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CompletedNCT04558346Updated May 21, 2024Results posted

Ghrelin (OXE--103) for Acute Concussion Management

A Phase 2 interventional study of Ghrelin (OXE-103) and Placebo in Concussion, Brain and Traumatic Brain Injury, sponsored by Michael Rippee. Completed at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 18 Years to 60 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2024-05-21.

Sponsored by Michael Rippee · Phase 2, Interventional, and Treatment

Phase
Phase 2
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
23
Allocation
Non-randomized
Ages
18 Years to 60 Years
Sex
All
01

Study summary

Concussions are the leading form of mild traumatic brain injury. Management of concussions and mild traumatic brain injury is a high priority medical focus, social concern, and research topic. Currently, there are no FDA approved treatments for acute concussion. The current standard of care is rest followed by gradual return to normal activity. The purpose of this study is to show improvement in the way patients feel or function after a concussion.

OXE-103 is a protein hormone produced in the laboratory which identical to the hormone ghrelin that is secreted by the stomach. This study will investigate the use of this hormone as treatment for symptoms of acute concussion. The goal of this study is to show improvement in the way study participants feel or function after concussion.

An OXE-103 (ghrelin) agonist is already FDA approved for another condition, but not for concussion. For concussion, it is considered investigational.

This study will examine, if ghrelin is taken every day for two weeks, if the brain will heal faster and help improve or resolve symptoms. The study will also include a placebo arm and a non-treatment group (for those who wish to participate but do not want to receive any treatment). The OXE-103 and placebo will be self-administered through injections using needles.

Read the detailed description

All consenting participants will be screened for eligibility.

The study does not include randomization and all enrolling subjects will be offered treatment with OXE-103. Enrolling subjects will also have the option to choose participation in a non-treatment control group if they do not want treatment.

Consenting participants must be willing to commit to the following:

  • give themselves subcutaneous injections twice a day (for the treatment groups)
  • attend several study visits, which require both in-person and phone-only visits
  • complete various questionnaires and testing
  • have blood drawn
  • have ECG's performed
  • undergo a pregnancy test (if of childbearing potential) and use contraception while on study (for the treatment groups)
  • tell the study team about any side effects they might experience from the study drug during study participation

Total participation will last about 7 weeks, which includes screening, 14 days of taking the study drug, and 4 weeks of follow-up. Participation for the non-treatment group will last the same amount of time.

02

Conditions studied

  • Concussion, Brain
  • Traumatic Brain Injury
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 23 is below the median of 48 across 1,331 interventional studies indexed under Brain Injuries.

Browse Brain Injuries studies →

Lead sponsor

This is the only study on the registry with Michael Rippee as lead sponsor.

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

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years to 60 Years
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Eligibility criteria

INCLUSION AND EXCLUSION:

Subjects must be consented within 28 days post injury.

Subjects will have a symptom severity score of at least 20 at the time of randomization in order to reduce the expected degree (number and severity) of spontaneous symptom resolution prior to study completion.

Subjects with pre-existing neurologic conditions other than mTBI (including cognitive dysfunction) will be excluded.

Subjects receiving, or planning to receive, a continuous ketamine infusion while enrolled in study will be excluded.

Subjects with these known endocrinological abnormalities at baseline will be excluded from study: diabetes mellitus, excess or deficiency of growth hormone, cortisol, or prolactin. Exclusion from study for any other endocrinological abnormalities or diagnoses existing at baseline are ultimately up to the discretion of the study physician.

Significant abnormalities in serum creatinine (>2.5 mg/dL), or alanine aminotransferase (ALT) or aspartate aminotransferase (AST) >3 times the upper limit of normal, or bilirubin (>2.5 mg/dL) will exclude subjects from participation.

Subjects with any abnormal findings noted on imaging, such as hemorrhage, will be excluded from the study. Subjects who meet criteria for moderate or severe TBI will also be excluded.

Subjects who are known to be pregnant will be excluded. Subjects who do not agree to double-barrier contraception or abstinence (for female subjects of child-bearing potential or male subjects who are sexually active with a female of child-bearing potential) until the day following last dose (total of at least 5 half-lives) will be excluded.

Subjects receiving other concomitant medications, physical therapy, or other treatments related to their current mTBI will be eligible if they meet the inclusion criteria.

Subjects (or household members) who are not able to inject themselves or the subject will be excluded.

