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Completed Phase 1 Interventional

Pioglitazone Therapy of Autoimmune Pulmonary Alveolar Proteinosis Autoimmune Pulmonary Alveolar Proteinosis

ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT03231033

Public ClinicalTrials.gov record NCT03231033. Field values are reproduced from the official study page; the official ClinicalTrials.gov record remains the source of truth for eligibility, enrollment, and contact information.

ClinicalTrials.gov public records Last synced Sep 3, 2026, 8:51 PM EDT

Data is sourced from official ClinicalTrials.gov public API records. Always review the official ClinicalTrials.gov record for the latest information.

Official title

First in Human Study of Pioglitazone Therapy of Autoimmune Pulmonary Alveolar Proteinosis

Brief summary

Reproduced verbatim from the official ClinicalTrials.gov record. Not medical advice.

Pulmonary alveolar proteinosis (PAP) is a syndrome of surfactant accumulation, respiratory failure, and innate immune deficiency for which therapy remains limited to whole lung lavage (WLL), an invasive physical procedure to remove surfactant unavailable at most medical centers. While PAP occurs in multiple diseases affecting men, women, and children of all ages and ethnic origins, in 85% of patients, it occurs as an idiopathic disease associated with neutralizing GM-CSF autoantibodies. Basic science and translational research has shown that idiopathic PAP is an autoimmune disease in which disruption of GM-CSF signaling impairs the ability of alveolar macrophages to clear surfactant and perform host defense functions. Recently, it has been shown that cholesterol toxicity drives pathogenesis in alveolar macrophages from GM-CSF deficient (Csf2-/-) mice and patients with autoimmune PAP. Loss of GM-CSF signaling reduces PU.1/CEBP-mediated expression of PPARγ and its downstream target ABCG1 (a cholesterol exporter important in macrophages). The cell responds by esterifying and storing cholesterol in vesicles to reduce toxicity. Eventually, vesicles fill the cell, impair intracellular transport and reduce uptake and clearance of surfactant from the lung surface resulting in disease manifestations. Recent data indicates that pioglitazone, a PPARγ agonist currently approved by the FDA for human use, increases cholesterol/surfactant clearance by alveolar macrophages from autoimmune PAP patients and Csf2-/- mice. Importantly, pioglitazone significantly reduced the severity of PAP lung disease in Csf2-/- mice after several months of therapy. Together, these observations suggest pioglitazone could be 'repurposed' as pharmacologic therapy for PAP.

Study identification

NCT ID
NCT03231033
Recruitment status
Completed
Study type
Interventional
Phase
Phase 1
Enrollment
3 participants

Conditions and interventions

Eligibility (public fields only)

Age range
18 Years to 80 Years
Sex
All
Healthy volunteers
Healthy volunteers not accepted

This page does not interpret eligibility. Detailed inclusion and exclusion criteria are on the official ClinicalTrials.gov record.

Study timeline

Start date
Aug 16, 2017
Primary completion
Apr 1, 2019
Completion
Apr 1, 2019
Last update posted
Jan 17, 2020

2017 – 2019

United States locations

U.S. sites
1
U.S. states
1
U.S. cities
1
Facility City State ZIP Site status
Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center Cincinnati Ohio 45229

Site contact phone numbers, emails, and investigator names are intentionally not displayed here. Open the official ClinicalTrials.gov record for site contact information.

About this trial record page

What this page shows
Public field values for ClinicalTrials.gov record NCT03231033, including study identification, conditions, interventions, eligibility (age, sex, healthy volunteer), timeline, and U.S. site list.
What this page does not do
No medical advice, eligibility judgments, treatment recommendations, study quality scoring, or AI-generated medical summaries. No site contact phone numbers, emails, or investigator names.
Where the data comes from
Sourced from the official ClinicalTrials.gov public API. The official record is the source of truth.
Last refresh
Last update posted Jan 17, 2020 · Synced Sep 3, 2026

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Open the official record

The complete protocol, eligibility criteria, and contact information for NCT03231033 live on ClinicalTrials.gov.

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