Skip to content

Exercise and RP (AVAMC and Emory)

The Effects of Exercise on Progression of Disease and Quality of Life in Patients With Retinitis Pigmentosa - a Small Pilot Study

Status
Completed
Phases
NA
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT03381235
Enrollment
4
Registered
2017-12-21
Start date
2018-02-23
Completion date
2018-11-28
Last updated
2018-12-26

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Retinitis Pigmentosa

Keywords

Exercise, Quality of life, Progression of disease, Retinitis

Brief summary

The purpose of this study is to look in humans at the relationship between moderate or little exercise and their potential effects on the retina in patients with Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP).

Detailed description

Human studies have shown that regular exercise may have positive effects on common degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease. Exercise has also shown to improve conditions the eye such as macular degenerations, glaucoma, and cataracts. Mice with retinal degeneration which were exposed to exercise showed that it helped to slow the rate of degeneration. The purpose of this study is to look in humans at the relationship between moderate or little exercise and their potential effects on the retina in patients with Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP).

Interventions

OTHERSpin exercise

Each exercise class will consist of 20 minutes of progressive, interval based Spin exercise 2 times a week for 6 months on stationary exercise cycles and will be led by a qualified instructor. The Duration of each session is lengthened based on the progression of the participant and the recommendation of the instructor by 1-2 minutes as needed to a maximum time of 60 minutes per session. Exercise intensity will begin at low levels (50% of maximal heart rate reserve (HRR) and increase by 5% every week (if deemed necessary by the instructor) to a maximum of 75% maximal HRR.

Sponsors

Emory University
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
NON_RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
PREVENTION
Masking
NONE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to 60 Years
Healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

* Visual field no less than 10 degrees; * VA no worse than 20/200 in the better seeing eye.

Exclusion criteria

* Not able to tolerate exercise due to an underlying medical condition.

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Change in Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) level before and after exerciseBaseline, 3 and 6 months follow up.Sertum levels of BDNF in patients before and exercise program will be measured by testing blood

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Change in retinal thickness before and after exerciseBaseline, 3 and 6 months follow up.Change in retinal thickness will be evaluated using spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) before and after exercise.
Change in retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) pigmentation before and after exerciseBaseline, 3 and 6 months follow up.Change in retinal RPE pigmentation will be evaluated using Optos wide-field fundus photography before and after exercise.
Change in degrees of vascular attenuation before and after exerciseBaseline, 3 and 6 months follow up.Change in degrees of vascular attenuation will be evaluated using Optos wide-field fundus photography before and after exercise.
Change in retina vasculature before and after exerciseBaseline, 3 and 6 months follow up.Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography (OCTA) will serve as a tool to study retina vasculature, including choroidal, superficial and deep retinal vascular filling status and permeability, before and after exercise.
Change in Goldmann Visual Field (GVF) scoresBaseline, 3 and 6 months follow up.The final result of a GVF is a diagram island of vision. The visual field is an island with a central peak and the altitude correlates with the visual sensitivity in a given location.
Change in the National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire-25 (NEI VFQ-25) scoreBaseline, 3 and 6 months follow up.NEI VFQ-25 measures the range of vision-related functioning experienced by persons. The 12 subscales in the NEI VFQ-25 are general vision, near vision, distance vision, driving, peripheral vision, color vision, ocular pain, general health, and vision-specific role difficulties, dependency, social function, and mental health. The subscale scores are calculated by summing the relevant items and transforming the raw scores into a 0 to 100 scale where higher scores indicate better functioning or well-being.
Change in amount of autofluorescence before and after exerciseBaseline, 3 and 6 months follow up.Change in amount of autofluorescence will be evaluated using autofluorescent imaging before and after exercise.

Countries

United States

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026