Active clinical trials for "Muscular Diseases"

Myositis is a disease, believed to be due to immune cells, cells which normally protect the body, but are now attacking the muscles and other organ systems within body. As a result, the affected muscles and organs fail to work properly causing weakness, difficulty swallowing, skin rash, respiratory problems, heart problems, joint stiffness, soft tissue calcification and vasculitis (blood circulation problems). The likelihood of progression of this disease is high. This study is designed to examine whether treating patients with high dose cyclophosphamide (a drug which reduces the function of the immune system) and ATG (a protein that kills the immune cells that are thought to be causing this disease), followed by return of previously collected blood stem cells will stop the progression of myositis.

This study is a long-term study of ataluren in participants with nonsense mutation Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

Background: Patients with GNE myopathy have progressive muscle weakness and can have difficulty walking and decreased mobility. The disease is a rare genetic disorder that results from a gene mutation in a key step in the body's production of a sugar called sialic acid, (also called N-acetylneuraminic acid, Neu5Ac). Researchers think decreased sialic acid bound to muscle proteins may be the cause of muscle wasting in GNE myopathy. Researchers are testing the drug ManNAc which is a precursor in the production of sialic acid within cells. ManNAc is provided as a powder dissolved in water to be administered orally.

The primary objective of this study is to evaluate the effect of 6 g/day aceneuramic acid extended-release (Ace-ER) treatment of participants with GNEM on upper extremity muscle strength (upper extremity composite [UEC] score) as measured by dynamometry.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the potential beneficial effects of a daily supplement of Resveratrol (1000mg/day) on physical ability and on muscle metabolism in patients with verified mitochondrial myopathy and patients with a verified fatty acid oxidation defect of VLCAD and CPTII deficiencies. Investigators hypothesize an improved muscle metabolism, mitochondrial function, fatty acid oxidation and thus improvement of physical ability.

This will be a double blind, randomised, placebo controlled, single and multiple oral dose study conducted in 3 parts: Part A, Part B and Part C. Part A and Part B include healthy volunteers only and will be completed before Part C including patients with primary mitochondrial disease will be initiated. The starting dose in the first cohort of Part A will be 25 mg. The dose level in the additional cohorts will be decided following review of data of the previous cohorts.

Patients admitted to the Neurosciences Intensive Care Unit (NSICU) are at particular risk of developing ICU-associated weakness and myopathy, given the unique risks of early mobilization in these patients, which include increased intracranial pressure, hemodynamic instability, vasospasm, decreased cerebral blood flow with resultant cerebral ischemia, and delirium. Interventions that could provide some of the benefits of early mobilization without these risks would be of great utility in the NSICU. A number of studies have demonstrated that electrical stimulation of the lower extremity muscles, generally the quadriceps, can retard disuse atrophy and loss of strength associated with medical ICU stays, and one study has shown reduced length of intubation and accelerated functional recovery. This pilot trial will evaluate the impact of electrical stimulation on patients in the NSICU, with a hypothesis that electrical stimulation treatments will reduce the length of hospital stay and intubation and improve functional recovery. In this trial, intubated patients admitted to the NSICU will have electrical stimulation applied to the quadriceps muscle groups on both lower extremities simultaneously for 45 minutes at a time for a total of 5 treatments each week, for up to 14 days or until ICU discharge, whichever comes first.

Neutral Lipid Storage Disease With Myopath (NLSDM) is a disease caused by a defect in the PNPLA2 gene encoding ATGL. Patients with NLSDM accumulate triglycerides and exhibit muscle weakness, cardiac failure and hepatosteatosis. Most of these patients die at young age due to cardiac failure. Not much is known about the underlying mechanisms, though recently it was discovered that PPAR activation in ATGL-/- mice was impaired leading to decreased mitochondrial function, lipid accumulation and cardiac failure resulting in death at young age. Activation of PPARs, by treatment with fibrates rescued the phenotype and reduced mortality rates in these mice. These findings may have a major impact for patients with NLSDM if these results can be translated to humans. Therefore, the investigators would like to evaluate the beneficial effects of fibrate treatment on muscle mitochondrial and cardiac function in patients with NLSDM. Patients will be treated with fibrates during a period of 28 weeks. Baseline measurements will be performed prior to the study and after treatment. Cardiac and muscular lipid accumulation, cardiac function, mitochondrial function and insulin sensitivity will be assessed during these baseline measurements.

Dystrophinopathy is a disease continuum that includes Duchenne muscular dystrophy, which develops in boys. It is caused by a mutation in the gene for dystrophin, a protein that is important for maintaining normal muscle structure and function. Loss of dystrophin causes muscle fragility that leads to weakness and loss of walking ability. A specific type of mutation, called a nonsense (premature stop codon) mutation is the cause of dystrophinopathy in approximately 10-15 percent (%) of boys with the disease. Ataluren is an orally delivered, investigational drug that has the potential to overcome the effects of the nonsense mutation. The main goal of this Phase 3 study is to evaluate the effect of ataluren on walking ability. The effect of ataluren on physical function, quality of life, and activities of daily living will be evaluated. This study will also provide additional information on the long-term safety of ataluren.

Hereditary Inclusion Body Myopathy (HIBM) is a severe progressive metabolic myopathy caused by a defect in the biosynthetic pathway for sialic acid (SA), a critical component of many muscle proteins, resulting in a deficiency in SA in the muscles of HIBM patients. The effective replacement of the missing SA substrate is theoretically simple, and, in animal models, replacement with SA showed significant restoration of sialylation biochemistry and excellent reduction in muscle disease. These data show that replacement can achieve significant clinical benefit in muscle pathology, function, and survival.