CClinicalTrials.gg
CompletedNCT03122639Updated Sep 19, 2024

Endothelial Function in Obstructive Sleep Apnea

An Early Phase 1 interventional study of Atorvastatin 10mg and Placebo in Obstructive Sleep Apnea of Adult, sponsored by Columbia University. Completed at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2024-09-19.

Sponsored by Columbia University · Early Phase 1, Interventional, and Basic science

From the registry’s dates

  • Primary completion was Jan 2020, 6 years 8 months ago, and no results have been posted to the registry.
Phase
Early Phase 1
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
106
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
18 Years and older
Sex
All
01

Study summary

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), a condition that affects a quarter of the Western adults, triples the risk for cardiovascular diseases and increases all-cause mortality. Intermittent hypoxia (IH) during transient cessation of breathing in OSA leads to endothelial inflammation, a key step in the initiation and progression of cardiovascular disease. However, the mechanisms that mediate IH-induced endothelial inflammation remain unclear and, consequently, no targeted therapy is available for vascular manifestations of OSA. Using endothelial cells (ECs) freshly harvested from OSA patients, they study team has identified impaired complement inhibition as an initial stimulus for endothelial inflammation in IH, thereby linking for the first time complement activation to vascular risk in OSA. The investigators found that a major complement inhibitor cluster of differentiation (CD59), a plasma membrane protein that inhibits the formation of the terminal complement membrane attack complex (MAC) and protects host cells from complement injury, is internalized from the EC surface in OSA patients. Consequent MAC deposition initiates endothelial inflammation in IH. Importantly, the investigators showed that IH does not significantly affect inflammation in ECs in the absence of complement, suggesting that complement activation has an essential role in endothelial inflammation in OSA. Interestingly, internalization of CD59 in IH appears to be cholesterol-dependent and statins prevent MAC deposition on ECs in IH in a CD59-dependent manner, suggesting a novel therapeutic strategy to reduce vascular risk in OSA. This led the study team to hypothesize that IH-induced cellular cholesterol accumulation reduces complement inhibition via increased internalization of CD59 from the EC surface leading to increased MAC deposition, and that treatment of OSA with continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) and/or statins reverses endothelial dysfunction by restoring complement inhibition.

Read the detailed description

To address the hypothesis, the investigators seek to determine whether statins prevent endothelial dysfunction in OSA by restoring complement inhibition. The preliminary data indicate that the expression of CD59 on the EC surface is preserved in OSA patients who are receiving statins and that statins prevent CD59 internalization and MAC deposition in IH leading to reduced inflammation. The study proposes to determine whether statins restore endothelial protection against complement activity in OSA patients using double-blind placebo-controlled parallel group randomized study design. The hypothesis: The proportion of CD59 on the EC surface is increased while MAC deposition is decreased after 4 weeks of atorvastatin 10 mg daily compared with placebo in OSA patients who adhere with CPAP or do not adhere with CPAP.

The proposed studies may advance our understanding of vascular dysfunction in OSA and provide the basis for large, long-term clinical trials of novel therapeutic strategies, such as addition of statins to the standard CPAP therapy, for preventing and/or reversing vascular risk in OSA.

02

Conditions studied

  • Obstructive Sleep Apnea of Adult
03

In context

Apnea

1,422 studies on the registry are indexed under Apnea; 159 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 106 is above the median of 50 across 965 interventional studies indexed under Apnea.

Browse Apnea studies →

Lead sponsor

Columbia University is the lead sponsor of 1,103 studies on the registry; 193 are open to participants now.

Of its 172 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 142 (83%) have results posted.

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

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years and older
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

  • Patients aged ≥18 years with newly diagnosed obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) who were never treated with CPAP. OSA is defined as apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) ≥5 events/hour of sleep.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • A history of coronary artery disease, heart failure, stroke, diabetes, malignancy, chronic pulmonary, kidney or rheumatologic disease, muscle pain/fatigue, smoking within the past 5 years, regular use of any medications.
05

Study design

Phase
Early Phase 1
Primary purpose
Basic science
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
Quadruple (Participant, Care provider, Investigator, Outcomes assessor)
Enrollment
106 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Active comparator
    Treatment

    OSA patients who adhered or did not adhere with CPAP will be randomized 1:1 to treatment (atorvastatin 10 mg daily) or control group (placebo).

