ClinicalTrials.gg
WithdrawnNCT03254186Updated Feb 26, 2019

Safety and Efficacy of Propranolol in the Treatment of Tardive Dyskinesia

A Phase 2/3 interventional study of Propranolol Hydrochloride and Placebo Oral Tablet in Tardive Dyskinesia, sponsored by Emory University. Withdrawn. Open to participants aged 18 Years to 75 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2019-02-26.

Sponsored by Emory University · Phase 2/3, Interventional, and Treatment

Why this study was withdrawn
No participants
Phase
Phase 2/3
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
0
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
18 Years to 75 Years
Sex
All
01

Study summary

Tardive dyskinesia (TD) is a disabling, embarrassing and often irreversible iatrogenic movement disorder that can occur in anyone exposed to drugs that block dopamine receptors, including first and second generation antipsychotics and antiemetic agents. There is no way to prevent TD except preventing exposure to the inciting agents and there are no approved symptomatic therapies. Propranolol is an FDA-approved β-blocker with limited data supporting its use as a treatment for TD.

The goal of this study is to determine the efficacy of propranolol in the treatment of TD in a double-blind, cross-over prospective manner. If propranolol is found to be an effective therapy, it will fulfill a great need in the treatment of TD with a medication that is known to be safe and inexpensive.

Read the detailed description

Tardive dyskinesia (TD) is a disabling, embarrassing and often irreversible iatrogenic movement disorder that can occur in anyone exposed to drugs that block dopamine receptors, including first and second generation antipsychotics and antiemetic agents. There is no way to prevent TD except preventing exposure to the inciting agents and there are no approved symptomatic therapies. Propranolol is an FDA-approved β-blocker with limited data supporting its use as a treatment for TD.

The goal of this study is to determine the efficacy of propranolol in the treatment of TD in a double-blind, cross-over prospective manner. Patients with a diagnosis of TD will be randomized to propranolol or identical placebo. The patients will be treated for eight weeks, complete a one week washout and then crossed over for another eight weeks. Hence, the subjects will be their own controls. Participation in this pilot trial will provide placebo controlled blinded data that will assist in planning a larger phase II trial. If propranolol is found to be an effective therapy, it will fulfill a great need in the treatment of TD with a medication that is known to be safe and inexpensive.

02

Conditions studied

  • Tardive Dyskinesia

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Keywords

  • Propranolol
  • Safety
  • Efficacy
  • Tardive Dyskinesia treatment
03

In context

Tardive Dyskinesia

62 studies on the registry are indexed under Tardive Dyskinesia; 9 are open to participants now.

Browse Tardive Dyskinesia studies →

Lead sponsor

Emory University is the lead sponsor of 1,405 studies on the registry; 225 are open to participants now.

Of its 237 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 178 (75%) have results posted.

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

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years to 75 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

  • age 18-75 years
  • diagnosis of classical TD by a movement disorder expert for at least 6 months with a baseline score of at least 2 on two of the seven items on the AIMS severity scale
  • stable on medication (either on or off dopamine blocking agents) for at least six months.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • breastfeeding
  • pregnant
  • unstable psychiatric disease
  • history of asthma or
  • baseline heart rate less than 60
  • history of orthostatic hypertension or its presence at screening
  • history of congestive heart failure or unstable angina pectoris
  • resting SBP \<100 and DBP \< 60
  • AV-block II or III without pacemaker
  • history of diabetes mellitus
  • previous adverse effects from use of beta-blockers
  • current use of a β-blocker and the other following drugs: quinidine, amiodarone, propafenone, digoxin, verapamil, diltiazem, clonidine, and warfarin
  • tremor, dystonia, akathisia or other non-tardive movement disorder
  • any medical illness that precludes treatment with propranolol.
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(1)

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.

COPD

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: long-term lung disease that makes it hard to breathe out, including emphysema and chronic bronchitis.

05

Study design

Phase
Phase 2 / Phase 3
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Crossover assignment
Masking
Triple (Participant, Care provider, Outcomes assessor)
Enrollment
0 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Propranolol Hydrochloride

    Two week up-titration to reach a total dose of 20mg per oral four times per day over the first two weeks then will remain on a stable dose for six weeks. The patients will be treated for eight weeks, complete a one week washout and then crossed over to another arm for eight weeks.

    Drug: Propranolol Hydrochloride

  • Placebo comparator
    Placebo Oral Tablet

    Identical placebo. The patients will be treated for eight weeks, complete a one week washout and then crossed over to another arm for eight weeks.

    Drug: Placebo Oral Tablet

Interventions

  • Propranolol is started 10 mg tablet twice per day per oral, two week up-titration to reach a total dose of 20mg per oral four times per day over the first two weeks, then will remain on a stable dose for six weeks.

    Also known as: Inderal

  • DrugPlacebo Oral Tablet

    Identical placebo is started one tablet twice per day per oral, increase over the first two weeks to reach one tablet four times per day, then will remain on this dose for six weeks.

