There are about 13364 clinical studies being (or have been) conducted in Belgium. The country of the clinical trial is determined by the location of where the clinical research is being studied. Most studies are often held in multiple locations & countries.
Neutrophils are first responders to any kind of threat the body faces: infection, severe trauma, cancer, surgery... They produce the cytokines, induct oxidative stress and de-granulate toxic proteins to kill pathogens. However the new mechanism related to the neutrophil extracellular traps release has been recognized as a new way of cell necrosis and has been called a NETosis. NETosis is a hugely important new mechanism of human immune responses also described in various forms of acute kidney injury (ischemic, toxic, autoimmune). In certain kidney diseases, neutrophils release NETs and induce cell necrosis. Whether neutrophils die along with NET release, and if they do die, remains under study and is most likely context dependent. Extracellular traps (ETs) can be released also by macrophages. The ETs formation as well as macrophages extracellular traps (MET's) especially in kidney disease are cytotoxic and elicit inflammation, contributing to necro-inflammation of the early-injury phase of acute tubular necrosis in anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-related renal vasculitis, anti-glomerular basement membrane disease, lupus nephritis. Finally, acute kidney injury-related releases of dying renal cells or ETs promote organ injuries - for example, acute respiratory distress syndrome. According to the recent review the term 'NET formation' has been proposed as a better term to use instead of 'NETosis'. The formation of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) has been recently recognized as a unique modality of pathogen fixation (sticky extracellular chromatin) and pathogen killing (cytotoxic histones and proteases) during host immune responses, as well as collateral tissue damage. Histones are potent mediators of injury in various cells. Indeed, extracellular histone induce microvascular endothelial cells and renal epithelial cells death in vitro, forms the pores that disrupt cell integrity and induce the cytolysis by their capacity of binding with membrane phospholipids and activation of inflammasome in the kidney leading to auto-entrainment of inflammation. The activation of inflammation has been demonstrated in the experimental model of crystalline nephropathy related to the uncontrolled oxalate urinary excretion. Inhibition of inflammasome activation has been related with the preservation of kidney function. In patients with kidney stone disease the presence of crystals in the urine has been demonstrated to induce tubular epithelial cells injury that can theoretically trigger the NET's or MET's release and tissue inflammation. NETs are now increasingly described as new targets for therapies, however largely under-estimated. The role of release of ETs from neutrophils and macrophages during the kidney stone disease has never been studied in urine but the neutrophil extracellular trap (NET) formation-NETosis - was found significantly increased in the papillae of patients with brushite stones compared with CaOx stones. The key objectives of this study are: 1. to assess NET/MET's excretion in the urine as a non-invasive method of NET/MET'osis measurement in patients with kidney diseases as a new biomarker of early stage of cells damages reflecting kidney injury occurring in patients with uncontrolled stones and other renal diseases; 2. to compare the NET/MET's concentrations in the urine with those in plasma
Studies have shown that non-contact boxing benefits individuals with Parkinson disease. Yet, the content of such sessions, has not yet been investigated. The following research question has therefore been asked: What is the physical intensity, in terms of both movement quality and quantity, as well as cardiovascular demand, in a group of individuals with Parkinson's disease during a one-hour session of Parkiboks? Though the study is exploratory, we hypothesize to observe increases in cardiovascular activity during the session, as well as a high number of upper-limb repetitions of near maximal range of motion.
This study aims to determine and compare the precise skeletal dental and soft tissue effect of Mandibular advancement aligners and Herbst Appliance.
In this study the diagnostic accuracy of a diagnostic tool for the diagnosis of post-capillary pulmonary hypertension will be investigated. The diagnostic tool was designed based on artificial intelligence, using machine learning on a database of 344 patients with group 1 or group 2 pulmonary hypertension. The tool uses 20 non-invasive parameters which are derived from laboratory results, ECG, echocardiography and spirometry. Based on these parameters, the predictive tool estimates the probability of group 2 pulmonary hypertension. During this clinical study, patients with an intermediate or high suspicion of pulmonary hypertension, with an indication for a diagnostic right heart catheterization, will be included. Patients with risk factors for group 3, 4 or 5 pulmonary hypertension will be excluded. The necessary parameters to run the predictive model will be extracted from the patients medical file. Patients will undergo a standard of care right heart catheterization (gold standard). Afterwards the results of the predictive model will be compared to those of the right heart catheterization, to allow the assessment of the sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive value of the predictive tool.
the aim of this register is to collect exhaustively the different data available surrounding a transfusion act in the context of an active haemorrhage. The aim is to allow different modelling and analysis related to emergency transfusion.
