View clinical trials related to Neurodegenerative Disorders.
Filter by:Color discrimination deficit is a common manifestation of Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, the pathophysiology of this dysfunction remains poorly understood. The aim of the present study was to evaluate color discrimination using the Farnsworth-Munsell 100 hue test in patients with AD and mild cognitive impairment (MCI), compared with age-matched control subjects. As a secondary aim, we evaluated whether the outcomes of these visual tests were associated with cognitive.
Joint consultations appeared a few years ago in routine medical practice, but they are still not widely used and rarely evaluated. The primary purpose of the study is to evaluate the impact for the patient of the presence of a clinical psychologist during the joint consultation. The secondary purpose is to evaluate the impact for the patient and for the neurologist of the presence of a clinical psychologist during the joint consultation
Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and Huntington's disease are common neurodegenerative diseases. Tau is a microtubule-associated protein, and aggregated tau resulting from hyperphosphorylation is a pathological feature of a group of neurodegenerative diseases known as tauopathies. The 18F-T807 (AV1451) molecular probe is a novel molecularly targeted imaging agent that exhibits high affinity and good selectivity for tau.
This multi-arm, multi-site study investigates the safety, tolerability, and efficacy of stem cell therapy for the treatment of various acute and chronic conditions. Clinically observed initial findings and an extensive body of research indicate regenerative treatments are both safe and effective for the treatment of multiple conditions.
This retrospective study is a more extensive, confirmatory analysis of the cognitive and functional outcomes initially seen in 2 groups of MCI/dementia patients in Springfield, MA and compares specialized dementia care and a comprehensive treatment approach versus usual care delivered in a non-specialist setting. The first group of patients (n= 328) was seen by a dementia specialist, who utilized a standardized assessment and treatment protocol (CNS). This included comprehensive identification and treatment of hypoxia, sleep-disorders, and other cognitively-impairing metabolic conditions as well as maximally- dosed FDA-approved medications for dementia, depression, and PBA. The second group of patients (n= 280) was seen by non-dementia specialists in the community and received usual care which did not include comprehensive assessment or treatment of underlying metabolic derangements or maximal utilization of currently available medications. This study, evaluating date from a larger cohort (n>800) of specialist-treated cognitively-impaired patients, will further examine the hypothesis that a comprehensive dementia treatment protocol yields cognitive stabilization and/or improvement using already available dementia drugs when compared with usual community care.
Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is an established treatment for advanced complicated Parkinson's disease (PD). Several controlled randomized studies have given proof of an advantage for operated patients as compared to medically treated patients in terms of motor outcome, activities of daily living and health status. However these studies have addressed mostly stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus (STN). GPi stimulation has not been compared to best medical treatment (BMT) in a prospective randomized controlled trial in patients with complicated PD who are not good candidates for STN stimulation. The investigators aim assessing GPi-DBS in patients with PD who have contraindications for STN-DBS.
The Translocator Protein (TSPO) is a protein which reaches very high levels when there is inflammation in the brain. Recently, radioligands have been developed which attach to the TSPO (a radioligand is a drug which has been tagged with radioactivity). Using positron emission tomography (PET) imaging, the radioligand can be detected following injection into a patient. However, it is difficult to accurately measure the amount of TSPO using PET at the moment. This is because the brain does not have a "reference region" for TSPO (ie an area in the brain with no TSPO at all). "Reference regions" are very useful to help work out how much of a PET signal represents "specific binding" (of the radioligand to the target of interest), and how much represents "non specific binding" (of the radioligand to many other structures which are not of interest). In the absence of a reference region, non specific binding can be estimated by giving a drug which binds to the TSPO. The drug prevents the radioligand binding the TSPO and (in a manner of speaking) "creates" a temporary reference region so non specific binding can be measured. To do this, we will use XBD173 (Emapunil is an anxiolytic drug which acts as a selective agonist at the peripheral benzodiazepine receptor) to bind TSPO and block binding of the PET ligand ([11C]PBR28), a TSPO ligand from the phenoxyarlyacetamide class. Most TSPO PET studies (and in one of our previous studies approved by West London REC) quantify the signal using a ratio of specific binding in the brain to radioactivity in the blood. This requires arterial line insertion which is burdensome for subjects, and increases variability. In this study we aim to determine the ratio of specific binding in the brain to nonspecific binding in the brain by using the temporary reference region. For more accuracy the participants will repeat the scanning procedure so determine test-retest variability of the amount of TSPO.
The purpose of the interventional study is to determine whether Nicotinamide is effective at upregulating the Frataxin (FXN) gene in patients with Friedreich's ataxia (FRDA) where this gene is abnormally 'switched off'. The purpose of the non-interventional study is to investigate the use of novel, highly-sensitive technology to capture clinical deficit and measure subtle changes in the activities of daily living and to correlate functional changes to levels of expression of Frataxin protein and the epigenetic structure of the Frataxin gene over a 9-12 month period without nicotinamide. Healthy volunteers will be included as comparators in this part of the study.
Human fibroblasts and possibly other human somatic cells may be reprogrammed into induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells by the forced expression of transcription factors (1-5). The iPS cells seem to share many properties with human embryonic stem cells. Induced pluripotent stem cells potentially may be useful in the future as an unlimited source of cells for transplantation. The major goal of the project is to develop human iPS cells from cell cultures from skin biopsies or the patient's hair. The iPS cells will be developed primarily for modeling diseases and drug discovery as well as basic research, and for developing the technology that may eventually allow the use of iPS cells for future transplantation therapy. The iPS cells developed in the course of this application are not intended for use in transplantation therapy. Future development of iPS cells for clinical transplantation therapies will be subjected to the appropriate authorization by ethical and regulatory committees.
Patients with different types of dementia will be recruited and evaluated in national hospital departments for their usual neurological follow-ups. A blood sample will be proposed in the field of this research project, and the biological material will be stored at the DNA and Cell Bank of Institut de Fédératif Recherche (IFR) of Neurosciences (Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital, Paris). The clinical research network is already set up for Alzheimer's disease and frontotemporal dementias, which permits an evaluation according to a clinical standardized protocol. Among these disorders, a monogenic sub-group has been identified. In Alzheimer's disease, it is associated with the APP, PSEN1 and PSEN2 genes, which account only for 75% of the familial forms with early onset. In frontotemporal dementias, the tau gene mutations account only for 10% of the cases with an autosomal dominant inheritance. The identification of familial forms with a genetic inquiry in the relatives is essential for a greater knowledge of the molecular bases of forms not caused by the known genes, using linkage approaches and candidate gene analysis. The familial forms are also useful for identifying the modifier genes. In the multifactorial forms, the aim is to assemble a wide cohort of patients and controls matched for localizing and identifying susceptibility genetic factors. The strategies will use a candidate gene approach, and in the near future, studies of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) spread out in the whole genome. Meanwhile, similar approaches, particularly with candidate genes, could be used for identifying predictive factors of tolerance and response to the treatment. Finally, correlations will be performed with seric markers according to each kind of dementia. Specialized clinical teams in diagnosis and follow-up in dementias are assembled for this project, and in the study of neurological disorders of genetic origin.