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Serum Biomarkers to Predict Response to Angiotensin II in Septic Shock

DPP3, Angiotensin II, and Renin Kinetics in Sepsis (DARK-Sepsis) Pilot: Serum Biomarkers to Predict Response to Angiotensin II vs. Standard-of-care Vasopressor Therapy in the Treatment of Septic Shock, a Randomized Controlled Pilot Trial

Status
Completed
Phases
Phase 4
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT05824767
Acronym
DARK-Sepsis
Enrollment
42
Registered
2023-04-24
Start date
2023-04-17
Completion date
2025-03-12
Last updated
2026-07-02

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

Conditions

Septic Shock, Vasodilatory Shock

Keywords

septic shock, vasopressor, angiotensin II, renin, dipeptidyl peptidase 3 (DPP3), randomized controlled trial

Brief summary

This trial will be a randomized controlled single-center pilot trial comparing the use of angiotensin II versus standard-of-care (SOC) vasopressor therapy in adult patients with persistent vasodilatory shock despite moderate-dose norepinephrine, with a primary outcome of the ability of novel biomarkers (renin and DPP3) to predict blood pressure response to angiotensin II. Given our angiotensin II will be compared to SOC, this will be an unblinded study.

Detailed description

Sepsis affects \>1 million Americans yearly and, when septic shock ensues, it is associated with high morbidity and mortality. Though first-line norepinephrine is standard of care, there are limited prospective data to guide the choice of additional vasopressors in septic shock. While more studies are needed, preliminary data suggest that the vasopressor angiotensin II (AngII) may improve outcomes in septic shock, especially in certain subsets of patients, such as those with acute kidney injury (AKI) requiring renal replacement therapy (RRT), acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), or high severity of illness. Furthermore, there are no validated biomarkers currently available to guide the choice of vasopressor therapy in septic shock. In this study the investigators will evaluate two potential biomarkers, renin and dipeptidyl peptidase 3 (DPP3). Renin has been shown in preliminary studies to accurately predict mortality in septic shock, outperforming lactate, and to predict beneficial response to AngII. A less well-known candidate biomarker is DPP3, which is an aminopeptidase that cleaves a variety of biologically active oligopeptides including angiotensin II. Similar to renin, preliminary observational data show that elevated DPP3 levels in patients with sepsis are associated with organ dysfunction and short-term mortality, outperforming lactate as a predictor of death. This study is an unblinded pilot randomized controlled trial (RCT) comparing AngII (intervention) to standard-of-care (SOC) vasopressor therapy in adult patients with persistent vasodilatory shock requiring moderate dose norepinephrine. The primary outcome will be the ability of renin and DPP3 to predict blood pressure (BP) response to AngII. As both renin and DPP3 are associated with overall short-term prognosis in sepsis, the SOC arm will allow us to determine if the predictive value of renin and DPP3 is specific to AngII therapy. A variety of secondary clinical outcomes will also be tracked, but the primary purpose of this pilot study is to inform the future design of a large multicenter RCT evaluating the biomarker-guided use of angiotensin II as a second-line vasopressor in septic shock.

Interventions

DRUGAngiotensin II

Angiotensin II (Giapreza) is a pharmacologic version of a naturally occurring peptide hormone of the same name which is a component of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS). Angiotensin II (Giapreza) was FDA-approved in 2017 as a vasoconstrictive agent in the treatment of vasodilatory shock.

Sponsors

University of New Mexico
Lead SponsorOTHER
La Jolla Pharmaceutical Company
CollaboratorINDUSTRY

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE

Eligibility

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

Inclusion criteria

* Adult patients ≥18 years-old with persistent vasodilatory shock despite moderate-dose norepinephrine monotherapy, defined as those who require ≥0.1 mcg/kg/min for at least 30 minutes to maintain a MAP between 65-70 mmHg. * Patients are required to have central venous and arterial catheters present, and they are expected to remain in place for at least the initial 72 hours of study. * Patients are required to have an indwelling urinary catheter present, and it is expected to remain in place for at least the 72 hours of study. * Patients must have received 20-30 mL/kg of crystalloid over the previous 24-hour period, as clinically appropriate, and no longer be fluid responsive as per UNMH protocol. By UNMH protocol, lack of fluid responsiveness is considered a failure to increase stroke volume, stroke volume index, cardiac output, or cardiac index (typically measured by non-calibrated pulse contour analysis using a FloTrac device) by at least 10% after a 500-mL crystalloid bolus or a passive leg raise. Patients for whom the treating physicians feel that 20 mL/kg of crystalloid may be clinically inappropriate can qualify for the study if the reason for withholding further IV fluids is documented. * Patient or (in patients unable to consent) legal authorized representative (LAR) is willing and able to provide written informed consent and comply with all protocol requirements. * Approval from the attending physician and clinical pharmacist conducting the study.

