Asthma Clinical Trials

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the site and mechanisms responsible for expiratory airflow limitation in chronic, treated, non-smoking, stable asthmatics with moderate to severe persistent expiratory airflow obstruction. Treatment will include inhaled corticosteroids and long acting beta2agonists. The investigators are interested in determining whether the large and/or small airways are the predominant site of airflow limitation. The investigators are also interested in determining whether intrinsic small airways obstruction and/or loss of lung elastic recoil is responsible for expiratory airflow limitation. The investigators are also interested to evaluate the role of varying doses of inhaled corticosteroids to suppress large and small airway inflammation using exhaled nitric oxide as surrogate markers of inflammation. For comparison purposes, spirometry and measurements of exhaled nitric oxide will also be obtained if possible during a naturally occurring exacerbation of asthma. Read Less

Service men and women returning from deployment are significantly more likely to develop asthma and severe respiratory symptoms from airway obstruction. Why this happens is not well known, but exposure to diesel, burn pits, biomass smoke, and sandstorms are thought to play a role. Ultimately, patients with deployment related asthma develop a complex airway disease that does not respond well to standard asthma medications. Therefore, it is imperative that safe and affordable treatments that could improve quality of life and symptoms are studied. It has been previously shown that adult patients with poorly controlled asthma have an abnormal regulation of an amino acid called L-arginine and airway nitric oxide (FeNO), a gaseous molecule normally produced in the airways of healthy people. In healthy people, nitric oxide is present in amounts that help keep the airways open. However, in some patients with asthma, nitric oxide and L-arginine are often low. The investigators' preliminary data in obese asthmatics show that L-citrulline, which is an amino acid that can be metabolized into L-arginine, improved lung function and asthma control, while increasing the levels of FeNO. This is potentially shifting the paradigm in how investigators think of asthma management, as rising FeNO is often thought of being a bad sign. Based on this, the study investigators hypothesize that an L-citrulline-based drug strategy will normalize nitric oxide metabolism, suppress oxidative inflammatory responses and improve airway function in obese patients with asthma. The study proposal presents a clinical trial approach to treat deployment related asthma patients using L-citrulline as an add-on therapy to improve asthma control. If this confirms the investigators' previous study results, the investigators will be in route for developing the only precision-based therapy available to treat this asthma phenotype. These study results will potentially show that L-citrulline is a safe, tolerable medication that can make a significant impact on the respiratory health of a large segment of our active and veteran population at a reasonable cost. Read Less

Patients with obese late onset (after childhood) asthma can have lower FeNO levels, yet be highly symptomatic and poorly responsive to inhaled steroids. This is a common asthma phenotype, particularly among females. This reduction of NO occurs through increased arginase activity and uncoupling of NO synthase (NOS), by accumulation of asymmetric di-methyl arginine (ADMA), which further lowers the L-arginine/ADMA ratio, preferentially promoting reactive oxygen species (ROS) formation and inflammation at the expense of NO. Indeed, in patients with obese late onset asthma, lower L-arginine/ADMA plasma ratios are associated with reduced FeNO, increased bronchial hyperreactivity, and greater asthma morbidity. In our pilot studies, the administration of L-citrulline, as an L-arginine donor, to patients with obese late onset asthma increased the L-arginine/ADMA ratio, FeNO levels, and improved asthma control and lung function. Therefore, the objectives of the protocol are to: a) determine the efficacy of L-citrulline, as an add-on treatment to improve the asthma control and lung function in obese late onset asthmatics; b) leverage the use of asthmatic and control cells to further understand obesity-related changes in epithelial airway NO metabolism, and how these changes relate to bronchoconstriction and lung function, c) determine airway epithelial changes in mitochondrial function and bioenergetics in obese late onset asthmatics and how these are modified by L-citrulline. To do this, 54 obese late onset asthmatics with suboptimal control will be blindly randomized, in a cross over study, comparing 15g/day of L-citrulline vs. placebo, in two 8-week treatment periods with a 6-week washout in between. The co-primary study outcomes are asthma control (ACQ, ACT) and FeNO, and secondary endpoints plasma L-arginine/ADMA, FEV1 and PC20 methacholine. Parallel to this study, a small study of 10 healthy obese controls will receive open label L-citrulline for 7 weeks to establish comparative reference values for the study aims. During the initial treatment phase, 50% of study participants will be randomly allocated to undergo pre and post L-citrulline treatment bronchoscopy to obtain BAL and airway epithelial cells. The research group proposing this study is highly experience in asthma clinical trials, implementation of cross over design studies, and in the use of research bronchoscopies. Read Less

This is a single-center study that will evaluate the safety and tolerability of removal of mucus plugs by bronchoscopy in patients with asthma. This protocol will also plan for the analysis of the features of the mucus plugs removed. Read Less

This is an observational, clinic-based, single center study of 120 subjects. Participants will be comprised of patients seen in the outpatient faculty practice in ambulatory care at the UCSF Parnassus campus. Study investigators will enroll 20 healthy participants with no history of lung disease, 50 asthmatics who are newly prescribed therapeutic proteins for their asthma, and 50 asthmatics already being treated with therapeutic proteins for their asthma. Participants will be seen at 1 to 3 visits and provide blood samples at each visit. Read Less

This is a cross-sectional study of up to 100 subjects who are undergoing clinically indicated sinus procedures to treat chronic rhinosinusitis. Participants will be asked to donate leftover sino-nasal secretions, sino-nasal tissue and blood as well as undergo partial characterization. As optional extensions of the main study, participants may also undergo a biopsy of extra sino-nasal tissue for additional tissue analysis and/or a more detailed characterization visit performed in the UCSF Airway Center Research Center (ACRC). Read Less

The objective of this pilot study is to determine whether obesity and metabolic syndrome are in fact synergistic in relation to airway nitric oxide (NO) biology. To do so, the investigators want to determine how obesity and the metabolic syndrome relate to metabolism in bronchial airway epithelial cells and the nasal epithelium. Read Less

In this project, Institute of Bioengineering & Bioimaging (IBB), A*STAR would like to collaborate with Massachusetts General Hospital to aggregate patient data and to further develop its software algorithm using machine learning and statistical models for predicting exacerbations and deterioration on 60 patients with cardiopulmonary diseases. Read Less

Develop new real-world evidence indicators of worsening and improving asthma. Scientists will measure (1) steps per day, (2) duration and intensity of exercise per day, (3) sleep duration and the number of awakenings per night using Fitbit activity trackers. Scientists will measure asthma symptoms using a once-monthly custom survey delivered to participant smartphones via Twilio. Scientists may measure rescue medication use and adherence to maintenance medications using digital inhaler devices. Scientists will correlate the above measures to participant-reported significant asthma exacerbations (SAEs), lung function (FEV1), and standardized surveys (i.e. the asthma control test (ACT) and global evaluation of treatment effectiveness (GETE)(4)) collected in clinic every 3 months. Coordinators will record any medication changes or reported medication side effects. Determine response to omalizumab therapy. After participants are placed on omalizumab therapy as part of standard medical care, scientists will determine whether and how real-world evidence can be used to gauge responses to omalizumab. Then, scientists will determine which features, or combination of features, are the best indicators of disease control in the real world. Read Less