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195 active trials for Sickle Cell Disease

Stroke Prevention in Young Adults With Sickle Cell Anemia

Sickle cell disease (SCD) is the most common genetic disease, affecting about 25 million people worldwide. Approximately 150,000 Nigerian children are born each year with sickle cell disease (SCD), making it the country with the largest burden of SCD in the world. Recent advancements in care for children with SCA have translated into improved survival of children in both high and low-resource settings. However, more complications of SCD are seen in those who survive to adulthood. Silent cerebral infarcts (SCI) and strokes are among the most devastating complications of SCD, affecting 40% and 10% of children, respectively. The overall goal of this study is to extend the Investigator's successful capacity-building effort in the assessment of neurological morbidity in children with SCD living in northern Nigeria (Kano) to young adults with SCD living in the same region. About 50% of all adults with SCD live in Nigeria. Despite the high prevalence of SCD in Africa, the neurological morbidity is not well characterized, limiting opportunities for primary and secondary stroke prevention strategies. At least 50% of young adults with sickle cell anemia (SCA), the most severe form of the disease, will have SCIs and an estimated 10% will have strokes, based on studies in high-resource settings. In high-resource settings, screening for abnormal transcranial Doppler (TCD) velocities in children with SCA, coupled with regular blood transfusion has resulted in a 92% reduction of relative risk for strokes. Despite this effective strategy, regular blood transfusion therapy does not seem sustainable in sub-Saharan Africa due to shortages and the risk of transfusion transmissible infections. Additionally, there is a lack of evidence-based stroke prevention strategies in young adults with SCA, either in the high-income or in low-resource settings. Based on the foregoing, the Investigators propose to determine the prevalence of neurological injury (overt stroke, transient ischemic attacks, and silent cerebral infarcts) in young adults at the transition age from 16-25 years. The Investigators will also, for the first time, assess conventional risk factors of stroke in the general population to determine whether a different prevention strategy is required to reduce the incidence of neurological injury in this high-risk population.

Start: June 2021
Venous Thrombosis Biomarkers in Sickle Cell Disease and Sickle Cell Trait

Background: Venous thromboembolism (VTE) includes the abnormal clotting of blood in a deep vein of the upper or lower limbs (deep vein thrombosis) that may travel to and block a blood vessel in the lung (pulmonary embolism). Some people with sickle cell disease (SCD)-a red blood cell disorder-seem to be at greater risk for developing these blood clots. Researchers want to study the blood of people with SCD and VTE as well as healthy people to develop better treatments to prevent blood clots. Objective: To study blood clotting in SCD because it is the most common cause of vascular death after a heart attack or stroke. Eligibility: People ages 18-80 who have SCD (with or without a history of blood clots) or the trait for SCD, and healthy volunteers Design: Participants will be screened with medical history, physical exam, and medical records review. They will give blood samples. Participants will have phone calls either every 3 months or once a year, for 2 years. They will give updates on their health. They may give additional medical records. The phone calls may last up to 30 minutes. If participants have a VTE or pain crisis episode, they may visit the Clinical Center. These visits may last up to 4 hours. They will repeat the screening tests and give blood samples. Some participants may be invited to take part in blood studies. After 2 years, some participants will have a follow-up visit at the Clinical Center. Participation will last for about 2 years.

Start: September 2020
The Afolabi Stroke Registry for Children and Young Adults With SCD in Northern Nigeria

Sickle Cell Anemia (SCA) occurs in 300,000 newborns per year in the world, with 150,000 affected births in Nigeria, alone. With improvement in survival for children with SCA in both high- and low-resource countries, neurological morbidity is an emerging significant public health challenge, particularly in countries with a high rate of sickle cell disease (SCD). Both silent cerebral infarcts (SCI) and overt strokes result in significant neurological morbidity and premature death. Five NIH-funded randomized controlled trials (RCT) demonstrated that regular blood transfusion or hydroxyurea therapy are efficacious treatments for primary and secondary stroke prevention in children with SCA. Despite the observation that at least 99% of children with SCA in high-resource settings reach adulthood, and approximately 60% of adults will experience one or more strokes (~50% with SCI and ~10% with overt strokes) and the high disease-burden in Nigeria, the prevalence and incidence rates of new and recurrent stroke (overt and silent strokes)have not been collected systematically in children and young adults (16-25 years old) with SCA. In the last decade, there has been growing use of stroke registries in economically advanced nations, particularly for epidemiological purposes of trend analysis, clinical effectiveness, compliance to guidelines, assessment of implementation, adoption of novel techniques, and quality improvement process. For the first time in clinical centers in Nigeria, the Investigators will conduct an observational epidemiological study to document the prevalence and track the incidence of new and recurrent strokes in children and young adults with SCD. The Investigators will create a stroke registry referred to as the Afolabi Stroke Registry for Children and Young Adults with Sickle Cell Disease in Nigeria. The overall purpose of the stroke registry is to document the natural history of SCD in a low-resource setting and to improve the quality of the care of children and young adults with SCD living in Nigeria.

