There are about 13446 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.
With the rising prevalence of allergic diseases and the subsequent risk of developing other immune-related disorders, primary prevention of allergy has become a major priority. It is generally acknowledged that breastfeeding is one of the main pillars in allergy prevention. Infant formulas based on hydrolysed proteins have been developed to be used by infants at increased risk of developing allergy in case a mother is unable or chooses not to breastfeed her infant. It has recently been demonstrated that the gut microbiota composition and microbiota activity of infants receiving an infant formula based on partially hydrolysed proteins, supplemented with oligosaccharides, is more similar to breastfed infants than to infants receiving standard cow's milk formula, demonstrated by increased levels of bifidobacteria. However the interaction between microbial changes impacted by an hypoallergenic concept and its influence on early life immune development should be further explored. The aim of the present study is therefore to investigate the bifidogenic effect of a hypoallergenic formula supplemented with prebiotics and probiotics compared to standard infant formula in infants at increased risk of developing allergic disease. This study will secondary assess the effects of this concept on the development of allergic manifestations up to the age of 12 months, which will be verified in a separate clinical study MAESTRO as primary outcome. Furthermore, the effects on growth and safety will be studied.
Viral infections remain an important cause of morbidity and mortality after allogeneic stem cell transplantation (SCT), especially after myelo-ablative conditioning and if the donor is antigen-mismatched or haplo-identical.. In the described setting the patient's own immune system has been destroyed by the necessary highly immuno- and myelo-ablative conditioning and all memory against infections has been deleted. Therefore, there is a high risk for several viral infections and other infectious organisms.Both primary viral infections and reactivations can occur, and patients can become refractory to antiviral treatments, or in some cases an adequate antiviral treatment is unavailable or too toxic. In this study, the investigators will target CMV, as refractory CMV infection and disease is accompanied by an extremely high mortality rate and therefore the development of new treatment approaches is required. Despite the available antiviral drugs, a considerable number of patients are facing an insufficient control of CMV reactivation after SCT. Because reconstitution of CMV-specific T cells confer protection against the development of CMV disease after SCT, attempts have been made to restore antiviral immunity by direct infusion of CMV-specific T cells. Most clinical cellular immunotherapy protocols for CMV treatment have used CMV-specific cytotoxic CD8+ T-cell lines generated by repetitive in vitro stimulation with CMV antigens with success. Despite the proven efficacy, use of cellular therapy in the clinic has been limited, because the approach is time and labor consuming and requires specialized facility allowing handling of the therapeutic cells according to good manufacturing practice. In addition, no sustained response was seen after adoptive transfer that involved only cytotoxic CD8+ T cells. This phenomenon is supported by the fact that recall responses to latent infections depend on the presence of CD4+ T cells to help cytotoxic CD8+ T cells. An alternative approach for the transfer of T-cell immunity is the isolation of Ag-specific T cells ex vivo from the blood of CMV seropositive donors, based on interferon γ (IFN-γ) secretion of T cells after in vitro stimulation with viral Ag, resulting in a combination of CD4+ T helper and cytotoxic CD8+ CMV specific T cells. Using this strategy, a short-term ex vivo protocol was developed for the isolation of pp65 (CMV immunodominant protein)-specific T cells. Since then, several centers have used this protocol in the clinic, infusing low numbers of pp65-specific T cells, that were able to restore protective T-cell immunity against CMV in a post SCT setting in patients with refractory CMV disease or viremia. For this protocol the investigators have set up and validated this method of CMV-specific T-cell generation in the Ghent University Hospital and the investigators will make it available for other Belgian transplant centers.
The objectives of this study are to assess the pharmacokinetics, safety, and efficacy of glecaprevir/pibrentasvir adult formulation in adolescents ages 12 to 17 years and a pediatric formulation of glecaprevir and pibrentasvir in children ages 3 to < 12 years.
The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the superiority of LCZ696 over individualized medical therapy for comorbidities in reducing N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) and improving exercise capacity and HF symptoms in patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF).