Hearing loss is one of the most prevalent impairments in the world. The World Health Organization estimates that as of 2020, around 466 million people worldwide are affected by disabling hearing loss, of which 34 million are children. Without appropriate diagnosis and treatment, hearing impairment can cause difficulties with communication, learning, social-emotional functioning, employment and quality of life. Early intervention is especially important for children, for whom unaddressed hearing loss has been proven to affect speech and language development, educational attainments, and social skills. Through early detection and interventions many of these impacts can be mitigated, highlighting the importance of accurate hearing diagnostics. Evaluation of speech intelligibility is a fundamental component of hearing assessment and rehabilitation. The current gold standard in measuring speech intelligibility relies heavily on behavioural tests. While these tests are reliable and fast in healthy adults, it is challenging to assess speech intelligibility for patients who cannot communicate clearly, such as young children. For example, behavioral tests require active participation from the patient, such as raising their hand when a sound is heard, or repeating words and sentences. Objective measures, for instance using electro-encephalography (EEG), could overcome the current challenges in hearing assessment and do not require active participation from the patient. For example, in Flanders, all newborns are screened with an objective test where a few sensors on the head detect brainwaves in response to sounds. However, objective tests only use simple sound stimuli, such as tones or clicks, which cannot be used to measure important high-level hearing outcomes, such as speech understanding. In other words, current objective tests are used to check if a person can hear a word, but they can't indicate if the person can understand the word. An obvious missing link in audiological practice is a diagnostic test that can measure high-level hearing outcomes such as speech understanding in an objective way. For this reason, CORGEE was developed. CORGEE uses a novel method of "neural speech tracking" to objectively measure speech intelligibility using EEG. In the current study, the efficacy and the clinical validity of the CORGEE software will be evaluated in young children with a hearing impairment.
The National Institute on Aging together with the Alzheimer's Association (NIA-AA) recently proposed the ATN classification which is based upon the pathological processes present in Alzheimer's disease (amyloid, tau and neurodegeneration). The amyloid and tau status can be defined using cerebrospinal fluid analysis but also non-invasively using an amyloid or tau PET scan. The N status can be defined using an [18F]-FDG PET scan which is in Belgium part of standard of care. Recently, it has been demonstrated, using different amyloid PET tracers, that early-frame amyloid scans can be a surrogate for [18F]-FDG PET scan.
The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) is a screening test for detecting cognitive impairment that assesses several cognitive domains (attention and concentration, arithmetic and orientation, memory, etc.). The instructions as well as some test items of the MoCA are presented auditory (spoken). Consequently, performance on the MoCA may be co-dependent on hearing. Therefore, to rule out the possible negative influence of hearing loss on performance on the MoCA, a MoCA for individuals with hearing loss was recently developed. More specifically, the original MoCA was modified by providing the instructions audiovisually (spoken with visual support) as well as by replacing hearing-dependent items. Since replacing items may affect sensitivity and specificity, the MoCA for persons with hearing loss should be revalidated.
The purpose of this study is to compare the efficacy, safety, and tolerability of ide-cel with lenalidomide (LEN) maintenance to that of LEN maintenance alone in adult participants with Newly Diagnosed Multiple Myeloma (NDMM) who have achieved a suboptimal response post autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT).
Female-specific health conditions are underrepresented in research. The taboo felt by women to talk about intimate wellbeing is fed by this gender gap in scientific knowledge. This project aims to meet these needs by studying one of the most prevalent female-specific infections, vulvovaginal candidiasis (VVC), and paving the way towards its efficient diagnosis and treatment. About 70% of women worldwide suffer from vaginal candidiasis at least once in their life. An episode of this fungal infection is accompanied by a burning sensation, pain, and reduced mental well-being. Some women (about 5%) encounter such infections at least four times a year, referring to recurrent(R) VVC. The design of efficient diagnostic and therapeutic strategies for (R)VVC is hindered by a knowledge gap surrounding vaginal health. To meet the absolute need for more information, this project will characterize the role of the microbiome, metabolome, immune system, and pathogen characteristics in (R)VVC. To this end, a large sampling platform of women with/without VVC will be established in this project. The researchers will identify the most important and clinically relevant microorganisms, metabolites, and immune factors in VVC pathogenesis. VVC models will be developed and optimized, which will be used to validate the causality of the correlations identified in the cohort. Identified correlations will be proposed as biomarkers, and microbes, metabolites, and combinations, which effectively lower the pathogenicity of Candida species, will be further investigated for therapeutic potential. State-of-the-art tools and know-how of the researchers will allow the unraveling of the involved molecular pathways and elucidate how these can be exploited to optimize therapeutic efficacy. Finally, the knowledge gathered in this project will be used to improve the literacy of women on VVC using platforms established by the researchers as well as novel tools to be developed in this project.