    Drug: Atorvastatin 10mg

  • Placebo comparator
    Control

    OSA patients who adhered or did not adhere with CPAP will be randomized 1:1 to treatment (atorvastatin 10 mg daily) or control group (placebo).

    Drug: Placebo

Interventions

  • DrugAtorvastatin 10mg

    Atorvastatin 10 mg daily for 28 days will be randomly allocated to OSA patients regardless of adherence with CPAP. CPAP is a standard of care for OSA and will be prescribed by care providers not associated with this study based on clinical indications. The investigators will have no role in prescribing CPAP. Atorvastatin and placebo will be encapsulated to appear identical and dispensed by the research pharmacy.

    Also known as: statin

  • DrugPlacebo

    Placebo daily for 28 days will be randomly allocated to OSA patients regardless of adherence with CPAP. CPAP is a standard of care for OSA and will be prescribed by care providers not associated with this study based on clinical indications. The investigators will have no role in prescribing CPAP. Atorvastatin and placebo will be encapsulated to appear identical and dispensed by the research pharmacy.

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Change in proportion of CD59 on the endothelial cell (EC) surface (the percent [%] of the total cellular CD59 protein that is expressed on the endothelial cell surface).

    Outcome 1 will be assessed before and after 4 weeks of atorvastatin or placebo. Each patient 28-day follow-up value will be compared with baseline value. There is no reference range for this marker of complement regulation. The percent of total CD59 located on the EC plasma membrane will be quantified using immunofluorescence and confocal microscopy. This is a single outcome measure. The unit is percent (%) of the total cellular CD59 protein that is expressed on the endothelial cell surface.

    Time frame: Up to 28 days

Secondary outcomes

  1. MAC deposition on EC surface (measurement unit is fluorescent area quantified as micrometer square).

    Outcome 2 will be assessed before and after 4 weeks of atorvastatin or placebo. Each patient 28-day follow-up value will be compared with baseline value. This is a single outcome measure. There is no reference range for this marker of complement regulation. MAC deposition on the EC plasma membrane will be quantified using immunofluorescence and confocal microscopy and expressed as the fluorescent area in micrometer square.

    Time frame: Up to 28 days

  2. ORP1L (late endosome protein) and VAPB (endoplasmic reticulum protein) interaction (measurement unit is fluorescent area quantified as micrometer square).

    Outcome 3 will be assessed at baseline between healthy control and OSA group and baseline vs post CPAP in OSA patients.

    Time frame: 1 day

Other outcomes

  1. Derlin and VAPB interaction

    healthy controls vs OSA patients and baseline vs post CPAP in OSA patients

    Time frame: 1 day

  2. Lipid droplets in endothelial cells

    healthy controls vs OSA patients

    Time frame: 1 day

  3. free cholesterol content in endothelial cells

    healthy controls vs OSA patients

    Time frame: 1 day

  4. ABCA1 and G1 mRNA expression in endothelial cells

    healthy controls vs OSA patients

    Time frame: 1 day

  5. ER stress markers mRNA expression in endothelial cells

    healthy controls vs OSA patients

    Time frame: 1 day

07

Study locations

1 site
  • Columbia University Medical Center
    New York, New York 10032, United States
08

References and documents

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No

No publications or documents are linked to this record.

09

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Sep 19, 2024, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT03122639
Lead sponsor
Columbia University
Collaborators
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)
Responsible party
Sanja Jelic (Associate Professor, Columbia University) — Principal investigator
First posted
Apr 21, 2017
Start date
Sep 1, 2017
Primary completion
Jan 30, 2020
Completion
May 7, 2021
Last update
Sep 19, 2024

Study contacts

Sanja Jelic, MD
principal investigator · Columbia University

Oversight

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

Not currently enrolling

This study is completed, as verified in Sep 2024. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

Follow this study

Get an email when the registry record changes — status, dates, results — or when someone posts here.

Sign in to follow

Discussion

Questions and observations about this study, from anyone following it. Not medical advice, and not a channel to the study team — their contact details are on the registry record.

Sign in to join the discussion. Reading takes no account; posting does. You choose a display name, and a pseudonym is the default.

Nothing here yet. If you are running this trial, taking part in it, or weighing whether to, this is the place to say so.

Start the discussion