Open-label Vitamin D Trial for Patients With Cystic Fibrosis and Allergic Bronchopulmonary Aspergillosis

Cystic Fibrosis Clinical Trial

Official title: Open-label Vitamin D Trial for Patients With Cystic Fibrosis and Allergic Bronchopulmonary Aspergillosis

Status Completed

Clinical Trial Summary

The purpose of this study is to see if giving people with CF and ABPA enough vitamin D to make their blood levels of the vitamin higher, will reduce the allergic response in their body and make the symptoms caused by ABPA better.

Clinical Trial Description

Many patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) cough up mucus or have throat cultures that grow a common fungus called Aspergillus. In patients with CF, aspergillus is not known to cause direct damage to the lungs, but some patients respond with an allergic reaction that causes them to wheeze, cough, or have difficulty breathing. This allergic reaction is called ABPA. Current treatment for ABPA includes high dose steroids and an "anti-fungal" medicine. Treatment with steroids may be problematic for some people due to its side effects on blood sugar levels and the bones. Steroids are medications that decrease inflammation, including prednisone, medrol, dexamethasone and others.

Ongoing research at UPMC on the study "Mechanisms of Immune Tolerance in ABPA" has studied people with CF and ABPA versus those patients with CF that just grow A. fumigatus (Af) in the sputum, but do not have ABPA. You may have participated in this study. This study has shown that people with CF with the fungus, Af, in their sputum but who do not have ABPA have more of a certain type of cell in their blood that helps the body to regulate or suppress allergic reactions than those people with CF and ABPA.

Recent studies have demonstrated that Vitamin D is a critical factor in the development of these cells that suppress allergic reactions. People with CF, due to their pancreatic insufficiency that causes them to have difficulty absorbing fat, also have lower levels of the fat soluble vitamins which include vitamin D. In the study done at UPMC, "Mechanisms of Immune Tolerance in ABPA", people with CF and ABPA had significantly lower vitamin D levels than people with CF who did not have ABPA. ;

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Allergic Bronchopulmonary Aspergillosis
• Aspergillosis
• Cystic Fibrosis
• Fibrosis
• Pulmonary Aspergillosis

• NCT number: NCT01222273
• Study type: Interventional
• Source: University of Pittsburgh
• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: September 2010
• Completion date: September 2013