Active clinical trials for "Encephalitis"

Tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) is a zoonosis mainly transmitted to humans by the bite of ticks of the genus Ixodes and, to a lesser extent, by the consumption of contaminated and unpasteurized dairy products. During the last decade, the epidemiology of this arbovirosis has changed profoundly with the discovery of new human cases and/or new areas of circulation of tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) throughout Europe and particularly in France. Historically, Alsace is the main endemic area for this pathology in France. The pathology is notifiable since June 2021 in France. Although TBEV infection in children seems to lead to a milder clinical presentation, data are much less abundant than in adults and only a few cases reported in infants under 1 year old have been published. Data from the most recent ECDC Annual Epidemiological Report on TBE (2019) showed incidence rates of approximately 0.2 and 0.5 per 100,000 population in patients younger than 5 and 15 years, respectively. However, several observations may moderate and challenge both the low incidence rate and the less severe clinical presentation reported in children

Background and objective From this April, there was a COVID-19 outbreak in Taiwan. The first fatal case of pediatric COVID-19 encephalitis was reported on April 19, 2022 and fatal fulminant cerebral edema in other 4 children with COVID-19 encephalitis was reported within 1 month from Taiwan CDC registry. To date, around 700,000 children got COVID-19 recently. Several children developed MIS-C (multi-system inflammatory syndrome in children)-related shock about 2-6 weeks after COVID-19. Since both COVID-19 associated encephalopathy/ encephalitis and MIS-C are life-threatening, it is urgent to delineate its prognostic biomarker, host genetic factors, immunopathogenesis and viral pathogenesis. Methods Pediatricians will enroll cases of both COVID-19 associated encephalopathy/ encephalitis and MIS-C from several hospitals and medical centers. Their clinical manifestations, lab findings, severity and outcomes will be collected. Clinical assessment of all the systems will be performed. Blood, nasopharyngeal swab and stool will be collected at acute, subacute and convalescent stages for whole exome sequencing, immunopathogenesis including chemokine/cytokine, T/B lymphocyte subset, SARS-CoV2 specific Ab/T/B cell, T and B cell repertoire, viral pathogenesis including multiple viral detection, persistence of fecal SARS-COVID-2 as well as respiratory and gut microbiota. We will establish the animal models for COVID-19 associated encephalopathy/encephalitis and MIS-C, based on the K18-hACE2 or R26R-AGP mouse models established in NTU animal center. Moreover, specific viral or host factors involved in regulating the pathogenesis and immune responses can be investigated, to optimize the protocol for further improvement of the animal models and also to help identify the putative therapeutic targets. Expected results We will delineate the clinical and laboratory characteristics of COVID-19 associated encephalopathy and encephalitis, the role of immune, virology, genetics mechanism in pathophysiology, and will optimize the treatment algorithm based on the result of this study. We also expect that the important biomarkers and risk factors associated with clinical outcome and severity, the immunopathogenesis of MIS-C, host genetic factors and the viral pathogenesis and microbiota associated with MIS-C will be found.

Cases of encephalitis of varying severity have been described in recent years in eastern France involving tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV). The main objective is to demonstrate the presence of TBEV in Limousin, in patients with a positive Lyme serology, or a neurological picture compatible with TBEV.

Autoimmune encephalitis are characterized by the subacute development of memory deficits, altered mental status, and psychiatric symptoms, generally in association with anti-neuronal antibodies. Two main groups of autoimmune encephalitis may be distinguished based on the location of the targeted antigen: 1) Intracellular antigens, in which the antibodies are thought not to be pathogenic, and the disorders are usually strongly associated with cancer, constituting therefore paraneoplastic neurological syndromes; 2) Synaptic proteins and surface receptors, in which the antibodies are pathogenic and the frequency of cancer is variable depending on the antibody and the demographic characteristics of the patient. Encephalitis with antibodies against N-methy-D-aspartate receptor is the most common autoimmune encephalitis, being even more frequent than infectious etiologies. It is characterized by subacute onset of memory deficits, psychiatric symptoms, speech dysfunction, seizures, movement disorders, decreased level of consciousness, dysautonomia and central hypoventilation. Nearly 50% of women with anti-NMDAR encephalitis have an ovarian teratoma, while associated tumors in elderly patients are usually carcinomas. In contrast, most cases in children and young men are non-paraneoplastic. Recently, herpes-simplex encephalitis has been described as another trigger of NMDAR encephalitis. Conversely, for the vast majority of the non-paraneoplastic autoimmune encephalitis, no acquired triggers have been described so far. In addition to acquired susceptibility, genetic predisposition may also be important in the pathogenesis of autoimmune encephalitis. The human leukocyte antigen (HLA) is the genetic factor most frequently associated with autoimmune diseases, and it has been already linked to a few autoimmune encephalitis, such as anti-leucine rich glioma inactivated 1 (LGI1), contactin-associated protein-like 2 (CASPR2), IgLON5, and glutamic acid decarboxylase 65 (GAD65) encephalitis. However, no HLA association has been reported for NMDAR encephalitis, suggesting that in this condition, and likely in others, non-HLA loci might be involved in the pathogenesis as well. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) are useful tools to identify variants at genomic loci that are associated with complex diseases, and in particular, to detect associations between single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and diseases. The aim of the study is to detect genetic variants in NMDAR encephalitis and other autoimmune encephalitis.

