The purpose of the study is to test the efficacy of a 20 week multi-modal treatment comprised of lovastatin or placebo, and the Parent-implemented Language Intervention (PILI) in children with fragile X syndrome (FXS). Children will be randomized to drug or placebo in a double-blind design with all participating in the PILI. The primary endpoint will be to measure improvements in spoken language and behavior among lovastatin-treated than placebo treated participants.
This is the first multi-modal treatment to combine a targeted treatment for FXS, lovastatin, with an innovative parent-implemented intervention (PILI) targeting language and challenging behavior delivered through telehealth technology.The hypothesis is that targeted treatments will be more effective when applied in combination with PILI. Examination of whether changes in the activity of key pathways/proteins influenced by fragile X mental retardation protein (FMRP) (the mitogen-activated protein kinase (ERK) and MMP-9) are biomarkers of treatment responsiveness. Because lovastatin is also an anti-inflammatory, characterization of MEK/ERK signaling in peripheral immune cells both pre- and post- treatment will be carried out to determine whether levels of these signaling molecules are predictive biomarkers of treatment response. It is hypothesized that those individuals with elevated inflammatory cytokine profiles will be most responsive to lovastatin treatment. Once modeled in FXS, results from these studies can then be applied to other neurodevelopmental disorders including RASopathies. The behavioral component of the proposed multi-modal treatment will be a Parent-implemented Intervention (PILI) that targets improvements in spoken language and challenging behavior for 10- to 17-year-olds with FXS by increasing parental verbal responsiveness (PVR) within picture-book based story-telling episodes. Parents will be encouraged to use the targeted strategies in other everyday interactions with their child. The intervention will be delivered to parents in their homes by way of video teleconferencing (VTC). Participants will be randomly assigned to receive the behavioral intervention alone or in combination with Lovastatin.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Once per day dosing
Once per day dosing
UC Davis MIND Institute
Sacramento, California, United States
Expressive Language Sample Composite Score in the Home
The primary outcome reflects the diversity of vocabulary used. Higher scores reflect more skill. The lowest possible value is zero. No theoretical maximum can be defined because the wordless picture books can lead to a large and indeterminate set of options for the amount of talk and the vocabulary used. In a previous study of a nonpharmacological intervention, the range at baseline was 9-177, and at post-treatment, the range for the combined treated and nontreated groups was 23-214, although these values were not corrected for the number of C-units produced (McDuffie at el. 2018 Developmental Neurorehabilitation).
Time frame: Baseline
Expressive Language Sample Composite Score in the Home
The primary outcome reflects the diversity of vocabulary used. Higher scores reflect more skill. The lowest possible value is zero. No theoretical maximum can be defined because the wordless picture books can lead to a large and indeterminate set of options for the amount of talk and the vocabulary used. In a previous study of a nonpharmacological intervention, the range at baseline was 9-177, and at post-treatment, the range for the combined treated and nontreated groups was 23-214, although these values were not corrected for the number of C-units produced (McDuffie at el. 2018 Developmental Neurorehabilitation).
Time frame: 20 weeks
FXS- Normed Aberrant Behavior Checklist (ABC) Social Avoidance Subscale
The ABC-C is a 58-item caregiver-rated behavior scale used to examine treatment effects on challenging behaviors for individuals with FXS in the following domains: (1) irritability; (2) lethargy/social withdrawal; (3) stereotypic behavior; (4) hyperactivity; and (5) inappropriate speech. Caregiver rates the subject's behavior as follows: 0 = not a problem, l = the behavior is a problem but slight in degree, 2 = the problem is moderately serious, 3 = the problem is severe in degree. Sansone et al. (2012) further subdivided social withdrawal to rate social avoidance in FXS. The subscale includes 4 items which were originally part of the Lethargy/Withdrawal subscale. This subscale captures core aspects of the FXS phenotype related to gaze avoidance, social ''escape'' behaviors, and social anxiety. Subscale score ranges from 0 to 12, higher scores reflect a more problematic behavior.
