Active clinical trials for "Lung Diseases"

The purpose of this protocol is to obtain biologic materials from the blood and lungs from patients with lung disease in order to develop an understanding of the etiology and pathogenesis of these disorders. General admission criteria for this project will require at least one of the following: (1) symptoms consistent with pulmonary disease; (2) chest X-ray consistent with lung disease; (3) pulmonary function tests consistent with lung disease; (4) lung biopsy consistent with lung disease; (5) family history of lung disease; and (6) patients with diseases of organs with known association with lung disease.

To investigate genetic factors that affect asthma severity.

To study work-related asthma in a low-income, urban population.

To examine whether or not primary school-aged children with asthma from low-income households have lower household environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) exposure than matched control children.

Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease. We propose to study inflammatory changes in the lungs of subjects with atopic asthma of different severity in vivo using positron emission tomography (PET) with 2-deoxy-2-[18F]fluoro-D-glucose (FDG). It has been shown that the uptake of FDG as detected by PET scanning correlates with inflammation in animal models as well as in human disease processes such as sarcoidosis, tuberculosis and abscess formation. In addition, it has been shown that the inflammation associated with allergen challenge in patients with atopic asthma can be visualized using PET scanning with FDG. We hypothesize that the degree of FDG-uptake as a measure of inflammation correlates with the severity of asthma as determined by pulmonary function tests and clinical signs and symptoms. In addition, information about the spatial distribution of the inflammatory changes will be obtained. To compare the characteristics of the inflammation in asthma with non-asthmatic inflammation of the lung, the images obtained in asthmatic subjects will be compared with images from subjects who have inflammatory changes of the lung caused by Wegener's granulomatosis. Subjects with atopic asthma and non-atopic control subjects will be selected from the community and, if eligible for the study, undergo skin testing against common allergens and pulmonary function testing. Subjects with Wegener's granulomatosis will be selected from a large group of subjects followed with this disease at NIAID. PET scanning with FDG will be used to measure inflammation in the PET scanning facility at the Clinical Center of the NIH and the results of the scanning will be correlated with the severity of the disease. We expect that for the first time this methodology will permit an objective measure of the basic pathogenic process, the allergic inflammation, in patients with atopic asthma. Using this methodology it will be possible to study the efficacy of currently available therapies for allergic inflammation. In addition, this methodology will provide an extremely useful tool for the development of new therapeutic approaches to the treatment of asthma.

To identify susceptibility genes associated with asthma and asthma related phenotypes.

To determine the effects of long-term exposure to passive smoking on the cardiovascular and oxygen transport systems in pre-adolescent twins.

To continue to evaluate risk factors heretofore determined to be important predictors of chronic respiratory symptoms, diagnosis of asthma, and alterations in expected levels of lung function in children and adolescents in a new population of young adult women.

To quantify the influence of genetic and environmental factors on the development of sleep apnea.

To implement and evaluate a coordinated set of activities for asthma identification, education, management, and prevention in the predominantly minority inner city schools in the Detroit metropolitan area.