New sites opened across the South West for Alzheimer’s disease clinical trial

People with Alzheimer’s disease are helping with a ground-breaking government-funded trial but with new sites recently opened in the South West more people are being asked to take part in the study led by academics from the Universities of Bristol, Cambridge, Queen’s University Belfast and University College London, and hosted by North Bristol NHS Trust.

The research study, known as RADAR (Reducing pathology in Alzheimer’s Disease through Angiotensin taRgeting) is investigating if a drug normally used to treat high blood pressure (hypertension) has additional properties that could slow down the progression of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) in people with and without hypertension.

RADAR is a multi-centre clinical trial that will investigate if losartan, a blood pressure drug that first became available in 1995, can complement current treatments for AD. The researchers believe losartan can slow down the progression of AD by improving brain blood flow and altering chemical pathways that cause brain cell damage, brain shrinkage and memory problems in AD.

As part of the Prime Minister’s Challenge on Dementia, funding of nearly £2 million was awarded by the Efficacy and Mechanism Evaluation (EME) Programme, an MRC and NIHR partnership.

RADAR is hoping to recruit approximately 230 participants, together with a similar number of carers, from across the UK including sites in the South West (SW) based in Bristol, Cheltenham, Exeter and Torbay, which will be supported by the clinical research networks (CRN) CRN: West of England and CRN: SW Peninsula.

The RADAR study is a double-blinded placebo-controlled randomised trial, meaning that some participants will be randomly assigned to receive either the study drug or a placebo but nobody (including doctors and nurses involved) will know until the study is analysed as a whole who received which. This is one of the most powerful study designs available.

People with Alzheimer’s disease who have high or normal blood pressure can take part if they meet certain eligibility criteria and RADAR will use brain imaging to measure whether losartan reduces the rate of brain shrinkage that is known to occur in AD.  It will also be using what are standard questionnaires on memory performance and quality of life – important indicators of whether the drug might be helpful.

Professor Pat Kehoe, Gestetner Professor of Translational Dementia Research at the University of Bristol, who is leading the trial, said: “It is our delight to be able to extend the study to provide opportunities for patients and their carers in the South West to be able to take part in this UK-based trial, whose participation will be instrumental in helping to test if losartan will be a future treatment for Alzheimer’s disease.”

Dr Stephen Pearson, Consultant in Dementia Research, who is supporting the two Devon sites at Torbay and Exeter that will be complementing the Bristol and Cheltenham sites, added: “We are absolutely delighted to be able to offer people with Alzheimer’s disease based locally this opportunity to take part in this important study. Regretfully there are only a limited number of places we can offer to potential participants so we hope people will be getting in touch to find out more.”
If you, or you know of someone, who might be interested in participating in the study, please contact your nearest SW centre: Bristol, tel: 0117 414 8238; Cheltenham, tel: 01452 894048; Exeter and Torbay, tel: 01803 656619.

Members of the public interested in other research opportunities in relation to Alzheimer’s disease or other forms of dementia can register with the new Join Dementia Research initiative, hosted by the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR).

The Join Dementia Research service allows anyone with and without dementia to sign up using basic demographic and health information and be matched to dementia research studies in their area. Research teams can then approach potential volunteers about their particular study and the volunteer can decide whether to take part on a case-by-case basis.