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Masking
QUADRUPLE
Enrollment
30
Time frame: Baseline
FXS- Normed Aberrant Behavior Checklist (ABC) Social Avoidance Subscale
The ABC-C is a 58-item caregiver-rated behavior scale used to examine treatment effects on challenging behaviors for individuals with FXS in the following domains: (1) irritability; (2) lethargy/social withdrawal; (3) stereotypic behavior; (4) hyperactivity; and (5) inappropriate speech. Caregiver rates the subject's behavior as follows: 0 = not a problem, l = the behavior is a problem but slight in degree, 2 = the problem is moderately serious, 3 = the problem is severe in degree. Sansone et al. (2012) further subdivided social withdrawal to rate social avoidance in FXS. The subscale includes 4 items which were originally part of the Lethargy/Withdrawal subscale. This subscale captures core aspects of the FXS phenotype related to gaze avoidance, social ''escape'' behaviors, and social anxiety. Subscale score ranges from 0 to 12, higher scores reflect a more problematic behavior. Shown here are the ABC social avoidance subscale mean scores from the 10-weeks follow-up visit.
Time frame: 10 weeks
FXS- Normed Aberrant Behavior Checklist (ABC) Social Avoidance Subscale
The ABC-C is a 58-item caregiver-rated behavior scale used to examine treatment effects on challenging behaviors for individuals with FXS in the following domains: (1) irritability; (2) lethargy/social withdrawal; (3) stereotypic behavior; (4) hyperactivity; and (5) inappropriate speech. Caregiver rates the subject's behavior as follows: 0 = not a problem, l = the behavior is a problem but slight in degree, 2 = the problem is moderately serious, 3 = the problem is severe in degree. Sansone et al. (2012) further subdivided social withdrawal to rate social avoidance in FXS. The subscale includes 4 items which were originally part of the Lethargy/Withdrawal subscale. This subscale captures core aspects of the FXS phenotype related to gaze avoidance, social ''escape'' behaviors, and social anxiety. Subscale score ranges from 0 to 12, higher scores reflect a more problematic behavior. Shown are the ABC social avoidance subscale mean scores from the 20-weeks end-of-study visit.
Time frame: 20 weeks
Clinical Global Impression- Severity (CGI-S)
A clinician rated scale utilizing history from the parents or caregiver and incorporating it into a clinical rating for severity. The CGI-S was used at the pre-treatment assessment to judge symptom severity. The 7-point scale ranges from: 1 = Normal; 2 = Borderline Ill; 3 = Mildly Ill; 4 = Moderately Ill; 5 = Markedly Ill; 6 = Severely Ill; and 7 = Extremely Ill. Therefore, the higher the score, the greater the severity of the patient's illness. Shown here are the CGI-S mean scores from the baseline visit.
Time frame: Baseline
Clinical Global Impression-Improvement (CGI-I) Scale
A clinician rated scale utilizing history from the parents or caregiver and incorporating it into a clinical rating to assess for overall therapeutic response. The 7-point scale ranges from: 1 = Very much improved; 2 = Much improved; 3 = Minimally improved; 4 = No change; 5 = Minimally worse; 6 = Much worse; and 7 = Very much worse. Therefore, the lower the score, the greater the overall improvement as rated by the clinician. The CGI-I was used at the 10 week and 20 week visits. Shown here are the CGI-I mean scores from the 10-weeks end-of-study visit.
Time frame: 10 weeks
Clinical Global Impression-Improvement (CGI-I) Scale
A clinician rated scale utilizing history from the parents or caregiver and incorporating it into a clinical rating to assess for overall therapeutic response. The 7-point scale ranges from: 1 = Very much improved; 2 = Much improved; 3 = Minimally improved; 4 = No change; 5 = Minimally worse; 6 = Much worse; and 7 = Very much worse. Therefore, the lower the score, the greater the overall improvement as rated by the clinician. The CGI-I was used at the 10 week and 20 week visits. Shown here are the CGI-I mean scores from the 20-weeks end-of-study visit.
Time frame: 20 weeks
Visual Analog Scale (VAS) - Spoken Language Impairment
The measure was used to assess parental impressions of progress in two key symptoms: spoken language impairment and social impairment. The distance of the mark from one end is used as the outcome variable for analysis. Caregivers mark on a visual line measuring 10 cm with "worst behavior" at 0 cm and "best behavior" at 10 cm. For each behavior the caregiver is instructed to mark their impression of the behavior at baseline visit and again at the 10-weeks and 20-weeks visits. The calculated distance in cm between the marks drawn at the baseline and follow-up visits thereby demonstrates whether each behavior improved, worsened, or stayed the same during the study, and by how much. Shown here is the mean distance in cm from the "worst behavior" side for the Spoken Language Impairment scale, at baseline. The smaller the value, the worse the behavior. The range is minimum 0 cm to maximum 10 cm.
