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Iron Overload in African Americans

NCT00001455 · Status: COMPLETED · Type: OBSERVATIONAL · Enrollment: 500

Last updated 2008-03-04

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

Iron overload (hemochromatosis) is a condition which causes the intestines to take too much iron into the body from food or pills. The extra iron can build up in the liver, heart, joints, pancreas, sex organs, and other organs. Patients with iron overload can feel well initially, but the iron will eventually damage organs and may lead to an early death. The condition is believed to be passed down from generation to generation. Many studies have been conducted on the condition as it affects Caucasian Americans, few have addressed the condition in African Americans.

Researchers believe it is important to find out as much as possible about the iron overload in African Americans. The goal of this study is to determine the pattern of inheritance of primary iron overload in African American families and to identify the genetic defect causing the condition.

The study will use various tests from simple blood testing (transferritin saturation and serum ferritin levels) to complex genetic tests (segregation analysis and polymerase chain reaction \[PCR\]). The tests will help researchers deterimine iron levels in the blood, presence of antigens that may help trace inheritance, and detect changes in genes that are known to cause iron overload in Caucasians.

The study may not directly benefit the patients participating in it. However, this study may lead to improved methods to diagnose iron overload in the African American population as a whole.

Conditions

  • Hemochromatosis
  • Iron Overload

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)

    lead NIH

Eligibility

Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
1995-06-30
Completion
2000-06-30

Countries

  • United States

Study Locations

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Read the full study record

This page highlights key information. For complete eligibility criteria, study locations, investigator contacts, and the full protocol, visit the original record on ClinicalTrials.gov.

View NCT00001455 on ClinicalTrials.gov