Active clinical trials for "Metabolism, Inborn Errors"

OBJECTIVES: I. Determine the safety of total body irradiation and fludarabine followed by allogeneic peripheral blood stem cell or bone marrow transplantation in combination with cyclosporine and mycophenolate mofetil for establishing mixed chimerism in patients with inherited disorders. II. Determine whether this regimen can establish mixed chimerism in these patients. III. Determine whether mixed chimerism is sufficient to reverse disease symptoms in these patients. IV. Determine the safety of donor lymphocyte infusions to eliminate persistent disease in these patients with mixed chimerism.

The main purpose of this investigational (not approved by the FDA) Phase I research is to test whether transplantation of umbilical cord blood cells can be safely supplemented with a transfusion of a portion of these cells that have been sorted (collected from a special machine called a cell sorter) and then either infused a few hours after the standard transplant or for some patients grown in a special system in the laboratory prior to the transplant, designed to increase the number of stem cells transplanted. This system is currently in the early phases of testing.

Urea cycle disorders are inherited illnesses in which the body does not produce enough of the chemicals that remove ammonia, a byproduct of protein metabolism, from the blood stream. Elevated ammonia levels can lead to brain damage and death. Argininosuccinic aciduria (ASA) is a type of urea cycle disorder that is characterized specifically by high levels of argininosuccinic acid, a chemical involved in the urea cycle. People with ASA are at risk for serious liver damage, which may be due to the elevated levels of argininosuccinic acid. Sodium phenylbutyrate (Buphenyl-TM) is a drug that has been used to treat other types of urea cycle disorders. This study will evaluate whether Buphenyl-TM in conjunction with decreased arginine dose (in addition to a normal regimen of protein) will improve short-term liver function and decrease plasma citrulline and ASA levels in people with ASA.

Hermansky-Pudlak Syndrome (HPS) is an inherited disease that results in decreased pigmentation (oculocutaneous albinism), bleeding problems due to a platelet abnormality (platelet storage pool defect), and storage of an abnormal fat-protein compound (lysosomal accumulation of ceroid lipofuscin). The disease can cause poor functioning of the lungs, intestine, kidneys, or heart. The most serious complication of the disease is pulmonary fibrosis and typically causes death in patients 40 - 50 years old. The disorder is common in Puerto Rico, where many of the clinical research studies on the disease have been conducted. Neither the full extent of the disease nor the basic cause of the disease is known. There is no known treatment for HPS. The drug pirfenidone blocks the biochemical process of inflammation and has been reported to slow or reverse pulmonary fibrosis in animal systems. In this study researchers will select up to 40 HPS patients diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis. The patients will be randomly divided into 2 groups. The patients will not know if they are taking pirfenidone or a placebo "sugar pill". Group one will be patients who will receive pirfenidone. Group two will be patients who will receive a placebo "sugar pill" The major outcome measurement of the therapy will be a change in the lung function (forced vital capacity). The study will be stopped if one therapy proves to be more effective than the other.

To evaluate the acceptability, tolerance and effect on metabolic control of PKU Explore, a renovated Phe free protein substitute for the dietary management of PKU in children from 6 months to 5 years.

To evaluate the acceptability, tolerance and effect on metabolic control of PKU Start, a new Phe free protein substitute for the dietary management of PKU in infants from birth.

OBJECTIVES: I. Ascertain whether stem cell transplantation (SCT) is an effective method by which missing or dysfunctional enzymes can be replaced in patients with various inborn errors of metabolism. II. Determine whether clinical manifestations of the specific disease may be arrested or reversed by this treatment.

OBJECTIVES: I. Determine whether plasma choline and breast milk choline levels are low at fasting in a patient with methionine adenosyltransferase deficiency, and if the choline levels are low, determine whether choline levels respond to dietary supplementation with phosphatidylcholine. II. Determine whether this patient has a fatty liver by magnetic resonance spectroscopy.

Background: Multiple neonatal disorders are associated with risks of neurological injury. Thus, management of these infants should involve a coordinated approach to permit early diagnosis with improved clinical care. Such initiative involves the use of standardized protocols, continuous and specialized brain monitoring with electroencephalography (EEG), amplitude integrated EEG (aEEG) and Near Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS), neuroimaging and training. Brazil is a very large country with disparities in health care assessment; some neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) are not well structured and trained to provide adequate neurocritical care. However, the development and implementation of these neurocritical care units requires high expertise and significant investment of time, manpower and equipment. In order to reduce the existing gap, a unique advanced telemedicine model of neurocritical care called Protecting Brains and Saving Futures (PBSF) protocol was developed and implemented in some Brazilian NICUs. Methods: A prospective observational cohort study will be conducted in 20 Brazilian NICUs that have adopted the PBSF protocol. All infants receiving the protocol during January 2021 to December 2023 will be eligible. Ethical approval will be obtained from the participating institutions. The primary objective is to describe the use of the PBSF protocol and clinical outcomes, by center and over a 3 years period. The use of the PBSF protocol will be measured by quantification of neuromonitoring, neuroimaging exams and sub-specialties consultation. Clinical outcomes of interest after the protocol implementation are length of hospital stay, detection of EEG seizures during hospitalization, use of anticonvulsants, inotropes, and fluid resuscitation, death before hospital discharge, and referral of patients to high-risk infant follow-up. These data will be also compared between infants with primarily neurologic and primarily clinical diagnosis. Discussion: The implementation of the PBSF protocol may provide adequate remote neurocritical care in high-risk infants with optimization of clinical management and improved outcomes. Data from this large, prospective, multicenter study are essential to determine whether neonatal neurocritical units can improve outcomes. Finally, it may offer the necessary framework for larger scale implementation and help in the development of studies of remote neuromonitoring.

CD34+ stem cell selection in children, adolescents and young adults receiving partially matched family donor or matched unrelated adult donor allogeneic bone marrow or peripheral blood stem cell transplant will be safe and well tolerated and be associated with a low incidence of serious (Grade III/IV) acute and chronic graft versus host disease (GVHD).