Patients who undergo in vitro fertilization with or without intracytoplasmic sperm injection (IVF / ICSI) often experience an impact on their quality of life and emotional maladjustment to treatment and outcome. Multiple contributors to this negative impact have been identified, including interference with professional activities, expenses related to fertility treatment and hormonal side effects. In-vitro maturation (IVM) of human oocytes obtained from minimally stimulated or unstimulated ovaries offers a more "patient friendly" treatment option than the conventional ovarian stimulation protocols for Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) treatment. Historically, IVM has been offered to women with increased ovarian response (so-called "high responders"), typically women with polycystic ovaries (PCO/PCOS), who are at increased risk for ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) if conventional ART protocols are used. IVM treatment programs are characterised by a minimal administration of fertility hormones, are less disruptive to patients' daily life through a reduced need for hormonal and ultrasound monitoring, avoid a range of minor and major complications because of the reduced hormonal burden of this procedure, and aim to reduce the total cost for of infertility treatment. To facilitate the application of IVM as a treatment that can potentially improve the overall patient experience, a study comparing the psychological impact of a conventional ovarian stimulation protocol versus an IVM protocol will be conducted; furthermore, a study investigating the differences in quality of life between the two subgroups will also be performed. Socio-demographic data, medical characteristics and the following questionnaires will be collected: Specific questions for patients with fertility problems (FertiQol); Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HAD) and an instrument to measure side effects designed by the research group. The study group (IVF patients and IVM patients) will be evaluated at three predefined time points: at intake, after oocyte collection and when the outcome after the first embryo transfer is known. Descriptive analysis, intergroup comparisons and explanatory/predictive model of the dependent variables (quality of life, emotional adjustment) will be performed.
The First-In-Man study is a multi-centre, randomised, controlled, study to generate data for the evaluation of safety and performance of DIALIVE Liver Dialysis Device in 24 evaluable patients with Acute on Chronic Liver Failure (ACLF) versus standard of care (SOC).
This is an open-label, single arm, phase 2 trial that will include pre or post-menopausal female subjects, that have ER-positive, HER2-negative early breast cancer. Subject will receive 4 cycles of palbociclib 125 mg (each cycle of palbociclib consists of treatment from D1 to D21 followed by a week of rest) combined with endocrine therapy given continuously (each cycle of endocrine therapy consists of treatment from D1 to D28). The endocrine therapy will be determined according to the menopausal status of the subject evaluated at the study screening.
The aim is to investigate the biomechanical interaction between trunk and gait performance in both healthy and stroke subjects. People after stroke often have an impaired trunk function, resulting in balance and gait disorders. Pathological movement patterns after stroke can be compared with normative data as motion capture systems provide more sensitive data to explore the interaction between trunk performance and gait in contrast to the clinical measures used in literature.
The primary purpose of this study is to assess the effectiveness of using CARTOFINDER™ maps created by the RHYTHMFINDER-192 catheter and the CARTOFINDER™ Algorithm to terminate persistent atrial fibrillation (PsAF) to either Normal Sinus Rhythm or Atrial Tachycardia compared to pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) in treating PsAF. The RHYTHMFINDER-192 catheter is investigational, while the CARTOFINDER™ system is CE marked in Europe. All subjects with persistent AF who are scheduled to undergo a clinically indicated ablation procedure for management of their persistent AF will be the target population for screening. The study will enroll approximately 40-70 subjects. Subjects will undergo CARTOFINDER™ guided ablation (CFGA) followed by PVI. Subjects will have follow-up visits at 7 days, 3, 6 and 12 months postprocedure.
To evaluate the safety and effectiveness of the Ranger™ Paclitaxel Coated Balloon for treating lesions located in the superficial femoral and proximal popliteal arteries (SFA/PPA). Long Balloon substudy: To evaluate the safety and effectiveness of the Boston Scientific Corporation (BSC) Ranger™ Paclitaxel Coated Balloon in the 120, 150 and 200 mm lengths for treating Superficial Femoral Artery (SFA) and/or Proximal Popliteal Artery (PPA) lesions.