Active clinical trials for "Klinefelter Syndrome"

This study will elucidate how the parental origin of the X-chromosome influences health status as well as metabolic fate in Klinefelter patients. Epigenetics and transcriptome-research will be directly linked to the metabolic and inflammatory pattern of actual patients to improve care for them. The Klinefelter Syndrome is one of the most common genetic disorders in men. The patients have one supernumerary X-chromosome, which is partly active and disturbs a normal male development. Testosterone deficiency in form of primary hypogonadism is a common feature in these men. Such a condition promotes clinically relevant metabolic patterns related to a pro-inflammatory status and diabetes mellitus type 2 (insulin resis-tance), cardiovascular disease as well as infertility. However, the variety of pathologies is pro-nounced between patients and low testosterone concentrations cannot fully explain the wide scope of pathologies in these men. Some patients become clinically obvious during puberty and adoles-cence, some in their thirties or later and all exhibit a huge variation in phenotype. Switching on and off of specific genes on the X-chromosome is differential, depending on the origin either from the maternal or paternal side. Hence, an influence on the clinical picture is hypothesised. Thus, key targets are clarification of the parental origin of the supernumerary X chromosome and elucidation of methylation and expression profile of pivotal X-chromosomal genes. These will be related to clinically relevant metabolic and inflammatory patterns as well as fertility to identify individual risks as well as treatment strategies for Klinefelter patients.

This study aims to understand the impact of living with Klinefelter syndrome (KS) and the factors that contribute to adaptation in adolescents and adults. Individuals with KS may have variable symptoms, including hypogonadism, gynecomastia, learning disabilities, and delay and underdevelopment of secondary sexual characteristics. Perhaps the most challenging symptom of KS is infertility, which seems to be a universal symptom. It is not fully understood how males with KS conceptualize their condition, cope with their diagnosis, and adapt to living with this condition. In this study, Lazarus and Folkman s Transactional Model of Stress and Coping provides a framework for examining coping and adaptation in males with KS. A cross-sectional research design using a quantitative survey will be utilized to examine the relationships among appraisals (illness perceptions and perceived stigma), time elapsed since learning of diagnosis, coping, and adaptation. Adolescents and adults with KS will be recruited from national KS support networks via website postings, email listservs, and printed newsletter postings. Adolescents will also be recruited from a private practice. Participants will have the option to complete an online or paper version of the survey. The main outcome variable is adaptation to living with a KS diagnosis.

Klinefelter syndrome (KS) is the most common sex-chromosome disorder with a prevalence of one in 660 men and is a frequent cause of hypogonadism and infertility. It is caused by the presence of extra X-chromosomes, the most common karyotype being 47,XXY. The phenotype is variable, but the most constant finding is small hyalinized testes, hypergonadotrophic hypogonadism, infertility, eunuchoid body proportion, increased height and learning disabilities. Klinefelter syndrome has been associated with increased prevalence of diabetes, osteoporosis and cardiovascular diseases but the pathogenesis is unknown. Accordingly the aim of the study was to investigate measures of body composition, insulin sensitivity, bone mineral density, echocardiography, as well as biochemical markers of endocrine, metabolic and bone function in KS and an age-matched control group.

In January 2007, the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) revised its guidelines that now recommend physicians are ethically obligated to fully inform all pregnant women that screening for fetal chromosomal abnormalities including biochemical screening tests and invasive procedures such as CVS or amniocentesis is available, regardless of age. Further, it is entirely up to the patient to decide whether or not she wishes to be screened for fetal chromosomal abnormalities without judgment from the physician. Noninvasive laboratory-developed tests (LDTs) that detect an abnormal amount of maternal and fetal DNA in an expectant mother's blood sample (known as circulating cell-free DNA) are now available. These LDTs have not been cleared or approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Although LDTs to date have not been subject to U.S. FDA regulation, certification of the laboratory is required under the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) to ensure the quality and validity of the test. To sample collection study will obtain whole blood specimens from pregnant subjects to be used for development of prenatal assays to assist in the screening for fetal genetic abnormalities, infectious and other diseases, and blood group typing through detection of circulating cell-free DNA extracted from maternal plasma.

The overall significance of this study is to develop a laboratory developed test (LDT) to use a new marker in the maternal blood to better identify pregnancies that have a child with a chromosome abnormality such as Down syndrome (trisomy 21), Edward's syndrome (trisomy 18), Patau syndrome (trisomy 13), Klinefelter syndrome, (47, XXY), and other chromosome abnormalities. Accomplishing that task would reduce the need for invasive amniocentesis and CVS procedures.

To obtain whole blood specimens from pregnant subjects to be used for research and development and clinical validation studies of prenatal assays.