Host Response to Infection and Treatment in Lymphatic Filarial Disease in India

Condition(s) targeted: Lymphatic Filarial Disease

Phase: N/A

Status: Recruiting

Sponsored by: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)

Official(s) and/or principal investigator(s):
Thomas B Nutman, M.D., Principal Investigator, Affiliation: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)

Overall contact:
V. Kumaraswami, Ph.D., Phone: Not Listed

Patients admitted on this protocol will have, or be suspected of having, one of the lymphatic filarial infections affecting humans. After routine clinical evaluation they will be studied in depth immunologically, and their blood cells and/or serum will be collected to provide reagents (eg., specific antibodies, T cell clones, etc.) that will be used in the laboratory to address the broader questions of immunodiagnosis, immunoregulation, immunopathology and immunoprophylaxis. Careful observations of the patients' clinical and immunologic responses to therapy will be made, as well as long-term follow-up of these changes. It is anticipated both that the patients will receive optimal clinical care for their infections and that the specimens collected from them will prove to be valuable reagents for the laboratory studies of the immunologic responses unique to filarial or other helminthic infections.

Official title: Host Response to Infection and Treatment in Lymphatic Filarial Disease in India

Study design: N/A

Detailed description: This study is designed to determine the presence of and the immune response to filarial infections in an area endemic for lymphatic filariasis in South India. This study will aim to examine the presence of filarial infection at a community level as well as in hospital settings. After routine clinical evaluation and screening, individuals enrolled in this protocol will be studied in depth immunologically, and their blood cells and/or serum will be collected to address the broader questions of immunodiagnosis, immunoregulation, immunopathology and immunoprophylaxis. Careful observations of the individuals' clinical and immunologic responses to therapy will be made, as well as long-term follow-up of these changes. In addition to infected individuals, this protocol will also be used to study individuals with filarial pathology and endemic normal individuals. This will enable us to characterize the immunological profiles of infected, uninfected and diseased individuals in an endemic area and provide greater insight into the pathogenesis of lymphatic filarial disease.

Minimum age: 18 Years. Maximum age: 75 Years. Gender(s): Both.

Criteria:

- INCLUSION CRITERIA:

Age 18-75 years.

Ability to give informed consent.

EXCLUSION CRITERIA:

Pregnant or nursing women will be excluded from the treatment arm of the study.

Less than 18 years of age; greater than 75 years of age.

V. Kumaraswami, Ph.D., Phone: Not Listed

Tuberculosis Research Centre, Chennai, India; Recruiting

Related publications:

Piessens WF, Partono F, Hoffman SL, Ratiwayanto S, Piessens PW, Palmieri JR, Koiman I, Dennis DT, Carney WP. Antigen-specific suppressor T lymphocytes in human lymphatic filariasis. N Engl J Med. 1982 Jul 15;307(3):144-8.

Nutman TB, Kumaraswami V, Pao L, Narayanan PR, Ottesen EA. An analysis of in vitro B cell immune responsiveness in human lymphatic filariasis. J Immunol. 1987 Jun 1;138(11):3954-9.

Nutman TB, Kumaraswami V, Ottesen EA. Parasite-specific anergy in human filariasis. Insights after analysis of parasite antigen-driven lymphokine production. J Clin Invest. 1987 May;79(5):1516-23.

Starting date: April 1994
Last updated: November 20, 2012