Start: April 2020
The Role of Oxygen Reserve in Brain Development

The purpose of this research study is to better understand how blood flow and metabolism change can influence brain development in the early decades of life. SCA participants and healthy controls are age and sex-matched for comparison. Within the SCA cohort, children with infarcts may have thinner cortices than those without, reflecting a greater loss. The investigators will examine brain blood flow and metabolism using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The brain's blood vessels expand and constrict to regulate blood flow based on the brain's needs. The amount of expanding and contracting the blood vessels can do varies by age. The brain's blood flow changes in small ways during everyday activities, such as normal brain growth, exercise, or deep concentration. Significant illness or psychological stress may increase the brain's metabolic demand or cause other bigger changes in blood flow. If blood vessels are not able to expand to give more blood flow when metabolic demand is high, the brain may not get all of the oxygen it needs. In extreme circumstances, if the brain is unable to get enough oxygen for a long time, a stroke may occur. Sometimes small strokes occur without other noticeable changes and are only detectable on an MRI. These are sometimes called "silent strokes." In less extreme circumstances, not having as much oxygen as it wants may cause the brain to grow and develop more slowly than it should. One way to test the ability of blood vessels to expand is by measuring blood flow while breathing in carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide causes blood vessels in the brain to dilate without increasing brain metabolism. During this study participants may be asked to undergo a blood draw, MRI, and potential neuropsychological assessments. It is also possible that the study team will use a special mask to control the amount of carbon dioxide the participants breathe in so they don't breathe in too much.

Start: March 2021
Safety, Tolerability, Pharmacokinetics, and Pharmacodynamics of Long-term Mitapivat Dosing in Subjects With Stable Sickle Cell Disease: An Extension of a Phase I Pilot Study of Mitapivat

Background: Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a disorder that causes episodes of acute pain and progressive organ damage. Ways to manage SCD have evolved slowly. Treatments do not always work. Researchers want to see if a drug called mitapivat can help people with SCD. Objective: To test the long-term tolerability and safety of mitapivat (or AG-348) in people with SCD. Eligibility: Adults age 18-70 with SCD who took part in and benefited from NIH study #19H0097. Design: Participants will be screened with a medical history and physical exam. They will give a blood sample. They will have an electrocardiogram to test heart function. Participants will repeat some of the screening tests during the study. Participants will complete 6-minute walk tests to measure mobility and function. They will have transthoracic echocardiograms to measure heart and lung function. They will have dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry scans to measure bone health. They will complete online questionnaires that measure their overall health and well-being. Participants will take the study drug in the form of a tablet twice a day. Participants will keep a study diary. They will record any symptoms they may have. Participation will last for about 54 weeks. After 48 weeks, participants can either keep taking the study drug for 48 more weeks or be tapered off of the study drug to complete the study. Those who are on the study for 1 year will have 10 study visits. Those who are on the study for 2 years will have 14 study visits.

Start: December 2020
A Blood Stem Cell Transplant for Sickle Cell Disease

Blood stem cells can produce red blood cells (which carry oxygen), white blood cells of the immune system (which fight infections) and platelets (which help the blood clot). Patients with sickle cell disease produce abnormal red blood cells. A blood stem cell transplant from a donor is a treatment option for patients with severe sickle cell disease. The donor can be healthy or have the sickle cell trait. The blood stem cell transplant will be given to the patient as an intravenous infusion (IV). The donor blood stem cells will then make normal red blood cells - as well as other types of blood cells - in the patient. When blood cells from two people co-exist in the patient, this is called mixed chimerism. Most children are successfully treated with blood stem cells from a sibling (brother/sister) who completely shares their tissue type (full-matched donor). However, transplant is not an option for patients who (1) have serious medical problems, and/or (2) do not have a full-matched donor. Most patients will have a relative who shares half of their tissue type (e.g. parent, child, and brother/sister) and can be a donor (half-matched or haploidentical donor). Adult patients with severe sickle cell disease were successfully treated with a half-matched transplant in a clinical study. Researchers would like to make half-matched transplant an option for more patients by (1) improving transplant success and (2) reducing transplanted-related complications. This research transplant is being tested in this Pilot study for the first time. It is different from a standard transplant because: Half-matched related donors will be used, and A new combination of drugs (chemotherapy) that does not completely wipe out the bone marrow cells (non-myeloablative treatment) will be used to prepare the patient for transplant, and Most of the donor CD4+ T cells (a type of immune cells) will be removed (depleted) before giving the blood stem cell transplant to the patient to improve transplant outcomes. It is hoped that the research transplant: Will reverse sickle cell disease and improve patient quality of life, Will reduce side effects and help the patient recover faster from the transplant, Help the patient keep the transplant longer and Reduce serious transplant-related complications.

Start: January 2019