Time frame: Baseline
Visual Analog Scale (VAS) - Spoken Language Impairment
The measure was used to assess parental impressions of progress in two key symptoms: spoken language impairment and social impairment. The distance of the mark from one end is used as the outcome variable for analysis. Caregivers mark on a visual line measuring 10 cm with "worst behavior" at 0 cm and "best behavior" at 10 cm. For each behavior the caregiver is instructed to mark their impression of the behavior at baseline visit and again at the 10-weeks and 20-weeks visits. The calculated distance in cm between the marks drawn at the baseline and follow-up visits thereby demonstrates whether each behavior improved, worsened, or stayed the same during the study, and by how much. Shown here is the mean distance in cm from the "worst behavior" side for the Spoken Language Impairment scale, at 10-weeks. The smaller the value, the worse the behavior. The range is minimum 0 cm to maximum 10 cm.
Time frame: 10 weeks
Visual Analog Scale (VAS) - Spoken Language Impairment
The measure was used to assess parental impressions of progress in two key symptoms: spoken language impairment and social impairment. The distance of the mark from one end is used as the outcome variable for analysis. Caregivers mark on a visual line measuring 10 cm with "worst behavior" at 0 cm and "best behavior" at 10 cm. For each behavior the caregiver is instructed to mark their impression of the behavior at baseline visit and again at the 10-weeks and 20-weeks visits. The calculated distance in cm between the marks drawn at the baseline and follow-up visits thereby demonstrates whether each behavior improved, worsened, or stayed the same during the study, and by how much. Shown here is the mean distance in cm from the "worst behavior" side for the Spoken Language Impairment scale, at 20-weeks. The smaller the value, the worse the behavior. The range is minimum 0 cm to maximum 10 cm.
Time frame: 20 weeks
Visual Analog Scale (VAS) - Social Impairment
The measure was used to assess parental impressions of progress in two key symptoms: spoken language impairment and social impairment. The distance of the mark from one end is used as the outcome variable for analysis. Caregivers mark on a visual line measuring 10 cm with "worst behavior" at 0 cm and "best behavior" at 10 cm. For each behavior the caregiver is instructed to mark their impression of the behavior at baseline visit and again at the 10-weeks and 20-weeks visits. The calculated distance in cm between the marks drawn at the baseline and follow-up visits thereby demonstrates whether each behavior improved, worsened, or stayed the same during the study, and by how much. Shown here is the mean distance in cm from the "worst behavior" side for the Social Impairment scale, at baseline. The smaller the value, the worse the behavior. The range is minimum 0 cm to maximum 10 cm.
Time frame: Baseline
Visual Analog Scale (VAS) - Social Impairment
The measure was used to assess parental impressions of progress in two key symptoms: spoken language impairment and social impairment. The distance of the mark from one end is used as the outcome variable for analysis. Caregivers mark on a visual line measuring 10 cm with "worst behavior" at 0 cm and "best behavior" at 10 cm. For each behavior the caregiver is instructed to mark their impression of the behavior at baseline visit and again at the 10-weeks and 20-weeks visits. The calculated distance in cm between the marks drawn at the baseline and follow-up visits thereby demonstrates whether each behavior improved, worsened, or stayed the same during the study, and by how much. Shown here is the mean distance in cm from the "worst behavior" side for the Social Impairment scale, at 10-weeks. The smaller the value, the worse the behavior. The range is minimum 0 cm to maximum 10 cm.
Time frame: 10-weeks
Visual Analog Scale (VAS) - Social Impairment
The measure was used to assess parental impressions of progress in two key symptoms: spoken language impairment and social impairment. The distance of the mark from one end is used as the outcome variable for analysis. Caregivers mark on a visual line measuring 10 cm with "worst behavior" at 0 cm and "best behavior" at 10 cm. For each behavior the caregiver is instructed to mark their impression of the behavior at baseline visit and again at the 10-weeks and 20-weeks visits. The calculated distance in cm between the marks drawn at the baseline and follow-up visits thereby demonstrates whether each behavior improved, worsened, or stayed the same during the study, and by how much. Shown here is the mean distance in cm from the "worst behavior" side for the Social Impairment scale, at 20-weeks. The smaller the value, the worse the behavior. The range is minimum 0 cm to maximum 10 cm.
Time frame: 20-weeks