Active clinical trials for "Anemia, Sickle Cell"

The overall goal of this proposal is to conduct a partial double-blind randomized Phase III clinical trial for primary stroke prevention in children with sickle cell anemia (SCA) in sub-Saharan Africa.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the relationship between plasma DNA levels and micro- and macro-circulatory vascular remodelling in patients with sickle cell disease

Sickle Cell Anaemia (SCA) is an inherited disease that makes the body produce red blood cells with abnormal sickle-shaped cells. The sickle-shaped cells are rigid, not flexible and break up easily resulting in anaemia. The abnormal cells also stick to the vessel walls, causing a blockage that slows or stops the flow of blood. When this happens, oxygen cannot reach nearby tissues. The lack of oxygen can cause attacks of sudden, severe pain, called pain crises, stroke or damage to important organs such as the spleen. All of these can lead to death. These attacks can occur without warning and are often started and made worse by infections such as malaria. Therefore, in many countries in Africa where malaria is common, children with SCA are given malaria medicines to prevent the infection. However, many of the medicines do not work effectively, are too difficult to take or they have side effects, resulting in poor adherence. The aim of this study is to find safe, acceptable and effective medicines for malaria prevention in children with SCA in eastern and southern Africa. The investigators propose to conduct a study to find out whether giving weekly doses of dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine, also called DP, is safe, more effective, acceptable and cost-effective than the current strategy of monthly sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP) to prevent malaria in children with sickle cell anaemia. Overall, 548 children aged 6 months to 15 years will be chosen randomly to receive either weekly DP or monthly SP for about 18 months. To test if the study medicine is effective, the study will compare the case burden of malaria. The investigators will also monitor every child for any type of illness, blood transfusions and other complications of sickle cell anaemia and admissions to the hospital. In addition, the study will evaluate the impact of DP on the development of resistance by malaria parasites. The study will also include nested safety studies on the effect of DP on the heart. All study participants will receive all the other usual care and treatments, including patient education on home care, and daily penicillin if younger than 5 years. If proven safe and efficacious, chemoprophylaxis with DP may decrease the incidence of malaria in children with SCA, prevent ill-health and deaths, and improve wellbeing.

The prevalence of Sickle Cell Associated Nephropathy (SCAN) is increasing and is a growing concern. Microalbuminuria is detected in the early onset of SCAN. Noteworthy, as in diabetic nephropathy, hyperfiltration seems to be a frequent finding, with, in our series, an overall incidence of 57 % and suggests a pathological links between glomerular hyperpressure and glomerulosclerosis which occurs several years after. Nitric oxide (NO) deficiency and the renin angiotensin system (RAS) are likely to be involved in the glomerular hyperpressure leading to hyperfiltration. Renin angiotensin antagonists are currently given for NEPHROPROTECTION in numerous nephropathy including SCAN despite few available reports. The percentage of decrease of albuminuria or the percentage of responders (ie patient normalizing albuminuria) has never been reported to our knowledge in SCAN patients at the time of hyperfiltration. The focus of our study is therefore to 1) Quantify albuminuria reduction after 6 months RAS treatment (primary end point); 2) Quantify glomerular filtration rate (GFR) reduction after 6 months of RAS treatment, and to test the hypothesis of a beneficial effect of RAS inhibitors on several biomarkers assessing hemolysis, NO inhibition and the endothelial damages (secondary end points). The ultimate aim of our study is to identify relevant (new) biomarkers associated to hyperfiltration and/or albuminuria decrease (/normalization).

Pulmonary hypertension, a complication associated with an increased risk of death, is common in patients with sickle cell disease. Despite its frequency, there remains no standard treatment for this complication in patients with sickle cell disease. In this small study, the investigators will evaluate the effect of monthly transfusion of red blood cells to patients with sickle cell disease-associated pulmonary hypertension. The investigators speculate that by increasing the hemoglobin level and decreasing the amount of sickle red blood cells, these patients would experience improvements in their PHT.

This research is being done to find out the best way to give narcotics for pain relief in adults with sickle cell disease and painful crisis. This study is a comparison of two ways of giving narcotics. The first way is what occurs now in the Emergency Acute Care Unit (EACU) where patients are given a single intravenous (iv) dose of a narcotic which is repeated by the nurse as needed to control the pain. The second way is to provide a single iv dose of narcotic and then allow the patient to push a button and receive one or more additional doses of narcotic when he/she thinks it is needed. Our hypothesis is that PCA will be a more effective way of controlling pain.

The application of experimental hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) therapy in sickle-cell disease (SCD) must strike a balance between the underlying disease severity and the possibility of a direct benefit of the treatment, particularly in pediatric populations. Clinical studies in adults with SCD have focused on interventions that prolong survival and improve the quality of life. Unlike children, adults with SCD are much more likely to have a debilitating complication. As a result, the risk/benefit ratio of HCT is very favorable in adults, particularly if an approach to HCT that defines an acceptable level of toxicity can be established. Whereas hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) remains the only curative treatment currently available for patients with SCD, the morbidity, the frequent irreversible damage in target organs and the mortality reported in the natural course of patients with severe SCD are strong incentives to perform HSCTs in younger age groups. For those who lack a matched related donor, CB transplant is an appealing option, but despite been less problematic, CB accessibility related to cell dose of appropriately matched cord blood unit (CBU) remains a significant issue. Through a 7-day culture process of a CBU's hematopoietic stem cell HSCs with the UM171 compound, the total cell dose is increased mitigating this limitation. UM171-CB expansion (ECT-001-CB) allows a greater CB accessibility, the selection of better matched cords that might translate into favourable clinical outcomes as reported in previous trials, including a lower risk of graft-versus-host disease. After CB selection and ex-vivo expansion, ECT-001-CB transplant will follow a myeloablative reduced-toxicity conditioning regimen consisting of rATG, busulfan and fludarabine with doses of all agents optimized to the individual using model-based dosing and will be followed by standard supportive care and GVHD prophylaxis consisting of tacrolimus and MMF.

The primary aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of the drug N-Acetylcysteine on the frequency of pain in daily life in patients with Sickle Cell Disease (SCD). Pain is an invalidating hallmark of this disease and has a considerable impact on the Quality of Life of patients and the medical health care system. Oxidative stress is hypothesized to play a central role in its pathophysiology. In pilot studies the administration of N-Acetylcysteine (NAC) resulted in a reduction of oxidative stress. Moreover, administration of NAC seemed to decrease hospitalization for painful crises in a small pilot study in patients with SCD. This study will be performed as a multicenter, randomized, controlled trial where patients will be treated with either NAC or placebo for a period of 6 months. The investigators expect that NAC can reduce the frequency of pain in patients with SCD, thereby improving their quality of life and participation in society.

There are all significant risk factors for poor early cognitive development and, as such, neurocognitive deficits have been demonstrated in pre-school children with sickle cell disease (SCD). This project assesses the efficacy of using an evidence-based early stimulation program, combined with components to help parents cope with stress, delivered during six routine monthly clinic visits to parents of children with sickle cell disease. It is hoped that this innovation will improve parental psychological outcomes, as well as child developmental outcomes.

The purpose of this study is to assess the efficiency of the preventive oxygen therapy on the occurrence of vaso-occlusive complications, which last more than 24 hours and require hospitalisation, in women with sickle cell disease.