During 2018, 2019, and 2020, the reported TBE-cases have increased markedly in Norway. Surveillance studies conducted by the Norwegian Institute of Public Health demonstrate that cases are associated with tick bites in the coastal areas of the Agder, Buskerud, and Vestfold and Telemark counties There is a urgent need for more knowledge of the consequences of TBE in Norway, in particular the identification of patients at risk of long-term sequela. Hence, the overall objective of this project is to gain more knowledge about the natural course of TBE in Norway, and its impact on long-term health-related quality of life and associated factors. Clinical data, biological sampling and PROMs are collected from TBE-infected patients admitted to three hospitals within the epidemic region in Norway.

A study in the use of the Narcotrend depth of anaesthesia monitor to record a) seizures, and b) monitor a level of sedation referred to as 'burst suppression', in sedated patients in the adult and paediatric intensive care. Studies have shown that patients in coma on the intensive care unit may have subclinical in addition to clinical seizures. Subclinical seizures are seizures that do not show any outward signs and may go undetected. The current gold standard of recording seizures in the intensive care unit is by non-invasive, continuous monitoring of the electrical activity of the brain by electroencephalography (cEEG) using cerebral function analysing monitor (CFAM). This is recorded with simultaneous video recording and is performed by Clinical Neurophysiology departments. There has been a steady increase in demand for this service over recent years. Additionally, CFAM / cEEG is labour intensive and expensive. If trends continue, the proportion of hospitals offering CFAM / cEEG will continue to rise, creating increased demand for specialist staff, of which there are a finite number. Depth of anaesthesia monitors are used by anaesthetists to assess the level of anaesthesia in sedated patients using specialised, automated EEG analysis and are now recommended by NICE (DG6) to tailor anaesthetic dose to individual patients. This study aims to investigate the utility of the Narcotrend depth of anaesthesia monitor to monitor for seizures and burst suppression on the adult and paediatric intensive care unit. These monitors are cheaper and more widely available with the scope to be used at every bed space requiring neuro observation on the intensive care unit. The study aims to recruit all patients who are referred for CFAM / cEEG monitoring at Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH) Trust over a 12 month period. These patients will undergo simultaneous recording using CFAM / cEEG and depth of anaesthesia monitoring.

This study will analyze gene expression and other laboratory data from biological samples collected from participants with suspected respiratory, urinary, intra-abdominal, and/or skin & soft tissue infections; or suspected sepsis of any cause.

This study is to describe the incidence of infectious meningitis and/or encephalitis, and to analyze clinical, diagnostic and treatment characteristics of patients with suspected (and subsequently verified and not verified) infection.

Autoimmune encephalitis represents a group of rare and heterogeneous neurological disorders. Pathophysiological mechanisms in these diseases are still unknown. Recently, oculomotor and neurovisual disorders have been described. Cerebral areas and neuronal networks associated with these abnormalities are well described. The investigator proposes to study and describe such neuro-ophthalmological disorders in a prospective cohort of patients with a autoimmune encephalitis, to better understand the pathophysiological basis of this neurological condition.

The investigators wish to test a diagnostic risk score for autoimmune encephalitis in case of encephalitis, previously validated by two American teams, in a retrospective analysis, according to the clinical and paraclinical data available in our database of the Reference Centre for Autoimmune Encephalitis and Paraneoplastic Neurological Syndromes of Professor Honnorat for patients with NMDAr, anti LGi1, anti CASPR2, anti GABAbr and anti GAD antibodies.