View clinical trials related to Disease Susceptibility.
Filter by:Currently, many breast center patients with a positive family history receive information about BRCA testing after breast cancer diagnosis, typically after definitive breast surgery or at a time point that does not allow them to use testing results in making their surgical decision. Diagnostics, decisions and interventions are often out of sequence, resulting in test information not available in time for decisions. Tests are often repeated. Decisions and interventions are delayed, are not understood by breast cancer patients or proceed without the test information, resulting in suboptimal care and resource waste (Donaldson MS. 2005, Katz SJ 2007, IOM 2001). In this study, BRCA testing information will be delivered to patients at the point of breast imaging. For patients that are diagnosed with breast cancer, this provides ample time to use the test results in making their surgical decision, if they elect to be tested. The investigators will work with health care providers to insure family history data are collected at the breast imaging visit, develop a standardized BRCA patient education handout, enlist health care providers to insure the information is delivered to the appropriate patient population, and coordinate scheduling with genetic counseling services to insure patients are promptly seen. The investigators hypothesis is that an intervention of providing patients indicated for genetic/familial risk with timely information and opportunity to access genetic counseling during breast imaging will shift BRCA testing to before definitive breast cancer surgery, for patients with a breast cancer diagnosis, and could impact surgical decisions. The investigators will identify barriers to this intervention from the perspective of patients, physicians, nurses, and genetic counselors. The investigators will then adjust the intervention to overcome the barriers and will test the intervention at the point where genetic/familial risk assessment based on NCCN guidelines is (or should be) conducted at breast imaging. If indicated, patients will be provided information and will be referred to genetic counseling to consider BRCA tests.
This study is valuable for the understanding the role of DNA repair system plays in the progression of rheumatoid arthritis and for the development of new therapeutic modality in the future.
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....
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.
This research trial studies the genes biomarkers in children with neuroblastoma. Studying the genes in a child's cancer cells may help doctors improve ways to diagnose and treat children with neuroblastoma.
Loss-of-function mutation of the gene encoding the CYP450 2C19 enzyme has emerged as a likely determinant of resistance to clopidogrel therapy. The primary hypothesis of the proposed research is that among patients with confirmed loss-of-function alleles of the CYP2C19 gene, increasing the maintenance clopidogrel dose from 75 to 150 mg will result in significant reduction in the rate of measured clopidogrel resistance defined by multiple measures of platelet function
Susceptibility testing is commonly employed in patients with bacterial infections in order to guide rational use of antibiotics; however, the use of antifungal susceptibility testing is limited due to lack of availability, costs, and delays in receiving results. The goals of antifungal susceptibility testing should mirror those of antibacterial susceptibility testing: to predict clinical response or failure. Additionally, susceptibility reports should be used as a guide for physicians when transitioning patients from parenteral to oral antifungal agents. Currently, it is unknown whether antifungal susceptibility testing impacts treatment decisions in hospitals that routinely perform Candida susceptibility testing. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the changes in antifungal treatment based on in vitro susceptibility reports and how these decisions affect mortality, recurrence of infection, and length of hospital stay in candidemia patients.
The identification and characterization of susceptibility loci for H5N1 infection in humans could have profound implications. The detection of host genetic factors may shed light on key pathogenic interactions between H5N1 and human cells, assisting in identifying the viral characteristics determining pandemic potential. In addition, the identification and verification of susceptibility loci would be followed by functional studies which might point the way to new therapeutic and preventive options. The objective of this study is to investigate if host genetic factors are associated with susceptibility to influenza H5N1 illness
Background: Helicobacter pylori infection has been shown to be associated with the development of gastric cancer and peptic ulcer diseases. Eradication of H. pylori infection could reduce the occurence or recurrence of these diseases. However, it was estimated that 15-20% of patients would fail from first line standard eradication therapy and need second line rescue therapy. About 15-30% of patient would fail from second line therapy and need to be rescued with third line therapy. The commonly used salvage regimens include (1) Bismuth based quadruple therapy (combined with ranitidine or PPI plus two antibiotics) (2) Levofloxacin or moxifloxacin or rifabutin based triple therapy. However, Bismuth is not available in many countries and the administration method is complex. Its usage is limited by the high pill number and low compliance rate. In recent years, the concept of sequential therapy has been advocated in the treatment of H. pylori infection. The regimen includes a PPI plus amoxicillin for five days, followed by a PPI plus clarithromycin and metronidazole for another five days. The eradication rate in the first line treatment of sequential therapy had been reported to be as high as 90%. More importantly, it has been demonstrated that the eradication rate among patients with clarithromycin-resistant strains could be as high as 89%. According to the Maastricht III consensus meeting, it was recommended that susceptibility test should be done for patients who failed two treatments. Therefore, we aimed to assess the efficacy of susceptibility test driven sequential therapy as the third line therapy for those who fail from two standard eradication therapies. Methods: This will be a multi-center, open labeled pilot study 1. Patients: - Open labeled, non-comparative pilot study 2. Testing for H. pylori infection: - Before salvage treatment: either (1) any two positive of CLO test, histology, and culture or (2) a positive C13-UBT will be considered as failure of previous eradication treatment EGD with gastric biopsy will be done for H. pylori culture and susceptibility test - After salvage treatment: C13-UBT will be used to assess the existence of H. pylori after 2nd or 3rd line salvage therapy 3. Treatment regimens and assignment: - D1-7: Nexium (40 mg, bid), Amolin (1 gm, bid) - D8-14: Nexium (40 mg, bid), Flagyl (500 mg, bid) plus either one of the following according to antibiotic susceptibility test (1) Klaricid, 500 mg, bid or (2) Cravit, 250 mg, bid or (3) Tetracycline, 500 mg, bid 4. Outcome Measurement: - Primary End Point: Eradication rate will be evaluated according to Intent-to-treat (ITT) and per-protocol (PP) analyses - Secondary End Point: the eradication rate according to antibiotic susceptibility before salvage therapy
The purpose of this study is to investigate the role of T helper 17 cells (Th17) in the pathogenesis of MRSA infections.