Pilot of Zinc Acetate to Improve Chronic Cough (ZICO)
Cough
About this trial
This is an interventional treatment trial for Cough focused on measuring Chronic cough, Refractory cough, Chronic refractory cough, Zinc, Zinc acetate
Eligibility Criteria
Inclusion Criteria:
- No upper or lower respiratory infection within 4 weeks
Either
Negative evaluation for:
- Asthma; no symptoms of disease or no evidence of asthma based on spirometry and/or methacholine challenge test
- GERD: no symptoms of acid reflux disease or negative potential of hydrogen (pH) probe
- Rhinosinusitis/upper airway cough
Or
Cough persists despite treatment for the following:
- Asthma -treated for at least 8 weeks with at least medium dose inhaled corticosteroids or with oral corticosteroids
- GERD - treated for at least 8 weeks with either a proton pump inhibitor (PPI) or H2 blocker
Upper airway disease, postnasal drip or sinusitis - treated for at least 8 weeks with nasal steroids, antihistamines or both.
- Non-smoker; defined as
- no smoking of any substance (e.g., tobacco, e-cigarette, marijuana) in the past 6 months, and
less than 20 pack-year smoking history
- Chest x-ray or CT scan in the past 12 months; negative for parenchymal lung diseases (such as interstitial lung disease, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, pneumonia, or TB) and negative for lung cancer
- Overall Cough Visual Analog Scale (Cough-VAS) score of 30 or higher
- Willing to halt use of zinc supplements or multivitamins containing zinc for the duration of the study
- Provide written informed consent
Exclusion Criteria:
- Marijuana use (smoking or ingestion of marijuana) in the past 6 months
- Use of ACE inhibitor currently or within the past 6 weeks
- Use of zinc supplements or multivitamins containing zinc currently or within the past 6 weeks
- Occupational exposure to dust or chemicals that may cause cough, as determined by study physician
- Diagnosis or evidence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) as defined by forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1)/forced vital capacity (FVC) < 0.70 and FEV1% predicted < 80%
History of lung disease, such as:
- Bronchiectasis
- Interstitial lung disease
- Sarcoidosis
- Pneumoconiosis
- Asbestosis
- Chronic mycobacterial infection
- Lung cancer
- History of pancreatitis
- Congestive heart failure
- Chronic kidney disease (creatinine clearance < 30ml/min)
- Pregnant or breast-feeding
- Other medical conditions that would interfere with participation in study
Sites / Locations
- National Jewish Medical and Research Center
- St. Vincent Health
- Washington University School of Medicine
- Mount Sinai School of Medicine
- Duke University Medical Center
Arms of the Study
Arm 1
Arm 2
Active Comparator
Placebo Comparator
Zinc Acetate 50 mg oral capsule
Placebo oral capsule
50 mg zinc acetate oral capsules, over-encapsulated, administered starting at 1 capsule/day and escalated to 3 capsules/day by Day 8 post-randomization (if tolerated)
Placebo matched to zinc acetate 50 mg oral capsule active arm, administered starting at 1 capsule/day and escalated to 3 capsules/day by Day 8 post-randomization (if tolerated)