This study will determine if atorvastatin (Lipitor) can help patients with pulmonary (lung)
sarcoidosis and replace or reduce the need for patients to take steroids, such as prednisone.
Sarcoidosis is an inflammatory disease that can affect nearly any part of the body. Pulmonary
sarcoidosis may resolve on its own or it may progress to irreversible lung damage,
disability, and death. Many sarcoidosis patients are treated with prednisone, but the drug is
not effective in all patients, and it can cause serious side effects, such as high blood
pressure, sugar diabetes, eye cataracts, and bone thinning.
Patients with stage II or III pulmonary sarcoidosis between 18 and 70 years of age who
require prednisone may be eligible for this study. Candidates are screened with the tests and
procedures described below.
Participants are randomly assigned to one of two treatment groups: one group takes
atorvastatin; the other takes a placebo (a look-alike pill that has no active ingredient to
fight sarcoidosis). Both groups take the pills by mouth once a day for 12 months. When
treatment begins, participants begin to have their prednisone dosage tapered (reduced). The
tapering is done over 8 weeks until the dose is reduced by 90 percent. Patients are evaluated
periodically to determine if the two groups differ in how long they can remain on the reduced
dose of prednisone without having their symptoms recur, requiring an increase in the
prednisone dose. A full battery of tests is done at the initial screening visit and at the
26- and 52-week follow-up visits, requiring hospitalization for 3-5 days. Additional interim
outpatient assessments are done at 6, 12, 18 and 36 weeks.
The full battery of tests at the initial screening and the 26- and 52-week visits includes
the following:
- Medical history, physical examination, blood and urine tests, assessment of disease
severity and activity.
- Questionnaires.
- Chest x-ray (CXR) and computed tomography (CT) scan.
- Abdominal ultrasound.
- Six-minute walk test (6MWT)
- Exercise testing and blood gases
- Pulmonary function tests (PFT)
- Maximum incremental ventilatory performance test (MIVP)
- Exhaled nitric oxide and carbon monoxide (Exhaled NO and CO)
- Bronchoscopy and lavage
Interim testing at 6, 12, 18 and 36 weeks includes PFT, MIVP, Exhaled NO and CO, CXR,
questionnaire, blood tests, and 6MWT.
Six months after completing the study, participants fill out a questionnaire.