts, the government or a government body, acting in accordance with powers conferred on them by law or regulation.
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(7)

Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.

Informed consent

Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.

You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.

Hemoglobin (Hb)

The protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen. A low level is anaemia, which can cause tiredness and breathlessness. Measured in g/dL or g/L (9 g/dL is 90 g/L).

ALT and AST (liver enzymes)

Two enzymes measured in a routine blood test of the liver. Higher levels can mean the liver is under strain or damaged. SGPT and SGOT are older names for ALT and AST.

Criteria usually give a limit as a multiple of the upper limit of normal (ULN), often higher when cancer has spread to the liver.

ULN (upper limit of normal)

The top of the normal range for a blood test, as set by the laboratory that runs it. Each lab prints its own range next to your result.

“≤ 2.5 × ULN” means the result can be up to two and a half times that top value.

Bilirubin

A yellow substance made when red blood cells are broken down, which the liver clears. A high level can mean a problem with the liver or the bile ducts.

Criteria often allow more for people with Gilbert’s syndrome, a harmless inherited condition that raises bilirubin.

Investigational drug or device

A drug or device being studied in a clinical trial.

It may be new, or already approved and being studied for another use, dose or form. Criteria often leave out people who took part in another study of one within a recent period, commonly 30 days or five half-lives.

HIV

The human immunodeficiency virus, which weakens the immune system.

Many studies now accept people whose HIV is controlled on treatment, judged by the viral load and the CD4 count. Check the limits this study sets.

05

Study design

Phase
Phase 2
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
Quadruple (Participant, Care provider, Investigator, Outcomes assessor)
Enrollment
48 participants (estimated)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    LOVAZA

    Dietary Supplement: Omega-3 Fatty Acids: Eicosapentaenoic Acid (EPA) and Docosahexaenoic Acid (DHA)

  • Placebo comparator
    Placebo capsule

    Other: Placebo Capsules

Interventions

  • Dietary supplementOmega-3 Fatty Acids: Eicosapentaenoic Acid (EPA) and Docosahexaenoic Acid (DHA)

    Drug page: Omega-3 fatty acid

    Eicosapentaenoic Acid (EPA)/Docosahexaenoic Acid (DHA) 30mg/kg (LOVAZA capsules) given by mouth daily for 6 months.

    Also known as: - Fish Oils, - Eicosapentaenoic Acid, - Docosahexaenoic Acid, - Omega-3 Fatty Acid

  • OtherPlacebo Capsules

    Placebo capsules given by mouth daily for 6 months.

    Also known as: - Placebo

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. To determine whether supplementation with LOVAZA will exert an anti-inflammatory effect by decreasing levels of the inflammatory biomarker high sensitivity C Reactive Protein (hsCRP) in children and adolescents with Sickle Cell Disease (SCD).

    Time frame: 6 months

Secondary outcomes

  1. To determine whether supplementation with LOVAZA will increase health-associated quality of life (QoL) responses as they relate to clinical vasocclusive events (VOC) in children and adolescents with Sickle Cell Disease (SCD).

    Time frame: 6 months

07

Study locations

2 sites
  • Thomas Jefferson University Hospital
    Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19107, United States
    • Marie Stuart, M.D. · Principal investigator
    • Suba Krishnan, M.D. · Sub investigator
    • B.N. Yamaja Setty, Ph.D. · Sub investigator
  • St. Christopher's Hospital for Children, Drexel University
    Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19134-1095, United States
08

References and documents

Publications

  • Tomer A, Kasey S, Connor WE, Clark S, Harker LA, Eckman JR. Reduction of pain episodes and prothrombotic activity in sickle cell disease by dietary n-3 fatty acids. Thromb Haemost. 2001 Jun;85(6):966-74. PubMed 11434703 ↗
  • Krishnan S, Setty Y, Betal SG, Vijender V, Rao K, Dampier C, Stuart M. Increased levels of the inflammatory biomarker C-reactive protein at baseline are associated with childhood sickle cell vasocclusive crises. Br J Haematol. 2010 Mar;148(5):797-804. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2141.2009.08013.x. Epub 2009 Dec 8. PubMed 19995398 ↗
  • Dampier C, Lieff S, LeBeau P, Rhee S, McMurray M, Rogers Z, Smith-Whitley K, Wang W; Comprehensive Sickle Cell Centers (CSCC) Clinical Trial Consortium (CTC). Health-related quality of life in children with sickle cell disease: a report from the Comprehensive Sickle Cell Centers Clinical Trial Consortium. Pediatr Blood Cancer. 2010 Sep;55(3):485-94. doi: 10.1002/pbc.22497. PubMed 20658620 ↗
09

Timeline

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
Not marked actual or estimatedDates not marked actual or estimated

The record gives a start of Oct 2010, a primary completion of Mar 2012 and a completion of Mar 2012. It does not say whether these dates are actual or estimated.

How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.

Registered
Sep 14, 2010
First posted
Sep 16, 2010
Start
Oct 2010
Primary completionEst.
Mar 2012
CompletionEst.
Mar 2012
Last update
Oct 25, 2010
What these dates mean
Start.
When the first participant enrolled; while estimated, when the study expects to open to recruitment.
Primary completion.
When the last participant was examined or treated to collect data for the study's main question, its primary outcome. A study that stopped early gives the date its data collection stopped.
Completion.
When the last participant's last visit took place, for every outcome, secondary ones and side effects included: the end of the study. Often later than primary completion, sometimes the same day.
Actual and Est.
Actual means the registry says the date has happened. Est. (estimated) is a date the sponsor plans or expects. It can still move, and the sponsor is expected to change it to actual once it has passed.
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Oct 25, 2010, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT01202812
First posted
Sep 16, 2010
Start date
Oct 2010
Primary completion
Mar 2012 (estimated)
Completion
Mar 2012 (estimated)
Last update
Oct 25, 2010

Study contacts

Marie Stuart, M.D.
Contact
marie.stuart@jefferson.edu
215-955-1819 cell-215.847.1471
Marie Stuart, M.D.
principal investigator · Thomas Jefferson University

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
Yes
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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