20 Clinical Trials for Various Conditions
The purpose of this study is to help researchers find out more about a condition called "Chronic Allograft Nephropathy" (CAN). CAN is a complication that sometimes occurs after kidney transplantation and affects the function of the transplanted kidney. It is hoped that by studying blood, urine, and tissue samples of kidney transplant patients, new ways of diagnosing and treating CAN may be found.
Chronic allograft nephropathy continues to be a major cause of kidney transplant loss and return to dialysis. Treatment options are limited and the course of the disease tends to be progressive. This trial is designed to prevent a major mediator of this process, namely the expansion of the cortical interstitial compartment of the kidney where most of the scarring occurs. The drug being studied, Losartan, has proven efficacious in a number of kidney diseases.
This study is intended to help doctors learn about the relationships between specific genetic makeup (gene markers) and the development of chronic rejection. This study is being done to see if there is a relationship between genetic patterns and the development of Chronic Allograft Nephropathy (CAN). Medical scientists also hope to learn more about how genetic differences between people determine their response to a drug or a disease by storing a small blood sample in a special "bank". This sample may be tested at some point in the future in an attempt to better understand the factors that may influence rejection, transplantation outcomes and transplant success rates.
Hyperparathyroidism (HPT) is common in people with a kidney transplant. Patients with HPT often have high parathyroid hormone (PTH) levels and may have large parathyroid glands in the neck. Patients with HPT can develop bone disease (osteodystrophy). This bone disease can cause bone pain, fractures, and poor formation of red blood cells. Other problems from HPT may include increases in blood levels of calcium (hypercalcemia) and low blood levels of phosphorus (hypophosphatemia). The high calcium levels may cause calcium to deposit in body tissues. Calcium deposits can cause arthritis (joint pain and swelling), muscle inflammation, itching, gangrene (death of soft tissue), heart and lung problems or kidney transplant dysfunction (worsening of kidney transplant function). The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effects of cinacalcet (Sensipar/Mimpara) on high calcium levels in the blood in patients with HPT after a kidney transplant.
Chronic Allograft Nephropathy (CAN)/Interstitial fibrosis and Tubular Atrophy (IFTA) is responsible for most kidney transplant failures. CAN/IFTA on a 3 month kidney biopsy strongly predicts graft survival long term. CAN/IFTA remains a vexing problem for clinicians because current monitoring tools, namely the serum creatinine concentration, are not sensitive to early changes in glomerular filtration rate (GFR) or to histologic damage. Despite advances in prevention of acute rejection (AR), it is still a significant and potentially devastating complication of solid organ transplantation. One strategy to reduce the risk of rejection is to perform kidney biopsies to detect subclinical acute rejection (SCAR) and treat to prevent progression to rejection. There is evidence that treating SCAR can prevent further immune mediated injury to the kidney, a precursor to CAN/IFTA. Kidney biopsies provide better information but are limited due to safety concerns, patient preference and cost issues. Better, early and less invasive markers of CAN/IFTA will allow early intervention as well as improved graft and better patient outcomes. This study seeks to validate specific proteogenomic biomarker panels for AR and CAN/IFTA in a prospective blood, urine and kidney tissue monitoring study of kidney transplant recipients who will be scheduled for standard of care biopsies.
The objective of this study is to examine the effect on allograft function and histology of converting African American renal transplant recipients with chronic allograft nephropathy (CAN) from a tacrolimus-based regimen to a sirolimus-based maintenance immunosuppression regimen. The investigators hypothesize that the conversion from tacrolimus to sirolimus in African American renal recipients will stabilize or improve renal allograft function, and stabilize the histological progression of CAN. This conversion will have the potential to prolong long-term graft survival in African American renal transplant patients. GFR measurements, histological parameters on the allograft biopsy, as well as patient and graft survival, incidence of acute rejection, and specific side effects will be monitored and compared between the sirolimus conversion group and the patients who will be maintained on tacrolimus.
