6 Clinical Trials for Various Conditions
This study will comprise of two phases, an observational phase and a treatment phase. In the observational phase the specific aims are: 1. To determine the presence and regional distribution of microglial activation, as assessed by 18F-PBR06 PET, in subjects with MSA as compared to healthy controls, at baseline and at 6-9 months' follow-up. 2. To assess the relationship between microglial activation and clinical progression at baseline and follow-up. In the treatment phase the specific aims of the study are: The specific aims of the study are: 1. To assess whether verdiperstat (BHV-3241) reduces 18F-PBR06 PET signal, and thus microglial activation and inflammation, in well-characterized MSA patients. 2. To assess the relationship between PET changes and clinical progression at baseline and follow-up in patients treated with verdiperstat. 3. To assess the relationship between PET changes and volumetric brain MRI at baseline and follow-up in patients treated with verdiperstat. Currently there is no known disease modifying therapy for MSA. Recently, the drug verdiperstat (BHV-3241) has appeared in the investigational arena specifically for the indication of Multiple System Atrophy. Verdiperstat (BHV-3241) is currently being used in a phase 3 active drug trial at Massachusetts Hospital. Verdiperstat (BHV-3241) is known to target Myeloperoxidase, an enzyme implicated in neuroinflammation, a major driver in disease pathogenesis. Our previous study (IRB protocol #2016P002373) demonstrated that applying TSPO (translator protein) PET imaging enabled us to track changes in neuroinflammation and thus provide a viable biomarker for disease progression. In this pilot study, the investigators aim to assess the effect of an investigational drug, verdiperstat (BHV-3241) on microglial activation in MSA patients using \[F-18\]PBR06 and to link it with clinical and morphometric MRI brain changes following treatment.
The objective of this study is to describe disease progression in study participants diagnosed with early Parkinson's Disease or Multiple System Atrophy - Parkinsonian Type up to 18 months as delineated by clinical and biochemical parameters.
Diagnosing Parkinson's disease (PD) depends on the clinical history of the patient and the patient's response to specific treatments such as levodopa. Unfortunately, a definitive diagnosis of PD is still limited to post-mortem evaluation of brain tissues. Furthermore, diagnosis of idiopathic PD is even more challenging because symptoms of PD overlap with symptoms of other conditions such as essential tremor (ET) or Parkinsonian syndromes (PSs) such as progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), multiple system atrophy (MSA), corticobasal degeneration (CBD), or vascular Parkinsonism (VaP). Based on the principle that PD and PSs affect brain areas involved in eye movement control, this trial will utilize a platform that records complex eye movements and use a proprietary algorithm to characterize PSs. Preliminary data demonstrate that by monitoring oculomotor alterations, the process can assign PD-specific oculomotor patterns, which have the potential to serve as a diagnostic tool for PD. This study will evaluate capabilities of the process and its ability to differentiate PD from other PSs with statistical significance. The specific aims of this proposal are: To optimize the detection and analysis algorithms, and then to evaluate the process against neurological diagnoses of PD patients in a clinical study.
The purpose of this study is to test the performance of the AID-P across 21 sites in the Parkinson Study Group. Each site will perform imaging, clinical scales, diagnosis, and will upload the data to the web-based software tool. The clinical diagnosis will be blinded to the diagnostic algorithm and the imaging diagnosis will be compared to the movement disorders trained neurologist diagnosis.
This is a human clinical study involving the isolation of autologous bone marrow derived stem cells (BMSC) and transfer to the vascular system and inferior 1/3 of the nasal passages in order to determine if such a treatment will provide improvement in neurologic function for patients with certain neurologic conditions. http://mdstemcells.com/nest/
The investigators aim to learn more about symptoms suggestive of a neurodegenerative process.