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Causes, Characteristics and Mechanisms of Infective Exacerbations in Subjects With Asthma and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)

NCT00512954 · Status: COMPLETED · Type: OBSERVATIONAL · Enrollment: 100

Last updated 2011-01-19

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

Diseases of the airways (bronchi) of the lungs include asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which are leading causes of reduced quality of life, loss of work, hospital admissions and deaths and result in a major economic burden to the patient and society. Worsening (exacerbation) of these conditions is common and is frequently due to viral or bacterial infection, which causes inflammation in the bronchi, i.e. bronchitis. Ways to objectively measure the inflammation are needed to improve diagnosis, cause and severity and to guide treatment. The investigators also need to understand changes in the body's defense (immune) mechanisms that make some patients have more frequent infective bronchitis.

At present, sputum cell counts are able to identify different types of bronchitis, their severity and may be able to differentiate viral from bacterial infection. Other measurements in sputum, exhaled breath, blood and urine are also available to measure this inflammation. Measurement of immune cells in the blood gives us an idea about the working capacity of the immune system of the body.

The investigators plan to study patients with asthma or COPD at the time of worsening of their condition to identify,

1. To what extent viral or bacterial bronchitis can be diagnosed from tests of inflammation?
2. How clearing of infection relates to clearing of inflammation?
3. What are the changes in the body's defense mechanisms that make a patient more prone to frequent infective bronchitis?
4. How do the measurements in sputum, exhaled breath, blood and urine relate to viral and bacterial bronchitis?
5. What are the differences in the measurements in sputum, exhaled breath, blood and urine in asthma and COPD?

Conditions

Sponsors & Collaborators

Principal Investigators

  • Parameswaran K Nair, MD, PhD · Firestone Institute for Respiratory Health, St. Joseph's Healthcare, Hamilton, Ontario

  • Frederick E Hargreave, MD · Firestone Institute for Respiratory Health, St. Joseph's Healthcare, Hamilton, Ontario

Eligibility

Min Age
18 Years
Max Age
80 Years
Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2007-04-30
Primary Completion
2009-12-31
Completion
2010-07-31

Countries

  • Canada

Study Locations

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Diseases
Companies

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 NCT00512954 on ClinicalTrials.gov