Gabapentin in Fibromyalgia Trial (GIFT)

Overview[ - collapse ][ - ]

Purpose This study will assess the safety and effectiveness of the drug gabapentin in reducing pain associated with primary fibromyalgia.
ConditionFibromyalgia
InterventionDrug: gabapentin
PhasePhase 2/Phase 3
SponsorNational Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS)
Responsible PartyNational Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS)
ClinicalTrials.gov IdentifierNCT00057278
First ReceivedMarch 28, 2003
Last UpdatedDecember 14, 2007
Last verifiedDecember 2007

Tracking Information[ + expand ][ + ]

First Received DateMarch 28, 2003
Last Updated DateDecember 14, 2007
Start DateMarch 2003
Estimated Primary Completion DateJanuary 2006
Current Primary Outcome MeasuresBrief Pain Inventory (BPI) average pain item
Current Secondary Outcome Measures
  • Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire
  • Mean Tender Point Pain Threshold
  • McGill Pain Questionnaire
  • Clinical Global Impression of Severity
  • Patient Global Impression of Improvement
  • Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS)
  • Medical Outcomes Study Short Form-36 (SF-36)
  • Medical Outcomes Sleep Scale (MOS-Sleep)
  • Fibromyalgia Rating Scale (FRS)

Descriptive Information[ + expand ][ + ]

Brief TitleGabapentin in Fibromyalgia Trial (GIFT)
Official TitleGabapentin in Fibromyalgia Trial (GIFT)
Brief Summary
This study will assess the safety and effectiveness of the drug gabapentin in reducing pain
associated with primary fibromyalgia.
Detailed Description
Fibromyalgia, a chronic musculoskeletal pain disorder of unknown etiology, is characterized
by widespread musculoskeletal pain, fatigue, and multiple tender points; the disease affects
3 to 6 million Americans. A person is considered to have fibromyalgia if he or she has
widespread pain in combination with tenderness in at least 11 of 18 specific tender point
sites.

Treatment of fibromyalgia requires a comprehensive approach and includes aerobic exercise,
heat and massage, antidepressant medications, and relaxation. Gabapentin, a medication
used to treat seizures, has been shown to work on pain transmission pathways and may relieve
the pain associated with fibromyalgia. This study will assess the efficacy of gabapentin in
reducing pain severity in fibromyalgia as measured by the average pain item of the Brief
Pain Inventory (BPI) score.

Patients will be randomized to receive gabapentin or placebo. The gabapentin dose will be
titrated for persisting symptoms and as tolerated during the first 6 weeks of the study,
reaching final doses between 1800 mg/day and 2400 mg/day. Patients will then continue on the
final dose for the remaining 6 weeks of the study. Following completion of the 12 week
treatment phase, patients will be tapered off of the medication over 1 week.

The effectiveness of gabapentin will be assessed using the BPI. The BPI is a
self-administered questionnaire that measures the severity of pain and the interference of
pain on function over the past 24 hours. Other assessments will include the total
Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQ) score; six 11-point Likert-type scales in the FIQ
that measure pain, fatigue, morning tiredness, stiffness, anxiety, and depression; the mean
tender point pain threshold; Clinical Global Impression of Severity (CGI-Severity); Patient
Global Impression of Improvement (PGI-Improvement); the Short-form McGill Pain Questionnaire
(SF-MPQ); the Medical Outcomes Study Short Form-36 (SF-36); the Montgomery Asberg Depression
Rating Scale (MADRS); and the Medical Outcomes Sleep Scale (MOS-Sleep).
Study TypeInterventional
Study PhasePhase 2/Phase 3
Study DesignAllocation: Randomized, Endpoint Classification: Efficacy Study, Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment, Masking: Double-Blind, Primary Purpose: Treatment
ConditionFibromyalgia
InterventionDrug: gabapentin
Study Arm (s)Not Provided

Recruitment Information[ + expand ][ + ]

Recruitment StatusCompleted
Estimated Enrollment150
Estimated Completion DateJanuary 2006
Estimated Primary Completion DateNot Provided
Eligibility Criteria
Inclusion Criteria:

- Primary fibromyalgia as defined by the American College of Rheumatology (ACR)

- Score greater than 4 on the average pain item of the BPI at screening

- Ability to understand and cooperate with study procedures

- Acceptable methods of contraception

Exclusion Criteria:

- Unwillingness or inability to provide written informed consent.

