View clinical trials related to Asthma.
Filter by:Background: - Human respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a virus that causes respiratory tract infections, and is frequently responsible for hospital visits in infants and children. It can also trigger severe breathing problems for individuals who have asthma, but these infections are generally better tolerated in non-asthmatics. Some research suggests that lack of an efficient immune system response in people with asthma may make it difficult for the body to fight the effects of RSV. - Transforming Growth Factor-beta (TGF-[beta]) is a chemical in the body that is more prevalent in the lungs of people with asthma and related respiratory disorders. More information is needed about the effects of TGF-[beta] and whether it makes individuals with asthma more prone to developing RSV. Researchers hope to use this information to determine possible treatments and therapies for individuals with asthma who contract RSV. Objectives: - To determine the possible role of TGF-[beta] in increased asthmatic susceptibility to RSV infection. Eligibility: - Individuals between 18 and 60 years of age who are either healthy nonsmokers or mild asthmatics. Design: - This study involves a screening visit and a study visit. - Participants will be screened with a medical history and physical examination, as well as blood samples and a pulmonary function test. - At the study visit, participants will receive mild anesthetic and have a bronchoscopy, in which researchers insert a bronchoscope through the participant s nose or mouth and into the lungs to examine the lungs and collect lung cells. - Participants will be contacted by a research team member 24 36 hours after the bronchoscopy to ask about any side effects from the procedure....
Myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSC) have been studied for their ability to suppress T cell responses in vivo and in vitro. As a result, MDSC can regulate cellular responses to chronic inflammatory conditions such as cancer, leading to the induction of tolerance and, ultimately, tumor escape from immune surveillance.
The aim of the study is to use the antioxidant and antiinflammatory effects of lipoic acid to improve the quality of life of patients with asthma. The investigators will administrate 600 mg lipoic acid orally on a daily basis during two months concurrent with the patient anti-asthmatic therapy and evaluate the effects on resulting pulmonary function, inflammatory and oxidative stress biomarkers and health-related quality of life previous to the initial of the treatment and at 60 days of the supplementary therapy.
This trial is a biomarker-based pilot study of the safety of Cockroach Subcutaneous Immunotherapy in Cockroach-sensitive Adults (SCITCO) who have a history of perennial allergic rhinitis, asthma, or both.
Glucocorticosteroids recently have been shown to have non-genomic actions that are plasma membrane-mediated and do not require gene transcription and translation. One of these non-genomic effects is the inhibition of adrenergic agonist transport into airway vascular smooth muscle cells with an increase of adrenergic agonist concentrations at adrenergic receptor sites and enhance the physiological effects of endogenous adrenergic agonists (e.g. locally released norepinephrine from noradrenergic neurons) or exogenous adrenergic agonists (e.g. inhaled beta-adrenergic agonists).
Asthma usually responds to standard doses of inhaled steroids with or without additional therapies to control their symptoms. However, approximately 5-10% do not respond to this treatment strategy and are referred to as having difficult asthma. Evidence shows that this poor response is not always related to asthma severity with non-adherence to treatment being a common underlying problem, in 35% of subjects. Recognising non-adherence in the clinic is problematic as there is no straightforward objective test to identify it. Patients attending an asthma clinic whose symptoms are not controlled by standard treatment will be assessed for airway inflammation using fractional exhaled nitric oxide, and sputum analysis. These subjects will be observed taking their medication to determine if this reduces their level of airway inflammation. Prescription records will be used to ascertain if this test distinguishes those who are non-adherent with their treatment from those adults who have severe asthma. Identifying patients who are non-adherent to treatment will allow an appropriate change in management and enable alternative strategies to be developed to tackle non-adherence in this population. Distinguishing patients who are adherent to treatment but have therapy resistant disease would significantly improve treatment effectiveness in this group by allowing these patients to be suitably targeted with expensive novel therapies such as Omalizumab.
This is an investigator-initiated study in which Dr. Nadeau wrote the protocol and received funding from an Astra Zeneca grant to direct, perform, and monitor the study on her own with Stanford staff. We hypothesize that the budesonide/formoterol combination improves the efficacy of budesonide alone.
The investigators hypothesise that titration of asthma medication against mannitol challenge results will reduce the number of mild asthma exacerbations, in one year, when compared with titration against BTS guidelines. To test this hypothesis the investigators propose a primary care, parallel treatment, patient blinded study in which matched groups of asthmatic patients will be treated in accordance either with BTS guidelines or with our treatment algorithm dependent on mannitol challenge result. Purpose of the study is to evaluate the efficacy of a treatment algorithm based on the measurement of airway hyperresponsiveness to mannitol challenge, a surrogate marker of airway inflammation, in the long term treatment of asthma in comparison to BTS guidelines.
The primary objective of the current study is to investigate the safety and tolerability of BI 671800 HEA in healthy Chinese male volunteers following single oral administration, and healthy Japanese male volunteers following single oral administration and multiple administrations.
Research Problem Asthma is one of the most common chronic diseases in the world that affects approximately 300 million individuals worldwide. It is characterized by airway inflammation and bronchoconstriction leading to airflow obstruction, however, the triggering factors behind asthma development remains to be elucidated. Genetic risk factors have been suggested to play a central role in asthma development. Twin studies supported a strong genetic component to asthma, especially childhood asthma, with heritability estimates suggesting that 48-70% of asthma risk is attributed to genetic risk factors. Suggestive susceptibility genes have been identified in European and American populations but not yet in the Middle East including Saudi Arabia. Identified genes whether they are polymorphic variants of genes encoding known pathophysiological molecules or novel genes identified by linkage or genome-wide association studies (GWAS) are inconsistent in different populations thereby adding to the need to undertake genetic studies on different ethnic populations and in different countries. Here, the investigators hypothesize that polymorphic variation of novel susceptibility genes form a major risk factor for asthma development, response to treatment and progression in the Saudi population with strong diagnostic, prognostic and therapeutic implications. Research Significance Since the manifestation of complex inflammatory disorders with strong heritability is complex involving genetic and environmental interaction, each ethnically distinct population must be examined to know whether gene-disease association exists in that population. The objectives of this proposal are to discover novel asthma susceptibility genes in the Saudi population. A better understanding of the genetic mechanisms of asthma will enhance our knowledge of its pathophysiology. Asthmatic patients with distinct genotypes respond differently to asthma medications. Therefore, improvements in diagnostics and pharmacogenetics may be the first clinical developments of these extensive studies. This embraces the concept of asthma subphenotypes and stratified medicine where interventions are targeted at those individuals who will best benefit from them with minimal side effects. Physicians looking after asthmatic patients will be able to provide better medical service tailored to those patients, as well as to identify Saudi people at high risk for the development of asthma, especially the more severe forms of the disease. Research Objectives The main objective of our proposal is to identify known and novel asthma susceptibility genes in the Saudi population and to investigate their interaction with clinical, environmental, and inflammatory factors contributing to asthma pathophysiology. Research Methodology In this proposal, the investigators will investigate the genetic factors contributing to asthma susceptibility by determining in Saudi population, the presence of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that have been previously reported from linkage and GWAS in other populations. Whole genome DNA will also be scanned for novel SNPs of selected "asthma genes" using microarrays. This will enable us to identify new SNPs that contribute to the risk of asthma specifically in the Saudi population. In addition, the investigators will cross-reference all genetic and immunological parameters with the corresponding clinical data in order to elucidate the impact of certain genes, or their products (e.g. cytokines), on the clinical manifestation of asthma.