Active clinical trials for "Immune System Diseases"

This is a multi-center, prospective, non-interventional study. Eligible newly diagnosed elderly multiple myeloma (MM) patients will receive comprehensive geriatric assessment (cGA) including ECOG scale, questionaires of ADL（activities of daily living), IADL(instrumental ADL),MNA-SF(mini-nutritional assessment), GDS(geriatric depression scale), MMSE(mini-mental state examination), SF-36 and CCI (charlson comorbidity index). Patients will get standard care for MM and receive the above assessments at baseline and after cycle 1, 4 and 12 for treating MM.Follow-up information and survival data of these MM patients would be collected. We would evaluate the cGA status of these newly diagnosed elderly MM patients and investigate the association of cGA parameters with patient's survival.

Asthma is characterized by chronic airway inflammation of the large and small airways. Asthma patients often have episodes with symptoms of dyspnea, wheezing and nocturnal awakening. Currently available inhaled anti-inflammatory treatments reduce the airway inflammation and treatment but do not cure the disease. Therefore asthma patients often need life-long treatment to control their asthma. In a small subset of patients, their asthma resolves spontaneously. This phenomenon is called asthma remission. Subjects with asthma remission do not experience symptoms or signs of airway inflammation anymore and do not require inhaled treatments. Some subjects with asthma remission also have a completely normal lung function without signs of bronchial hyperresponsivess: they have complete asthma remission. Unfortunately, asthma remission occurs only in a small subset of 15-25% of asthma patients.Objective: to determine the underlying mechanisms and molecular events leading to remission of asthma.

To develop a test to characterize and monitor SLE disease activity status from a participant's home by analyzing the gene expression from participant self-collected blood samples using a novel fingerstick collection kit.

Fatigue is consistently rated as the top symptomatic complaint for individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS). Currently, the MS Fatigue Impact Scale (MFIS), a subsection of the Multiple Sclerosis Quality of Life (MSQoL), is the clinical standard used by neurologists for monitoring and tracking fatigue in individuals with MS. However, fatigue is multidimensional phenomenon and subjective measures have had poor or limited relationships with functional status. While previous study has focused on contributing factors to fatigue such as sleep disorders and diminished cortical excitability, this line of inquiry has neglected the role of muscle structure and function on fatigue in every day functional tasks. An alternative approach is to assess quantitative fatigue using anaerobic testing methods. However, more knowledge is needed to understand the role that quantitative fatigue plays in self-reported fatigue measures and function of daily activities. Our purpose is to determine the association between quantitative fatigue tests with performance-based measures of mobility and self-reported health-related quality of life. Our secondary goal is to understand how the intrinsic properties of muscle tissue influence muscle performance in Veterans with MS.

According to the most recent guidelines, total-body imaging techniques are an indispensable element in the staging and post-treatment re-evaluation in patients with lymphoma. Fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography/computed tomography (FDG-PET/CT) is the gold-standard for the assessment of the disease in these patients. The use of alternative methods, without radiation, such as whole-body magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), could be a valid alternative; this would result an advantage, considering the young age of the majority of patients at diagnosis and the need to undergo to serial assessments. The recent introduction of combined PET total body MRI (PET/MRI) offers the possibility to integrate morphological information with the high resolution of MRI with the metabolic activity of PET, through the uptake of FDG, for a more accurate definition of the extent of disease in patients with lymphoma.

This study evaluates the clinical significance of CX3CR1-expressing myeloid and lymphoid cells in patients of hematologic malignancy. Tumor cells either express membrane molecules or release tumor-derived soluble factors able to alter myelopoiesis and lymphopoiesis. Myeloid cells expressing CD11b play a critical role in sustaining cancer progression. Also, the fractalkine (CX3CL1; Fkn)/CX3CR1 axis plays an important function in the pathophysiology of various forms of cancers. Fkn is the only known ligand for CX3CR1, and it triggers recruitment of CX3CR1-positive cells through its unique receptor, CX3CR1. Therefore, the investigators focused the prognostic significance of CD11b+ myelo-monocytic cells expressing CX3CR1 and CD3+ lymphoid cells expressing CX3CR1 in the clinical outcomes of newly diagnosed Diffuse Large B-cell Lymphoma (DLBCL) and Multiple myeloma (MM).

The Investigators hypothesise that asthma is not a single disease, but a syndrome resulting from several distinct underlying disease processes known as endotypes. There are approximately 30,000 genes in humans, and each gene is responsible for the production of a particular protein. Using a technique called "whole genome expression profiling" The Investigators have undertaken a small study looking at the activity of all 30,000 genes in the airway tissue of people with asthma. This work has identified 3 mutually exclusive distinct molecular patterns (endotypes) of severe asthma and has identified other potentially important molecular targets (manuscripts in preparation). In particular,the Investigators have found that 25-50% of patients have asthma associated with the activity of proteins called Th2 cytokines (Th2-high asthma). New treatments are in development that target this pathway. However, the Investigators do not know what is driving severe asthma in patients who do not express these Th2 cytokines. The aim of this study is to investigate in more detail the molecular mechanisms driving severe asthma in patients who do not express Th2 cytokines (Th2-low asthma), so that the Investigators can identify new targets for treatment in this group. To do this the Investigators will collect airway tissue via a telescope (bronchoscope), and analyse gene and protein expression in the tissue. The Investigators will then compare the molecular activity between patients with Th2-high and Th2-low asthma, and healthy control subjects (data obtained from a parallel study).

Asthma is a heterogeneous disease, usually characterized by chronic airway inflammation. It is defined by the history of respiratory symptoms such as wheeze, shortness of breath, chest tightness and cough that vary over time and in intensity, together with variable expiatory airflow limitation. This definition was reached by consensus, based on consideration of the characteristics that are typical of asthma and that distinguish it from other respiratory conditions . Asthma is a problem worldwide, with an estimated 300 million affected individuals .It appears that the global prevalence of asthma ranges from 1% to 18% of the population in different countries .

The aim of this study is to complete the identification of genetic factors predisposing to thyroid associated ophthalmopathy (TAO) by constituting a cohort of 400 Grave's patients with or without ocular signs.

The study's chief objective is to observe the evolution of cellular (in terms of expression of transmembrane transporters and their transcriptional regulators) and viral resistance (in terms of development of mutations in the HIV genome that may confer resistance to future treatment for HIV) in HIV-infected patients with lymphoma.