8 Clinical Trials for Various Conditions
This research study is looking at the use of the drug ambrisentan and if it can improve right ventricle function in people with systemic sclerosis-associated pre-pulmonary arterial hypertension. It is also looking at using right ventricle function changes as a marker of disease severity.
Our hypothesis is that optimal treatment of the dysfunctional metabolic pathways which underlie PAH will improve pulmonary vascular function and consequences of the disease.
A double-blinded, placebo-controlled study of Dimethyl fumarate (DMF) in 34 Systemic Sclerosis-Pulmonary Hypertension (SSc-PAH) patients. The study will determine safety and the primary outcome variability for DMF in treating SSc-PAH; the primary outcome of clinical efficacy in this pilot trial will be improvement in 6-minute walk distance (6MWD).
Systemic sclerosis-associated pulmonary arterial hypertension (SSc-PAH) is a serious, life-threatening manifestation of systemic sclerosis (SSc), an autoimmune disease of the connective tissue characterized by scarring (fibrosis) and atrophy of the skin, joints and tendons, skeletal muscles, and internal organs, and immunological disturbances. One-year survival for patients with SSc-PAH ranges from 50-81%. There is currently no cure for SSc-PAH and treatment is limited to vasodilator therapy used in all forms of PAH. In recent studies, immunotherapy was shown to be effective in treating SSc-interstitial lung disease, another serious, life-threatening manifestation of SSc. In addition, there are compelling pre-clinical data and anecdotal clinical reports that suggest modulation of the immune system may be an effective strategy for treating SSc-PAH. To test this approach, this trial will determine if rituximab, an immunotherapy, has a marked beneficial effect on clinical disease progression, with minimal toxicity, in patients with SSc-PAH when compared to placebo.
Systemic sclerosis (SSc, AKA scleroderma) is an autoimmune condition characterized by endothelial damage and progressive fibrosis of the skin and internal organs. One of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in patients with SSc is pulmonary hypertension (PH), which is estimated to occur in up to 31% of high risk SSc patients. Early detection of patients with SSc-PH may lead to improved outcomes and although there have been concerted efforts to accurately screen for SSc-PH, these patients continue to present with advanced disease and suffer from poor survival. Therefore, better methods to screen for patients with PH and, perhaps more importantly, to screen for those at risk for PH development are desperately needed. Since PH and SSc are disorders originating from the endothelium, biomarkers that reflect endothelial damage are very promising tools to identify early disease. Such potential biomarkers include endothelial microparticles, asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA), pentraxin-3, and soluble endoglin. No previous study has used a combination of these biomarkers to detect the presence of PH in patients with SSc, or studied the novel concept of exercise-induced changes in biomarker levels. The investigators will collect the above listed endothelial biomarkers before and after exercise, and combine these levels with exercise echocardiogram findings, and routine clinical information to derive a composite detection score for the early identification of systemic sclerosis-associated PH.
The purpose of this phase 2 multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, study is to assess the safety and efficacy of ifetroban in patients with diffuse cutaneous systemic SSc (dcSSc) or SSc-associated pulmonary arterial hypertension (SSc-PAH).
This will be a 36-week, single group, open label study assessing the effects of Tadalafil plus Ambrisentan combination therapy in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension associated with the scleroderma spectrum of disease (PAH-SSD). Standard outcome measures such as six-minute walk distance (6MWD), New York heart Association (NYHA) classification, and hemodynamic measurements will be assessed, as well as novel functional measures of RV-PV function including the transthoracic echocardiogram parameter tricuspid annular plane systolic ejection (TAPSE), contrast-enhanced cardiac MRI and heart rate variability assessed by Holter monitoring. This design (excluding a placebo arm) was selected for ethical concerns and to provide optimal efficiency and active therapy to all study subjects. It also allows for comparisons between the two monotherapies and with combination therapy.
Patients with interstitial lung disease (ILD) and scleroderma who develop pulmonary hypertension (PH) do not fit well into the current classification system and treatments for pulmonary hypertension. This study aims to better understand patients with ILD-PH and scleroderma and to determine if treatment with Macitentan is beneficial.