Active clinical trials for "Sclerosis"

Ve-cadherin is expressed in endothelial cells. Systemic slerosis is a rare auto-immune disease with a endothelial dysfunction. This study is to evaluated the level of soluble VE-cadherin and VE-cadherin antibody in patients with systemic slerosis.

As many as 50% of MS patients prematurely discontinue their disease modifying medications. For this study, we will develop a telephone-based talk therapy intervention and then conduct a randomized controlled trial. Patients will be assigned to either 5 weekly 20 minute telephone sessions of psychotherapy or a brief education control condition. We hypothesize that patients undergoing phone therapy will be more likely to indicate they are interested in resuming taking disease modifying medications than patients given brief education and treatment as usual.

The purpose of the project is to obtain skin and adipose tissue samples from patients with ALS to develop new diagnostic and prognostic markers of the disease. These samples will be obtained when percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) is performed as part of their standard of care. Skin and adipose tissue samples will also be obtained from disease control subjects who require a PEG as part of their standard of care.

Objective: The objectives of this protocol are: to develop and maintain a repository of clinically characterized patients with primary lateral sclerosis for future research protocols, to characterize the natural history of neurodegenerative disorders with corticospinal neuron degeneration, to investigate proposed etiologies, risk factors, and biomarkers for the development of these disorders and for disease progression Study Population: 240 patients with adult-onset progressive spasticity with a diagnosis of primary lateral sclerosis or related upper motor neuron disorder Design: Patients who have been referred by physicians for primary lateral sclerosis will undergo a screening evaluation at the first visit. The screening visit will include review of outside medical records, neurological examination, and diagnostic testing to determine possible causes of spasticity. Patients fulfilling the clinical criteria for primary lateral sclerosis by history or examination will be followed to determine the natural history of this disorder. Measures of motor and cognitive function will be made at baseline and follow-up visits to follow clinical progression. Magnetic resonance imaging will be carried out to determine if imaging changes occur over time. Patients identified in this protocol who are eligible for other research protocols will be invited to participate in additional protocols. Outcome Measures: Clinical progression will be documented by measures of finger-tapping, timed gait, speech. The association between clinical progression and MRI measures will be assessed as a secondary outcome....

The primary goal of this study will be to explore the reparative and regenerative potential of alemtuzumab in RRMS patients who are participating in the CARE MS I and CARE MS II studies using conventional and non-conventional MRI sequences.

The primary objective of this trial is to observe the Multiple Sclerosis (MS) related fatigue during treatment with Tysabri as measured by changes in the fatigue scale for motor and cognitive functions (FMSC) over the course of 12 months. The secondary objectives are: To investigate changes in fatigue, capacity for work, Health Related Quality of Life (HRQol), sleepiness, cognitive impairment, physically activity induced exhaustion, speed of walking, status of MS disease progression and amount of walking at different times points after initiation of Tysabri treatment in participants diagnosed with Relapsing-Remitting Multiple Sclerosis (RRMS). Changes in fatigue are measured at 3, 6 and 9 months, whereas changes in capacity for work, HRQoL, sleepiness, cognitive impairment, physical activity induced exhaustion, speed of walking, status of MS disease progression and amount of walking are measured at 6 and 12 months. To investigate correlation between fatigue and cognitive impairment, depression and physically activity induced exhaustion and status of MS disease progression in participants at baseline, 6 and 12 month of treatment with Tysabri and to document any changes in fatigue related medication.

This study is being done to increase awareness for early therapy with Avonex for Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and the cognitive dysfunction that accompanies MS, and to record safety data for Avonex.

The primary aim of this study is to evaluate the impact of titration, analgesics, and 12 month telephone follow-up period from the B.E.T.A nurse program upon adherence to treatment with Betaseron in patients with a first clinical demyelinating event suggestive of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and patients with onset of RRMS within the past 12 months Secondary outcomes include analysis of the following parameters: progression of clinical severity by the expanded disability status scale (EDSS score), health related quality of life (HrQoL), and safety. Exploratory outcomes include changes over time in cytokine and neurotrophic factor production by immune cells and visual function as assessed by visual examination, OCT measurements and a neuro-ophthalmologic Health-Related Quality of Life questionnaire (NEI-VFQ-25) with 10-item supplement.

Phase IV open label, single-blind study, post-marketing, 1-year MRI observational study evaluating effect of Avonex® monotherapy (6.0 MIU administered i.m. each week) on the year-to-year changes in two annual measures-magnetization transfer imaging and diffusion-weighted imaging in patients with either relapsing-remitting (RR) or secondary-progressive (SP) multiple sclerosis (MS). One hundred fifty (150) patients with RR and SP MS-followed at the Jacobs Neurological Institute, University at Buffalo, Buffalo NY-who satisfy both inclusion and exclusion criteria will be included. They will be assessed at baseline and at 12 months with MRI and clinical examinations.

The purpose of this study is to test differences in RNA levels between Multiple Sclerosis (MS) patients and normal subjects. RNA provides a "message" from genes altered in diseases. We will also test DNA to determine if there are any small mutations called SNPs in any of the genes. The last tests are two separate tests for markers of inflammation called cytokines and eicosanoids. This research may lead to the discovery of biological markers for MS that are useful for diagnosis and treatment.