The purpose of this study is to see if kidney function can be improved during transplants by giving the drug Thymoglobulin with delayed cyclosporine treatment instead of initial cyclosporine treatment. There have been improvements for patients receiving kidney transplants, yet acute rejection is still a problem. This can lead to kidney failure over time. Patients whose graft fails to function properly in the first week after transplant do not do as well after 5 years as compared to patients without early problems. This study will see if Thymoglobulin, a drug that suppresses the immune system, will improve early graft function.
The purpose of this study is to see how effective 2 drugs, irbesartan and pravastatin, are at slowing kidney transplant failure. Many kidney transplant patients have some type of chronic rejection. Chronic rejection is a disease that causes scarring and damage to the kidney. Over time, chronic rejection can lead to kidney failure, making it necessary for patients to start dialysis and possibly receive another kidney transplant. Doctors would like to see whether irbesartan and pravastatin can slow this damage and prevent kidney failure in patients with signs of chronic rejection.
There is a need to develop blood and/or urine tests that will help to detect early signs of rejection in people who have had kidney transplant. Researchers will examine blood, urine, and tissue samples and try to identify genetic markers for certain conditions like rejection, response to therapy, and scarring of the kidney. By studying gene patterns, researchers hope to be able to diagnose these conditions earlier and improve kidney survival.
The purpose of this study is to compare the effect of sodium bicarbonate versus no sodium bicarbonate treatment on urinary ammonia levels and urinary transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-beta1) excretion in renal transplant patients with low-to-normal serum bicarbonate levels (20 - 28 mmol/L).
Background: - Genetic variation in a particular chromosome is a major contributor to the increased risk for kidney disease that is common in people of African descent, although the specific gene, mutations, and other aspects of the variations remain to be determined. By studying the outcomes of kidney transplant in donors and recipients of African descent, researchers hope to better understand the effects of this genetic variation on the success of kidney transplants. Objectives: - To examine possible connections between genetic variations and kidney transplant outcomes for donors and recipients. Eligibility: * Participants in kidney transplant where both donor and recipient were of black African descent. * Eligible transplants include both living donor and deceased donor. Design: * The study will involve one visit of up to 8 hours. * All participants will provide a detailed personal and family medical history. * All participants will provide blood and urine samples, including a 24-hour urine collection, to test kidney function and collect material for genetic testing. * Donor participants will also have a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan of their remaining kidney.
The objective of this study is to evaluate the safety and efficacy of conversion from tacrolimus to sirolimus early after kidney transplantation in patients with delayed graft function (DGF)and slow graft function (SGF) in improving graft function and delaying chronic allograft nephropathy. The investigators hypothesize that conversion from tacrolimus to sirolimus in renal transplant recipients with DGF/SGF in early months after surgery will improve graft function and decrease the progression of graft fibrosis.
This Phase 2 study is a multi-center, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, single followed by multiple dose, dose escalation study designed to evaluate the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics, immunogenicity, and impact of STX-100 on gene and protein expression for αvβ6 related and TGF-β-inducible genes (including tubulointerstitial injury, epithelial function, and IF/TA related genes) in renal transplant patients with biopsy.
This study was done to find out which treatment, tacrolimus or sirolimus, leads to better long-term kidney function in kidney transplant patients.
This study will examine whether measurements of connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) and other cell proteins can identify which kidney transplant recipients are likely to develop chronic allograft nephropathy (CAN), a disease of the transplanted kidney. CAN may occur months to years after the transplant. The kidney becomes progressively scarred and eventually loses all function, so that dialysis or another transplant is needed. A better understanding of how CTGF and other proteins are involved in the development of CAN may provide new targets for treating for the disease. Patients who are scheduled to receive a kidney or combined kidney-pancreas transplant or who have received a transplant recently (within 6 months) may be eligible for this study. Participants will be enrolled before the transplant, if possible, or after the transplant, and will undergo the following tests and procedures: * Physical examinations at the screening visit, at 1, 6, 12, and 24 months, and then once yearly. * Blood sample collections at the screening visit, at 1, 6, 12, 18, and 24 months and then once yearly. * Urine sample collections at the screening visit, at 1, 6, 12, 18, and 24 months and then once yearly. * Kidney biopsies at the beginning of the study, at 1, 6, 12, and 24 months, and then once a year for research purposes. Participants may refuse to have a research biopsy at any time during the study. Also, patients who are having a kidney biopsy for another reason at these time points will not have a second biopsy. The biopsy procedure takes about 15 minutes and is done in the hospital. The patient lies on his or her back and the skin over the transplanted kidney is cleaned with alcohol and iodine. The area is numbed with an injection of an anesthetic, and then a biopsy needle is placed through the kin. The biopsy may be repeated up to three times to get enough tissue to test for CAN. Patients lie flat for 4 hours after the procedure to reduce the risk of bleeding, and are observed for another 2 hours for possible complications.
