An observational study in Asthma, sponsored by University of California, San Francisco. Completed at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 18 Years to 75 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-05-01.
Sponsored by University of California, San Francisco · Observational
The purpose of this study is to investigate mechanisms which cause acute asthma exacerbations by examining blood and airway secretions during an acute onset (sputum or tracheal aspirates). This pilot study is intended to uncover new mechanisms of asthma exacerbation and to generate hypotheses for future study. By collaborating with Genentech, we (scientists at UCSF) plan to incorporate the latest scientific findings into our work to discover and develop new treatments for asthma.
Asthma is a common airway disease with persistent unmet needs in terms of treatment. Although many asthmatics enjoy good control of their disease by using regularly scheduled corticosteroid treatment, a significant minority do not achieve optimal control with steroids and suffer asthma exacerbations which can be severe and even fatal. Asthma pathophysiology is complex and involves multiple cell types and multiple signaling mechanisms. One approach to this complexity has been to study responses of isolated airway cells to experimental conditions which model asthmatic inflammation; another has been genetic manipulations of candidate mediators of asthma in inbred mice. These studies have yielded important insights about possible mechanisms of asthma in humans, but the relevance of these mechanisms to human disease has not always been proven, and it is possible that unsuspected mechanisms have not yet been revealed by these approaches.
In the current study, we propose to collect samples of airway secretions and blood from asthmatic subjects when their asthma is uncontrolled and they are being treated in the hospital or emergency room. Our goal will be to identify abnormal gene expression profiles and protein concentration abnormalities in these biological fluids. We will then study them again 6-10 weeks later when their asthma is controlled. This study design will allow us to compare airway and blood biomarkers of asthma exacerbation during acute asthma and recovery. "
3,921 studies on the registry are indexed under Asthma; 507 are open to participants now.
This study's enrollment of 23 is below the median of 150 across 970 observational studies indexed under Asthma.
Browse Asthma studies →University of California, San Francisco is the lead sponsor of 2,132 studies on the registry; 375 are open to participants now.
Of its 262 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 196 (75%) have results posted.
Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.
People with acute asthma who seek treatment in the Emergency Department or who require admission to the hospital for their asthma
Exclusion Criteria:
People with acute asthma in the Emergency department or inpatient settings
gene expression in blood and airway secretions and tissues
Comparison of gene expression in blood and airway secretions and tissues during acute asthma exacerbation to recovery
Time frame: 6 - 10 weeks
This study is completed, as verified in Sep 2011. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.
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University of California, San Francisco