Active clinical trials for "Asthma"

This study has been conceived in the context of Health Outcomes Research where the outcomes of health interventions in routine clinical practice constitute the main objective of the research process. In the case of asthma in Spain, the investigators do not clearly know the use of resources generated by the patient with asthma, its impact on the effectiveness of the current approach of asthmatic patients and the overall efficiency of health interventions on asthmatic patients. This observational, retrospective and multicenter study aims to estimate the use of health care resources in managing patients with asthma and to determine the management of the disease in the usual clinical practice in Valencia Autonomous Region. The data will be obtained at primary care level from the Electronic Health Record SIA+GAIA data base and at hospital level from allergologists and pneumologists clinical records. The investigators plan to introduce 289 ambulatory patients followed-up in Primary or Specialized Care Services, older than 15 years of age, diagnosed of asthma at least one year before the beginning of the study. The inclusion period will be of 3 months and the retrospective data of 12 previous months of follow-up will be collected. The direct and indirect use of resources will be collected in order to estimate the management and use of health care resources in managing patients with asthma in the Autonomous region of Valencia as primary endpoint and also to estimate the mean cost of asthmatic patient healthcare; to determine the global effectiveness and the efficiency of the actual asthmatic patient healthcare and to model the health budget according to different objectives of effectiveness for the next five years.

The purpose of this study is to examine whether there are higher levels of cysteinyl leukotrienes in obese subjects than in non-obese subjects. Cysteinyl leukotrienes are pro-inflammatory substances that cause asthma by narrowing the airways of the lung. The investigators want to see if subjects with increased fat stores and therefore increased leptin, which is a fat-related protein that regulates leukotrienes, have increased levels of leukotrienes in the blood, lung and urine. The investigators would also like to determine the relationship between cysteinyl leukotrienes and exhaled nitric oxide levels in asthmatics with and without obesity. Nitric oxide is anti-inflammatory and suppresses leukotriene synthesis.

The aim of this study is to investigate the immunomodulatory potential of Isolated Plasmacytoide Dendritic Cells (pDCs) and Regulatory T-cells (TREGs) isolated with clinical grade magnetic bead isolations techniques (MACS®) on the antigen presenting cell-induced proliferation of lymphocytes after allergen uptake in an in vitro cell culture system.

The primary objective of this study is to determine if well-controlled asthmatic patients followed in subspecialty asthma clinics between the ages of 3 - 18 years can be distinguished from healthy controls using lung clearance index, a parameter from the multiple breath washout test. Also, to correlate lung clearance index with asthma sputum cell counts.

This study will compare the absolute and relative effectiveness of asthma management in patients on inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) maintenance therapy as Easi-breathe® (EB) - beclometasone dipropionate (BDP) breath-actuated inhaler (BAI) - and as-needed (prn) reliever medication (short-acting beta2-agonist [SABA] therapy) via either a BAI (i.e. Easi-breathe® [EB] salbutamol) or via a pressurised metered dose inhaler (MDI) (e.g. MDI salbutamol).

Five percent of children in the UK are prescribed steroid inhalers to control asthma symptoms but there is no test to determine whether the dose of steroids is correct. Too much steroid treatment has potential side effects and too little may lead to asthma attacks. Exhaled nitric oxide (ENO) is a gas present in everyone's breath and may be a useful "meter" for asthma control. In children, ENO can be measured easily and quickly, the results are available immediately to the doctor or nurse and for these reasons ENO is an attractive clinical test. Pioneering studies have used ENO to help clinicians treat asthmatic adults and children and the results are promising. Breathing tests improved among those where asthma treatment was guided by ENO and asthma symptoms were slightly less frequent. These studies all used a single ENO value to increase or reduce treatment and study authors have suggested there should be a range of ENO values where treatment is neither increased nor reduced; what is not known is what these ENO values may be. Elevated NO is associated with a number of factors other than asthma, including allergy and pollen exposure. What is not known is how factors other than asthma affect ENO measurements over time. The proposed study will answer two important questions: What values of ENO indicate that steroid treatment should be increased or reduced? And how much does ENO rise and fall normally? The investigators will recruit 200 asthmatic and non-asthmatic children. The investigators will measure ENO on six occasions over a 12-month period. The investigators will measure factors that may affect ENO other than asthma. For the asthmatic children, the investigators will also assess asthma control. The investigators' methodology is based on several years experience with ENO. The investigators' results will allow ENO to be used to monitor asthma.

The aim of this study is to assess the utility of exhaled nitric oxide measurement (FeNO) in treatment monitoring in children with asthma. According to the aim of the study following assumptions are formulated: Comparison of annual cumulative steroid dose, number of bronchodilator doses taken, number of asthma exacerbation, number of hospitalisation due to asthma, between group of children with asthma with FeNO monitored treatment (study group), and group of children with treatment monitored by GINA's grade of disease clinical control (control group) Assessment of corelation of FeNO (ppb) with symptom score (points)and lung function (FEV1) Comparison of values of non-specific bronchial hyperresponsiveness with methacholine (PC20M)between both study groups after 12. months of treatment.

Asthma is a common disease that is often diagnosed in childhood. In some teenagers, asthma symptoms disappear and treatment can be stopped; however, for some of these people, asthma symptoms return in adulthood. This study will examine data collected over the lifetime of 18-year olds to identify factors that may increase a person's chance of having recurrent asthma as an adult.

The Objective of our research is to observe the effect of cysteinyl leukotriene receptor antagonist on the expression and variation of TGF-β1 levels and mRNA expression in children with mild persistent asthma in their plasma and T lymphocyte, to discuss the role of TGF-β1 in the pathogenesis of bronchial asthma in children and to evaluate the function of regulation of leukotriene receptor antagonist on asthma in children.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma are common respiratory diseases in which people experience long-term inflammation of the lungs. Exacerbations, or prolonged worsening of symptoms, of asthma and COPD are often life-threatening and can lead to frequent need for hospitalization. Even with the proper use of bronchodilators, corticosteroids, and other currently available medications, clinical responses among people with COPD and asthma are variable. There remains a significant unmet clinical need for new therapeutic approaches and insights, including the identification of biomarkers to accurately assess the presence of airway infection and intensity of airway inflammation. This study will investigate potential natural biological causes and new biomarkers for increased susceptibility to persistent airway infection in asthma and COPD.