Nicotinamide in Glaucoma

• Status: Not yet recruiting
• Trial end date: 2026-11-30
• Target enrollment: 0
• Participant gender: All

Summary

Glaucoma is the leading cause of sight impairment and blindness worldwide. It is a long-term eye disease which can cause permanent loss of sight and sometimes blindness and affects 1 in 50 people over 50 years of age. Open-angle glaucoma (OAG) is the most common type of glaucoma. This tends to develop slowly over many years, caused by the drainage pathway in the eye gradually becoming blocked over time due to a build-up of fluid. This build-up causes pressure in the eye to increase (intra-ocular pressure (IOP)), which then damages the important nerve at the back of the eye called the optic nerve, resulting in vision loss. Current treatments offered for glaucoma (eye drops or laser surgery), aim to lower eye pressure and have shown to slow vision loss, however, visual disability and blindness rates remain unacceptably high and many patients continue to lose vision despite these treatments, suggesting that the optic nerve in some patients is more easily damaged. Recent research has looked at cells called 'mitochondria'. These cells produce most of the energy in the body, and the nerve cells in the eye need a lot of energy to function and survive. Nicotinamide (NAM) is a form of Vitamin B3 and evidence so far has shown that mitochondrial function can be improved with this treatment. The aim of this trial is to find out whether taking oral NAM when used with current standard treatment for lowering pressure in the eye, can reduce the amount of sight loss in recently diagnosed patients with OAG, and evaluate the long-term safety and effectiveness of NAM. The trial will use two groups of people recently diagnosed with glaucoma and who have normal care (drops or laser) to lower eye pressure. Using a method of randomisation (randomly allocated to each group using a computer system), one group will be given NAM and the other group will be given a placebo or 'dummy pill'. This is a double masked trial meaning the participant nor the Investigator will be told which treatment group patients have been allocated to.

• Phase: Phase 3
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers?: No

Details

• Lead Sponsor: University College, London
• Collaborator: National Institute for Health Research, United Kingdom

Criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

1. Patients who have been recently diagnosed (within the last 12 months) with early to moderate open-angle glaucoma (OAG) in at least one eye (including primary OAG, normal tension glaucoma (NTG) and pseudoexfoliation glaucoma)

2. Open angle on gonioscopy

3. Male or female adults aged 18 years or over

4. Snellen visual acuity 6/12 or better in at least one eye meeting the visual field (VF) criteria

5. Visual Field (VF) mean deviation (MD) no worse than -12dB in either eye

6. A negative pregnancy test result at the screening and baseline visit prior to randomisation for women of childbearing potential

7. Ability to provide informed consent to participate

8. Able and willing to attend trial visits and comply with trial procedures for the duration of the trial

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Pigment dispersion glaucoma

2. Pregnancy (or planned pregnancy during the trial) and/or breastfeeding

3. Women of childbearing potential and male participants with a partner of childbearing potential not willing to use highly effective contraception for the duration of the trial treatment and for the time period specified following last trial treatment administration.

4. Current treatment with isoniazid or pyrazinamide or carbamazepine

5. Current liver disease or laboratory results with elevated levels of transaminases (AST or ALT >3 x ULN) at screening visit.

6. Renal failure (eGFR <30mL/min/1.73m²) at screening visit.

7. Conditions which may interfere with Visual Field testing:

1. Diabetic retinopathy or any other retinal ocular disease causing VF loss

2. Clinically relevant cataract (likely to require cataract surgery within the next 2 years)

3. Dementia or other non-glaucomatous neurological disease causing VF loss

4. Adnexal conditions causing VF loss (including but not limited to blepharochalasis)

9. Any clinical condition that, in the investigator's opinion would make the participant unsuitable for the trial.

10. Concurrently enrolled in any other interventional trial or participation in previous clinical trial of glaucoma.

11. Current use of, or unwilling to abstain from, over-the-counter additional vitamin B3/NAM oral supplements (including skin preparations such as ointments/emulsions), Ginkgo Biloba and/or Coenzyme Q10 supplements, throughout the duration of their participation in the trial