Subjects are not allowed to be concurrently enrolled in another therapeutic intervention clinical trial while participating in this study. Any subjects currently enrolled in such a separate therapeutic intervention clinical trial, for any condition, will be excluded from participating in this study. For clarification, this does not include observational clinical trials or registries.

Ultimately study subject participation will be at the discretion of the study physician.

05

Study design

Phase
Phase 2
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Non-randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
23 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Placebo comparator
    Placebo

    Placebo (40ug/kg) will be self-administered twice daily for 14 days. ONLY THE PART B (ACUTE) SUBJECTS WILL BE RANDOMIZED AND MAY RECEIVE PLACEBO.

    Drug: Placebo

  • Experimental
    Ghrelin (OXE-103)

    OXE-103 (40ug/kg) will be self-administered twice daily for 14 days. PART A (POST-ACUTE) SUBJECTS WILL BE OFFERED EXPERIMENTAL TREATMENT WITHOUT RANDOMIZATION. PART B (ACUTE) SUBJECTS WILL BE DOUBLE-BLIND RANDOMIZED TO EXPERIMENTAL OR PLACEBO TREATMENT.

    Drug: Ghrelin (OXE-103)

Interventions

  • DrugGhrelin (OXE-103)

    40ug/kg twice daily by self-injection

  • DrugPlacebo

    40ug/kg twice daily by self-injection

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Symptom Management - Post Concussion Symptom Scale

    The primary goal is to describe the change in severity of symptoms in sub-acute concussion with treatment with OXE-103 using the Post Concussion Symptom Scale questionnaire during the intervention period at days 1 and 15 as well as during the post-treatment period at day 44. The Post Concussion Symptom Scale questionnaire consists of 23 common concussion symptoms which are assigned a ranking of severity on a scale from 0 (no symptom) to 6 (severe symptom). This tool is used to capture both severity of concussion symptoms as well as the number of symptoms. Data will be reported with the total values of all 23 subscale symptoms (total score = sum of all subscale symptom scores)--total can range from 0 to 138 with lower scores indicating lower symptom burden and higher scores a higher symptom burden (lower score = better outcome)

    Time frame: Days 1, 15, and 44

Secondary outcomes

  1. Quality of Life - QOLIBRI-OS

    A secondary goal is to examine change in quality of life with treatment of sub-acute concussion using the Quality of Life after Brain Injury The QOLIBRI scores are reported on a 0-100 scale , where 0=worst possible quality of life and 100=best possible quality of life. Responses to the 'satisfaction' items (i.e. items on the Cognition, Self, Daily Life \& Autonomy, and Social Relationships scales) are on a 1-5 scale, 1= "not at all satisfied" and 5="very satisfied". Responses to the 'bothered' items (i.e. items on the Emotions and Physical Problems scales) are reverse scored to correspond with the satisfaction items, where 1="very bothered" and 5="not at all bothered". The responses on each scale are summed to give a total, and then divided by the number of responses to give a scale mean. The scale means have a maximum possible range of 1 to 5. In a similar manner the QOLIBRI Total score is calculated by summing all the responses, and then dividing by the actual number of responses.

    Time frame: Days 1, 15, and 44

07

Results

Posted May 21, 2024

Participant flow

Participant flow — Overall Study
MilestonePlacebo/Standard of CareGhrelin (OXE-103)
Started815
Completed613
Not completed22
Withdrew: Withdrawal by subject20
Withdrew: Lost to follow-up01
Withdrew: Adverse event01

Outcome measures

PrimarySymptom Management - Post Concussion Symptom Scale

The primary goal is to describe the change in severity of symptoms in sub-acute concussion with treatment with OXE-103 using the Post Concussion Symptom Scale questionnaire during the intervention period at days 1 and 15 as well as during the post-treatment period at day 44. The Post Concussion Symptom Scale questionnaire consists of 23 common concussion symptoms which are assigned a ranking of severity on a scale from 0 (no symptom) to 6 (severe symptom). This tool is used to capture both severity of concussion symptoms as well as the number of symptoms. Data will be reported with the total values of all 23 subscale symptoms (total score = sum of all subscale symptom scores)--total can range from 0 to 138 with lower scores indicating lower symptom burden and higher scores a higher symptom burden (lower score = better outcome)

