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CompletedNCT03210688ADAPTinMCNUpdated Jan 24, 2025

Active Vitamin D and Reduced Dose Prednisolone for Treatment in Minimal Change Nephropathy

A Phase 4 interventional study of Prednisolone and Alfacalcidol in Minimal Change Disease and Nephrotic Syndrome, sponsored by University of Aarhus. Completed at 2 sites in Denmark. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2025-01-24.

Sponsored by University of Aarhus · Phase 4, Interventional, and Treatment

Phase
Phase 4
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
71
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
18 Years and older
Sex
All
01

Study summary

Traditionally MCN is treated with a high dose of prednisolone, which induces remission in 60-90% of patients. Prednisolone treatment contains numerous side effects and the current dose is empiric. Given the lack of efficacy evidence and the risk associated with the currently accepted treatment regimen there is a need to characterize the outcome in MCN further, and to establish new, and potentially less toxic treatment regimens.

The aim is to examine if treatment with reduced dose of prednisolone in combination with activated vitamin D is as effective as standard high dose prednisolone in achieving remission and preventing relapse in MCN, and if reduced dose prednisolone is associated with fewer side effects compared to standard dose. Furthermore, the study will examine the influence of prednisolone metabolism on the efficacy and side effects of prednisolone in the treatment of MCN.

02

Conditions studied

  • Minimal Change Disease
  • Nephrotic Syndrome

Keywords

  • Prednisolone
  • alfacalcidol
  • Minimal change nephropathy
03

In context

Nephrosis, Lipoid

75 studies on the registry are indexed under Nephrosis, Lipoid; 32 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 71 is above the median of 49 across 46 interventional studies indexed under Nephrosis, Lipoid.

Browse Nephrosis, Lipoid studies →

Lead sponsor

University of Aarhus is the lead sponsor of 1,300 studies on the registry; 189 are open to participants now.

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

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

  • proven minimal change nephropathy
  • If earlier minimal change: No relapse in 5 years, and earlier only treated with prednisolone
  • Nephrotic syndrome
  • Age more than 18 years

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Cancer except from basal cells carcinoma
  • Lymphoproliferative disease
  • Pregnancy
  • \< 30 ml/min/1,73m2 (CKD-EPI)
  • Allergy
  • No danish language
  • No ability to give informed prove
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(2)

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.

Biopsy and archival tissue

A biopsy takes a small piece of tissue to examine. “Archival tissue” is a sample already taken, for example at diagnosis, and kept by the hospital.

Whether a stored sample will do depends on when it was taken, how much there is and what the study needs. Ask whether the study accepts your stored sample or needs a new biopsy.

GFR and eGFR (kidney filtering)

GFR (glomerular filtration rate) is how much blood the kidneys filter each minute. It is usually estimated from a blood test — eGFR, by formulas such as CKD-EPI or MDRD — and some studies ask for it to be measured directly instead. Usually given in mL/min/1.73 m².

Check the method, the units and the minimum the study states. A value of 90 or above is in the normal-or-high range, but kidney damage can show in other tests too.

05

Study design

Phase
Phase 4
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
71 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Active comparator
    High dose prednisolone

    Prednisolone 1 mg/kg/day

    Drug: Prednisolone

  • Experimental
    Alfacalcidol and low dose prednisolone

    Alfacalcidol 0,5 microgram/day and Prednisolone 0,5 mg/kg/day

    Drug: Prednisolone · Drug: Alfacalcidol

Interventions

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Remission

    Time from treatment to remission and the frequency of patients reaching remission on treatment

    Time frame: 4 to 16 weeks

Secondary outcomes

  1. Relapse

    Frequency of relapse

    Time frame: 4 weeks to 1 year after remission

  2. Side effects to treatment

    The side effects to prednisolone are assessed using questionnaires by both patients and doctors, including SF36 and Cushing QoL. The Glucocorticoid Toxicity Index will be used to quantitate prednisolone-related morbidity.

    Time frame: 4 weeks to 1 year after remission

  3. Concentration of Prednisolone in saliva

    Measurement of prednisolone metabolism by saliva test and genetic analysis of specific liver enzymes

    Time frame: 4 weeks after initiating prednisolone treatment

  4. Rates of genetic polymorphism, including HLA variations

    Genomic HLA typing (HLA-class I: A, B and C and HLA-class II: DM, DO, DP, DQ and DR) will be performed to examine if specific HLA-alleles are more frequent in patients with MCN. Potential modifying genes that theoretically have pathophysiological impact on MCN will be sequenced using targeted next generation sequencing.

    Time frame: Blood test at baseline

07

Study locations

2 sites
  • Aarhus University Hospital
    Aarhus, Denmark
  • Regional Hospital Viborg
    Viborg, Denmark
08

References and documents

Publications

  • Azukaitis K, Palmer SC, Strippoli GF, Hodson EM. Interventions for minimal change disease in adults with nephrotic syndrome. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2022 Mar 1;3(3):CD001537. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD001537.pub5. PubMed 35230699 ↗
  • Kristensen T, Birn H, Ivarsen P. A randomised controlled unblinded multicentre non-inferiority trial with activated vitamin D and prednisolone treatment in patients with minimal change nephropathy (ADAPTinMCN). Trials. 2021 Jul 12;22(1):442. doi: 10.1186/s13063-021-05393-4. PubMed 34247632 ↗

Individual participant data

Plan to share: Undecided

09

Timeline

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
ElapsedEstimatedEstimated, not yet reached

Ran from May 2018 to primary completion in Feb 2024, 69 months.

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

Registered
Jul 3, 2017
First posted
Jul 7, 2017
StartActual
May 1, 2018
Primary completionActual
Feb 14, 2024
CompletionActual
Jan 21, 2025
Last update
Jan 24, 2025
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 Jan 24, 2025, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT03210688
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
Jul 7, 2017
Start date
May 1, 2018
Primary completion
Feb 14, 2024
Completion
Jan 21, 2025
Last update
Jan 24, 2025

Study contacts

Per Ivarsen
study chair · Aarhus University Hospital

Oversight

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

Not currently enrolling

This study is completed, as verified in Jan 2025. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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