Active clinical trials for "Stargardt Disease"

The purpose of this study is to utilize flavoprotein fluorescence and fundus autofluorescence to detect progression of Stargardt macular dystrophy in a pediatric population over the course of a year with the hope of aiding future therapeutic risk-benefit decisions and assessment of outcomes. Stargardt macular dystrophy is the most common of the juvenile-onset macular dystrophies. Despite determination of ABCA4 as the causative gene, clinicians have been challenged by variability in clinical phenotypes. Given the recent initiation of clinical trials to assess novel treatments (e.g. gene therapy), there is a need to identify patients with the worst prognosis. The investigators have observed that pediatric patients lose central visual function faster than their adult counterparts. Thus, they present an ideal cohort with which to determine the utility of novel modalities to detect early change. These include flavoprotein fluorescence, a new imaging technique for detecting mitochondrial dysfunction developed at the University of Michigan. Fundus autofluorescence (FAF) is another commonly utilized technique of evaluating hereditary eye diseases. The investigators have developed a novel means of quantifying FAF signatures that will allow documentation of severity as well as detection of progression.

The purpose of this study is: To evaluate the safety and tolerability of RPE cellular therapy in patients with SMD Group When-MA09-hRPE cell transplantation to evaluate the safety of surgical procedures. In future studies intended to assess the number of transplanted hRPE cells. In the past, MA09-hRPE cell therapy used in the study was to evaluate the validity of the potential. Homologous retinal pigment epithelial cells derived from embryonic stem cells, future studies of drugs that are used in representing the potential validity to evaluate the optimal dose.

The purpose of this study was to determine the safety and therapeutic effect of sub-retinal transplantation of human embryo stem cell derived retinal pigment epitheliums (hESC-RPE) in patients with macular degeneration diseases, and explore new treatment modalities for macular degeneration diseases (Age-related macular degeneration and Stargardt's macular dystrophy).

The general area of research in which this project has been designed is that of retinal degeneration related to mutations in the ABCR gene, responsible of Stargardt disease/fundus flavimaculatus retinal dystrophy (STD/FF). STG/FF is one of the major causes of vision impairment in the young age. STG/FF originates typically from the dysfunction and loss of cone and rod photoreceptors, developing through a photo-oxidative mechanism. The major disease locus is the central retina, i.e. the macula, whose neurons have the highest density and underlie critical functions such as visual acuity, color vision and contrast sensitivity. There is currently no cure for STG/FF. Recent experimental findings indicate that Saffron, derived from the pistils of Crocus Sativus, may have a role as a retinal neuro-protectant against oxidative damage. The stigmata of Crocus sativus contain biologically high concentrations of chemical compounds including crocin, crocetin, whose multiple C=C bonds provide the antioxidant potential. In addition it is well known that this compound is safe and free of adverse side effects. The aim of this research is to investigate the influence of short-term Saffron supplementation on retinal function in STG/FF patients carrying ABCR mutations. The macular cone-mediated electroretinogram (ERG) in response to high-frequency flicker (focal flicker ERG) will be employed as the main outcome variable. Secondary outcome variable will be the psychophysical cone system recovery after bleaching.

We have found that biomarkers of long-term elevated dietary intake of omega-3 fatty acids such as DHA and EPA are inversely associated with severity of disease phenotype in STGD3 patients. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to follow STGD3 patients as they supplement their diets with DHA/EPA.

The development of new oculometry techniques allows fine and dynamic measurements of pupillary diameter and use in routine clinical practice. The preliminary results obtained with innovative devices on healthy sjuets make it possible to envisage a clinical study on a population of patients suffering from retinal pathologies. This is a "proof of concept" study, which, if the expected results are confirmed, will make it possible to consider a study on a larger population, as well as the industrial development of a commercial device.

While a fair amount of clinical data on Stargardt disease type 1 (STGD1) have been published, very little is known about Stargardt disease type 4 (STGD4). The ProgStar 04 study is an important opportunity to leverage the infrastructure, clinical trials sites, methods, and central reading center of the ProgStar program to investigate the progression of STGD4 and will help to establish patient cohorts worldwide for future clinical trials.

Stargardt disease is currently an incurable and untreatable macular dystrophy that causes severe visual loss in children and young adults, thereby causing enormous morbidity with economic, psychological, emotional, and social implications. There are no FDA approved therapeutic treatments for this disease. Therefore, the objective of this study is to collect natural history data from a large population of children and adults in order to evaluate possible efficacy measures for planned clinical trials. Participants will be recruited from each Investigator's own patient population as the study requires the availability of both multiyear retrospective data, as well as ongoing prospectively collected data. A concurrent ancillary study (SMART study) is also being conducted with a subset of the prospective study patients during their regular ProgSTAR study visits to expand the collection of retinal images to include microperimetry measurements gathered under scotopic (low light) conditions.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the long term safety and tolerability of hESC-RPE cellular therapy in patients with advanced SMD from 1 to 5 years following the surgical procedure to implant the hESC-RPE cells.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the long term safety and tolerability of MA09-hRPE cellular therapy in patients with advanced Stargardt's Macular Dystrophy (SMD) from one to five years following the surgical procedure to implant the MA09-hRPE cells.