Time frame:
Days 1, 15, and 44
Reported as:
Median · score on a scale
Symptom Management - Post Concussion Symptom Scale
score on a scaleStandard of CareGhrelin (OXE-103)
Day 144 (28 to 71)71 (47 to 73)
Day 1539 (28 to 68)51 (24 to 69)
Day 4445 (6 to 67)20 (7 to 43)
Change Day 15-Day 1-1 (-14 to 4)-21 (-30 to -6)
Change Day 44-Day 1-7 (-22 to 16)-34 (-44 to -24)
SecondaryQuality of Life - QOLIBRI-OS

A secondary goal is to examine change in quality of life with treatment of sub-acute concussion using the Quality of Life after Brain Injury The QOLIBRI scores are reported on a 0-100 scale , where 0=worst possible quality of life and 100=best possible quality of life. Responses to the 'satisfaction' items (i.e. items on the Cognition, Self, Daily Life \& Autonomy, and Social Relationships scales) are on a 1-5 scale, 1= "not at all satisfied" and 5="very satisfied". Responses to the 'bothered' items (i.e. items on the Emotions and Physical Problems scales) are reverse scored to correspond with the satisfaction items, where 1="very bothered" and 5="not at all bothered". The responses on each scale are summed to give a total, and then divided by the number of responses to give a scale mean. The scale means have a maximum possible range of 1 to 5. In a similar manner the QOLIBRI Total score is calculated by summing all the responses, and then dividing by the actual number of responses.

Time frame:
Days 1, 15, and 44
Reported as:
Mean · score on a scale
Quality of Life - QOLIBRI-OS
score on a scaleStandard of CareGhrelin (OXE-103)
Day 113 (11 to 14)8 (7 to 15)
Day 1511 (7 to 17)17 (8 to 19)
Day 4410 (7 to 18)18 (12 to 23)
Change Day 15-Day 11 (-4 to 6)2 (1 to 6)
Change Day 44-Day 11 (-6 to 5)5 (3 to 12)

Adverse events

Collected over 44 days. Non-serious events are listed at a 0% frequency threshold.

Adverse event summary by group
GroupDeathsSeriousOther
Placebo/Standard of Care0/6 (0%)0/6 (0%)0/6 (0%)
Ghrelin (OXE-103)0/15 (0%)0/15 (0%)15/15 (100%)
Most frequent other events
Showing 10 of 24
Most frequent other events
EventPlacebo/Standard of CareGhrelin (OXE-103)
BruisingSkin and subcutaneous tissue disorders0/68/15
Increased appetiteMetabolism and nutrition disorders0/68/15
Stomach GurglingGastrointestinal disorders0/67/15
Injection site painSkin and subcutaneous tissue disorders0/65/15
NauseaGastrointestinal disorders0/64/15
FatigueGeneral disorders0/64/15
HyperhidrosisSkin and subcutaneous tissue disorders0/63/15
DiarrheaGastrointestinal disorders0/62/15
VomitingGastrointestinal disorders0/62/15
Hot flashVascular disorders0/62/15

Baseline characteristics

Age, Continuous
Age, Continuous(years)Placebo/Standard of CareGhrelin (OXE-103)Total
Median33 (30 to 43)42 (41 to 51)42 (35 to 49)
Sex: Female, Male
Sex: Female, Male(Participants)Placebo/Standard of CareGhrelin (OXE-103)Total
Female71118
Male145
Race (NIH/OMB)
Race (NIH/OMB)(Participants)Placebo/Standard of CareGhrelin (OXE-103)Total
American Indian or Alaska Native000
Asian000
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander000
Black or African American000
White81422
More than one race000
Unknown or Not Reported011
Region of Enrollment
Region of Enrollment(participants)Placebo/Standard of CareGhrelin (OXE-103)Total
United States81523
08

Study locations

1 site
  • University of Kansas Medical Center
    Kansas City, Kansas 66160, United States
09

References and documents

Study documents

  • Study protocol · Mar 28, 2021
  • Statistical analysis plan · Nov 30, 2020

Documents are hosted by the registry — open the source record to download them.

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No

10

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on May 21, 2024, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
11

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT04558346
Lead sponsor
Michael Rippee
Collaborators
University of Kansas Health System, University of Kansas Medical Center
Responsible party
Michael Rippee (Associate Professor, University of Kansas Medical Center) — Sponsor-investigator
First posted
Sep 22, 2020
Start date
Oct 20, 2020
Primary completion
Oct 30, 2022
Completion
Oct 30, 2022
Results posted
May 21, 2024
Last update
May 21, 2024

Study contacts

Michael Rippee, MD
principal investigator · University of Kansas Medical Center

Oversight

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 Apr 2024. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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