- Lifetime history of psychosis, hypomania or mania, epilepsy, or dementia

- History of seizures or status epilepticus

- DSM-IV diagnosis of alcohol or substance dependence with the exception of nicotine
dependence within 6 months prior to screening visit

- A positive urine drug screen for any substances of abuse or excluded medication.
(NOTE: If the participant has a positive drug screen at Visit 1 for an excluded
medication that may not have had an adequate wash-out period, a retest may be
performed prior to Visit 2. If the retest is positive, the participant will be
excluded.)

- Serious suicide risk

- Treatment refractory in the opinion of study official

- Pregnant or breastfeeding

- Clinically unstable medical or psychiatric condition that could interfere with the
absorption, metabolism, excretion, or safety of gabapentin or interfere with the
assessment of disease severity

- Thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) concentrations outside the range of 0.30-8.0
UlU/mL. (NOTE: Participants who have been on a stable dose of thyroid supplementation
for at least the past 3 months, have medically appropriate TSH values, and are
clinically euthyroid may participate in the study.)

- Any screening laboratory assay that is outside of the local laboratories' normal
range by more than 20% or is deemed to be a clinically significant abnormality by the
investigator, with the exception of liver function tests (AST, ALT, alkaline
phosphatase) which must be within 1.5 X upper limit of normal

- Inability to exclude traumatic injury, regional or structural rheumatic disease, or
infectious arthropathy as the etiology of their relevant symptoms and that would
interfere with interpretation of outcome measures (e.g., osteoarthritis, bursitis,
tendonitis)

- History of an autoimmune disease or inflammatory arthritis, such as systemic lupus
erythematosis (SLE) or rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

- An abnormal Westergren erythrocyte sedimentation rate (e.g., ESR > 40 mm/min)

- An abnormal antinuclear antibody (ANA > 1:160) or rheumatoid factor (RF >15 IU/ml)

- Treatment with a monoamine oxidase inhibitor, tricyclic, SSRI antidepressant (with
the exception of fluoxetine), or lithium within 2 weeks prior to beginning study
medication

- Treatment with fluoxetine within 30 days prior to beginning study medication

- Treatment with analgesic medication (with the exception of acetaminophen and
over-the-counter NSAIDs) within 1 week prior to beginning study medication

- Treatment with any other excluded medications that cannot be discontinued at the
screening visit (see Table 2 for a list of excluded medications)

- Previous treatment with gabapentin

- Previous treatment with pregabalin

- Treatment with any other investigational medications within 30 days prior to
screening
GenderBoth
Ages18 Years
Accepts Healthy VolunteersNo
ContactsNot Provided
Location CountriesUnited States

Administrative Information[ + expand ][ + ]

NCT Number NCT00057278
Other Study ID NumbersN01 AR22264
Has Data Monitoring CommitteeNot Provided
Information Provided ByNational Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS)
Study SponsorNational Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS)
CollaboratorsNot Provided
Investigators Principal Investigator: Lesley M. Arnold, MD University of Cincinnati
Verification DateDecember 2007

Locations[ + expand ][ + ]

McLean Hospital/Harvard Medical School (must live in the Boston, MA area)
Belmont, Massachusetts, United States, 02478
Newton-Wellesley Hospital (must live in the Boston, MA area)
Newton, Massachusetts, United States, 02462
University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry (must live in the Cincinnati, OH area)
Cincinnati, Ohio, United States, 45219