    Also known as: Placebo

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Change in the Abnormal Involuntary Movement Scale (AIMS) score.

    AIMS is a rating scale that scores each individual involuntary movement type at different body locations on a five-point anchored scale. For this study, items 1-7 represent the severity portion (rated 0-4) of the scale and will be used as the primary end point. This measure will be completed at the time of the visit by the enrolling physician. In addition, a standardized video documenting the motor portion of the AIMS will be completed at baseline and eight weeks for both segments of the study. These will be placed in a randomized order and scored using the AIMS severity scale by two blinded raters using consensus measures. A comparison of the change in score from placebo to active by the blinded video raters will be the primary outcome measure.

    Time frame: Visit 1, 3 4, 6, 7 (up to 18 weeks)

Secondary outcomes

  1. Change in the Clinical Global Impression of Severity (CGI-S) score.

    The CGI provides an overall clinician-determined summary measure that takes into account all available information, including a knowledge of the patient's history, psychosocial circumstances, symptoms, behavior, and the impact of the symptoms on the patient's ability to function. The CGI-Severity (CGI-S) asks the clinician one question: "Considering your total clinical experience with this particular population, how mentally ill is the patient at this time?" which is rated on the following seven-point scale: 1=normal, not at all ill; 2=borderline mentally ill; 3=mildly ill; 4=moderately ill; 5=markedly ill; 6=severely ill; 7=among the most extremely ill patients. This rating is based upon observed and reported symptoms, behavior, and function in the past seven days. As symptoms and behavior can fluctuate over a week; the score should reflect the average severity level across the seven days.

    Time frame: Visit 1, 3 4, 6 (up to 18 weeks)

  2. Change in the Clinical Global Impression -Improvement (CGI-I) score.

    The CGI-Improvement (CGI-I) is similarly simple in its format. Each time the patient is seen after medication has been initiated, the clinician compares the patient's overall clinical condition to the one week period just prior to the initiation of medication use (the so-called baseline visit). The CGI-I score obtained at the baseline (initiation) visit serves as a basis for making this assessment. Only the following one query is rated on a seven-point scale: "Compared to the patient's condition at admission to the project \[prior to medication initiation\], this patient's condition is: 1=very much improved since the initiation of treatment; 2=much improved; 3=minimally improved; 4=no change from baseline (the initiation of treatment); 5=minimally worse; 6= much worse; 7=very much worse since the initiation of treatment."

    Time frame: Visit 3 and 6 (up to 18 weeks)

Other outcomes

  1. Change in the Short Form-36 question health survey (SF-36v2) score.

    The Short Form-36 question health survey (SF-36v2) measures a subject's functional health and well-being from their own point of view. SF-36v2 is comprised of 36 questions spanning eight health domains: physical functioning, role-physical, bodily pain, general health, vitality, social functioning, role-emotional, and mental health. The eight scaled scores are the weighted sums of the questions in their section. Each scale is directly transformed into a 0-100 scale on the assumption that each question carries equal weight. The lower the score the more disability. The higher the score the less disability i.e., a score of zero is equivalent to maximum disability and a score of 100 is equivalent to no disability. The health domain scales contribute to the scoring of two summary measures: physical health and mental health.

    Time frame: Visit 1, 3 4, 6 (up to 18 weeks)

  2. Change in the Craniocervical Dystonia Questionnaire (CDQ-24) score.

    A modified version of the CDQ-24, a questionnaire to evaluate the quality of life in patients with face/neck movement disorders such as cervical dystonia and blepharospasm. The 24 questions of the CDQ-24 are divided in five areas:stigma (6), emotional wellbeing (5), pain (3), activities of daily living (6) and family/social life (4). Each question has five possible answers, in which 0 (zero) is the best and 4 is the worst. The total score of the CDQ-24 ranges from 0 (best Quality of Life) to 100 (worst Quality of Life).

    Time frame: Visit 1, 3 4, 6 (up to 18 weeks)

07

Study locations

No study locations are listed for this record.

08

References and documents

Individual participant data

Plan to share: Undecided

No publications or documents are linked to this record.

09

Timeline

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
ElapsedEstimatedEstimated, not yet reached

Ran from Sep 2017 to primary completion in Feb 2019, 16 months.

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

Registered
Aug 16, 2017
First posted
Aug 18, 2017
StartActual
Sep 18, 2017
Primary completionActual
Feb 1, 2019
CompletionActual
Feb 1, 2019
Last update
Feb 26, 2019
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 Feb 26, 2019, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT03254186
Lead sponsor
Emory University
Collaborators
Atlanta Clinical and Translational Science Institute
Responsible party
Jaime Hatcher-Martin (Asstant Professor, Emory University) — Principal investigator
First posted
Aug 18, 2017
Start date
Sep 18, 2017
Primary completion
Feb 1, 2019
Completion
Feb 1, 2019
Last update
Feb 26, 2019

Study contacts

Jaime Hatcher-Martin, MD, PhD
principal investigator · Emory University

Oversight

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

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

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Studies of the drug tested here: Propranolol

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