Despite the reduction in acute rejection episodes in renal transplant patients due to modern immunosuppression, proportionate improvements in long-term allograft survival have not been achieved. Virtually any disease or injury affecting renal allografts can culminate in irreversible injury of tubular epithelial cells and the development of interstitial fibrosis and tubular atrophy (IFTA). Renal allograft fibrosis drives chronic kidney disease (CKD) progression, predicts allograft failure and is associated with increased patient mortality. Other prognostic and/or actionable diagnoses described by the pathologic Banff scheme, such as inflammation, often co-exist and contribute to IFTA. Immune cell infiltration within allografts and within areas of IFTA (i-IFTA) can drive progressive kidney injury, fibrosis and worsened outcome. Pathology is the reference standard for IFTA; however, allograft biopsy has many well-known limitations and is not an ideal method for monitoring patients during trials of new therapies aimed at improving allograft survival. There is an urgent and unmet need for non-invasive assessment of renal allograft IFTA. Multiparametric MRI (mpMRI), including relaxometry \[the spin-lock relaxation time T1ρ, a marker of interaction of water with macromolecules in tissues; the spin-lattice relaxation time T1, a marker of interstitial edema and collagen volume fraction)\] and advanced diffusion \[intravoxel incoherent motion diffusion-weighted imaging (IVIM-DWI), a marker of diffusion and perfusion\] provides insight into renal structure and function. Validation of advanced MRI methods as markers of renal allograft IFTA would be of major clinical significance to enable early detection, assess the efficacy of novel anti-fibrotic agents, and provide longitudinal disease monitoring. The study team has established proof-of-concept in renal allografts with stable function and IFTA without confounding rejection or infection that mpMRI techniques are feasible for measuring fibrosis, especially using the combination of T1 and DWI. The study has established that urinary biomarkers for renal allograft fibrosis are also promising and have been validated against pathology in initial studies. In this proposal, the researchers will develop a short, non-contrast multiparametric MRI (mpMRI) protocol, consisting of advanced relaxometry (T1 mapping and T1ρ) and advanced diffusion weighted imaging (IVIM-DWI) to accurately detect and stage allograft fibrosis, taking into account confounding Banff variables of inflammation and tested against biopsy. The researchers will also assess the added value of urinary biomarkers of IFTA and if successful, this study will benefit a large population of patients with renal allograft fibrosis in the United States, enabling early diagnosis, optimized treatment planning, prognostication and longitudinal disease monitoring.
The purpose of this study is to establish if concomitant renal and vascularized urinary bladder allograft transplantation is feasible.
This is a 12-month, phase II, prospective, open label study, to evaluate the effect of mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) among patients on the kidney transplant list with high Panel of Reactive Antibody (PRA) levels. On average, increasing the PRA from 0 to 50% specifically in the Washington Organ Procurement Organization (OPO) increases the waiting time from 3 to 6 years. Spontaneous decreases in the PRA rarely occur and is associated with a decreased chance for transplantation and a decreased rate of survival.
The TEAMMATE Trial will enroll 210 pediatric heart transplant patients from 25 centers at 6 months post-transplant and follow each patient for 2.5 years. Half of the participants will receive everolimus and low-dose tacrolimus and the other half will receive tacrolimus and mycophenolate mofetil. The trial will determine which treatment is better at reducing the cumulative risk of coronary artery vasculopathy, chronic kidney disease and biopsy proven-acute cellular rejection without an increase in graft loss due to all causes (e.g. infection, PTLD, antibody mediated rejection).
The purpose of this study is to determine if analysis of urine samples for specific markers can predict transplant rejection in people who have received kidney transplants.