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the PHENOSAR Trial: Use of Antibiotics in Treatment of Sarcoidosis

Study Purpose

In this study it is investigated whether treatment with azithromycin in combination with doxycycline reduces the bacterial load of C. acnes in granulomatous tissue of patients with sarcoidosis and subsequently decreases the inflammatory activation measured by FDG uptake and serum biomarkers.

Recruitment Criteria

Accepts Healthy Volunteers Healthy volunteers are participants who do not have a disease or condition, or related conditions or symptoms	No
Study Type An interventional clinical study is where participants are assigned to receive one or more interventions (or no intervention) so that researchers can evaluate the effects of the interventions on biomedical or health-related outcomes. An observational clinical study is where participants identified as belonging to study groups are assessed for biomedical or health outcomes. Searching Both is inclusive of interventional and observational studies.	Interventional
Eligible Ages	18 Years and Over
Gender	All

More Inclusion & Exclusion Criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

- Biopsy proven sarcoidosis.

- No treatment indication for the sarcoidosis.

- Inflammatory activity according to FDG-PET scan at baseline.

- SUVmax above 3 in the lung and/or above 5 in mediastinum/hili.

Exclusion Criteria:

- Increased duration of QT interval (>440ms for men and >450ms for women) on ECG.

- Hearing deficits, as this is a possible side effect of azithromycin.

- Being pregnant or breastfeeding at time of inclusion

Trial Details

Trial ID: This trial id was obtained from ClinicalTrials.gov, a service of the U.S. National Institutes of Health, providing information on publicly and privately supported clinical studies of human participants with locations in all 50 States and in 196 countries.	NCT05291468
Phase Phase 1: Studies that emphasize safety and how the drug is metabolized and excreted in humans. Phase 2: Studies that gather preliminary data on effectiveness (whether the drug works in people who have a certain disease or condition) and additional safety data. Phase 3: Studies that gather more information about safety and effectiveness by studying different populations and different dosages and by using the drug in combination with other drugs. Phase 4: Studies occurring after FDA has approved a drug for marketing, efficacy, or optimal use.	N/A
Lead Sponsor The sponsor is the organization or person who oversees the clinical study and is responsible for analyzing the study data.	St. Antonius Hospital
Principal Investigator The person who is responsible for the scientific and technical direction of the entire clinical study.	N/A
Principal Investigator Affiliation	N/A
Agency Class Category of organization(s) involved as sponsor (and collaborator) supporting the trial.	Other
Overall Status	Not yet recruiting
Countries	Netherlands
Conditions The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied.	Sarcoidosis, Pulmonary, Sarcoidosis Skin

Additional Details

Sarcoidosis is a multisystemic disease with unknown origin mostly affecting intrathoracic lymph nodes, lungs and skin. Sarcoidosis is characterized by the formation of non-caseating granulomas causing a variety of symptoms based on the organs involved. Although frequently described as a benign disease, mortality rate has been estimated to be around 11.0 per 1000 person-years in patients with sarcoidosis, with respiratory failure as the most common cause of death in the western world. The main treatment indication in sarcoidosis is risk of organ failure. In the literature the need for systemic treatment varies between 20-70%. Since there is no curative treatment for sarcoidosis, treatment is focused on suppression of the inflammation. This is usually done with the use of immunosuppressive drugs, such as prednisone and/or methotrexate, and in patients with severe refractory disease infliximab. It is well known that treatment with immunosuppressive drugs is associated with burdensome side effects for patients and impaired quality of life. Considerable research has been done on the possible role C. acnes in the pathogenesis of sarcoidosis. In a recent work of our own group it was shown that presence of C. acnes within granulomatous tissue can be detected in 41% of Dutch patients with sarcoidosis. Azithromycin has an inhibiting effect on several bacterial infections, such as C. acnes. Therefore, sarcoidosis patients with C. acnes in the granulomatous tissue might benefit from treatment with azithromycin. Given the fact that microbial resistance to azithromycin is relatively easy to develop, it is common practice to treat C. acnes with a combination of azithromycin and doxycycline.

Arms & Interventions

Arms

Active Comparator: C Acnes present in granulomatous tissue, treatment with antibiotics

patients who are in this arm will receive azithromycin and doxycycline for 3 months

Placebo Comparator: C Acnes present in granulomatous tissue, treatment with placebo

patients who are in this arm will receive placebo for 3 months

Active Comparator: C Acnes NOT present in granulomatous tissue, treatment with antibiotics

patients who are in this arm will receive azithromycin and doxycycline for 3 months

Placebo Comparator: C. Acnes NOT present in granulomatous tissue, treatment with placebo

patients who are in this arm will receive placebo for 3 months

Interventions

Radiation: - FDG-PET/CT

Patients will be randomized in a 1:1 ratio to either receive a combination of doxycycline and azithromycin or placebo during 3 months, after which the inflammatory state of disease is measured by FDG-PET/CT and serum biomarkers. If patients have cutaneous sarcoidosis, a skin biopsy will be performed at baseline and at the end of the study.

Contact a Trial Team

If you are interested in learning more about this trial, find the trial site nearest to your location and contact the site coordinator via email or phone. We also strongly recommend that you consult with your healthcare provider about the trials that may interest you and refer to our terms of service below.