Exclusion criteria

* Patients who are \< 18 years of age. * Patients diagnosed with acute occlusive coronary syndrome requiring intervention and/or cardiogenic shock. * Patients with or suspected to have abdominal aortic aneurysm or aortic dissection. * Acute stroke. * Patients with acute mesenteric ischemia or those with a history of mesenteric ischemia. * Patients with known Raynaud's phenomenon, systemic sclerosis, or vasospastic disease. * Patients on venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VA-ECMO). * Patients with liver failure with a Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) score of =/\>30. * Patients with burns covering \>20% of total body surface area. * Patients with a history of asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) with active acute bronchospasm or (if not mechanically ventilated) with an acute exacerbation of their asthma/COPD requiring the use of inhaled bronchodilators. * Patients requiring more than 500 mg daily of hydrocortisone or equivalent glucocorticoid medication as a standing dose. * Patients with an absolute neutrophil count (ANC) of \< 1,000/mm3 * Patients with hemorrhagic shock OR active bleeding AND an anticipated need (within 48 hours of initiation of the study) for transfusion of \>4 units of packed red blood cells. * Patients with active bleeding AND hemoglobin \< 7g/dL or any other condition that would contraindicate serial blood sampling. * Untreated venous thromboembolism (VTE) or inability to tolerate pharmacologic VTE prophylaxis. * Patients with a known allergy to mannitol. * Patients with an expected survival of \<24 hours, SOFA score ≥ 16, or death deemed to be imminent or inevitable during the admission. * Either the attending physician or patient and/or substitute decisionmaker are not committed to all active treatment, e.g., do-not-resuscitate (DNR) status. * Patients who are known to be pregnant at the time of screening. All women ≤50 years-old will need a negative serum pregnancy test (serum quantitative beta-hCG) to enroll. * Prisoner status * Patients who are currently participating in another interventional clinical trial.

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Ability of Baseline Active Renin to Predict Norepinephrine Equivalent Dose (NED) at 3 Hours3 hours post drug initiation or SOC equivalentBP response will be assessed at 3 hours in both groups and measured using NED. The primary outcome will be ability of baseline renin (obtained at drug initiation or equivalent SOC timepoint) to predict total NED at 3 hours, stratified by treatment arm (AngII vs. SOC) and adjusted for baseline Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) scores. Shown are beta-coefficients from linear regression analyses between baseline levels of each biomarker and change in NED at 3 hours, adjusted for baseline SOFA score. NED shown is as defined by Goradia et al. J Crit Care. 2021;61:233-240 and See et al. J Crit Care. 2024;79:154453.
Ability of Baseline DPP3 to Predict NED at 3 Hours3 hours post drug initiation or SOC equivalentBP response will be assessed at 3 hours in both groups and measured using NED. The primary outcome will be ability of baseline DPP3 (obtained at drug initiation or equivalent SOC timepoint) to predict total NED at 3 hours, stratified by treatment arm (AngII vs. SOC) and adjusted for baseline Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) scores. Shown are beta-coefficients from linear regression analyses between baseline levels of each biomarker and change in NED at 3 hours, adjusted for baseline SOFA score. NED shown is as defined by Goradia et al. J Crit Care. 2021;61:233-240 and See et al. J Crit Care. 2024;79:154453.

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Hospital MortalityUntil hospital discharge or 28 days post-randomization.Death before hospital discharge. Specified as a key secondary outcome.

Countries

United States

Contacts

PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATORJoao P Teixeira, MD

University of New Mexico

PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATORNathan D Nielsen, MD MSc

University of New Mexico

Participant flow

Pre-assignment details

Two subjects were excluded after consent and randomization but before study start. See below for details.

Baseline characteristics

Characteristic
Age, Continuous68.5 years
Baseline SOFA score8.5 units on a scale
Race and Ethnicity Not Collected0 Participants
Sex: Female, Male
Female
25 Participants
Sex: Female, Male
Male
4 Participants

Adverse events

Event typeEG000
affected / at risk
EG001
affected / at risk
deaths
Total, all-cause mortality
3 / 205 / 20
other
Total, other adverse events
18 / 2018 / 20
serious
Total, serious adverse events
2 / 201 / 20

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Jul 3, 2026