Pilot Study of Tolerability and Preliminary Efficacy of Galantamine to Treat Metabolic Syndrome in People With Chronic Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury (SCI)
The purpose of this research study is to measure the tolerability and preliminary efficacy of a drug, galantamine, to treat metabolic syndrome (MetS) by reducing circulating inflammation in people with spinal cord injury (SCI). Galantamine is FDA-approved for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease. Here, the drug is considered experimental for the purposes of this study.
• Adults aged 21-75 years (male or female)
• Chronic (≥1 year post injury) traumatic non-progressive spinal cord injury (SCI)
• Wheelchair user for community mobility
• Injury level of tetraplegia (cervical level) or paraplegia (all levels)
• SCI-specific obesity indicated by waist circumference ≥94 cm
• Resting heart rate \>45 bpm based on 10 measurements over 10 minutes
• Without clinically significant cardiovascular abnormalities as indicated by 12-lead ECG
• Tolerable bowel routine indicated by a score of \<10 on the International SCI Bowel Function Data Set (ISCI-BDS)
• Metabolic Syndrome (MetS) defined by the presence of at least three of the following: (1) obesity indicated by SCI-specific waist circumference ≥94 cm, (2) elevated fasting glucose ≥100 mg/dL, (3) dyslipidemia: high triglycerides ≥150 mg/dL or low HDL cholesterol \<40 mg/dL for men and \<50 mg/dL for women, (4) C-reactive protein (CRP) levels \>1 mg/dL
• Able to understand and communicate in English at the level of describing adverse event frequency and severity and completing validated outcome measures
• Willingness to comply with all study procedures and availability for the duration of the study
• Provision of signed and dated informed consent form