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CompletedNCT03299062Updated Nov 25, 2022Results posted

Smell, Voice and Nasal Swabs as Markers for Neuro-degenerative Disorders

An interventional study of Cytology and Immunohistochemistry in Alzheimer Disease and Neurodegenerative Diseases, sponsored by University of Arkansas. Completed at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 19 Years to 89 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2022-11-25.

Sponsored by University of Arkansas · Not applicable, Interventional, and Diagnostic

Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
9
Allocation
Non-randomized
Ages
19 Years to 89 Years
Sex
All
01

Study summary

Degenerative dementias including Alzheimer's Disease (AD), Parkinson's Disease with Dementia (PDD), Dementia with Lewy Bodies (DLB), Frontotemporal Dementias (FTLD), Corticobasal Degeneration (CBD) and Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP) constitute a significant, and growing burden with an estimated cost to the US healthcare system for 2016 of $236 Billion (1). Definitive diagnosis of these dementias is based on pathological criterion upon autopsy, which presents a significant challenge to establish diagnosis in living patients. Although clinical diagnostic criteria have been developed for several of these disorders, including for Alzheimer's Disease (AD) by the National Institute of Neurological and Communicative Disorders and Stroke and Alzheimers Disease and Related Disorders Association (NINCDS-ADRDA) , Parkinson's Disease (PD) by the United Kingdom Parkinson Disease Brain Bank Diagnostic Criteria (UKPDBB) diagnostic criteria for Parkinson Disease(4) and others, the currently available tests, including the use of imaging markers and Cerebrospinal Fluid (CSF) biological markers do not provide a definite diagnosis since this requires the observation of characteristic neuropathological changes in specific regions of the brain.

02

Conditions studied

  • Alzheimer Disease
  • Neurodegenerative Diseases
03

Who can participate

Ages eligible
19 Years to 89 Years
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

  • Diagnosed with idiopathic Parkinson's disease, progressive supranuclear palsy, Alzheimer's disease or Mild Cognitive Impairment based on consensus criteria, or suspicion of presbylarynx based on clinical evaluation.
  • Require evaluation of voice dysfunction by an ENT doctor given symptoms of impaired voice volume or quality
  • Age ≥ 18 years-old to ≤ 90-years old.
  • Ability to understand and the willingness to sign a written informed consent.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Uncontrolled intercurrent illness including, but not limited to, ongoing or active infection, symptomatic congestive heart failure, unstable angina pectoris, cardiac arrhythmia, or psychiatric illness/social situations that would limit compliance with study requirements.
  • Active nose bleeds, or abnormal anatomy of the nose that prevent safe nasal swabs, or active oropharyngeal disease that prevents laryngoscopy or voice assessments.
04

Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Diagnostic
Allocation
Non-randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
9 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Active comparator
    Parkinson's Disease with Voice Dysfunction Patients

    • Twenty people with Parkinson's Disease requiring evaluation of voice dysfunction by an Ear, Nose, and Throat (ENT) doctor

    Diagnostic Test: Cytology and Immunohistochemistry

  • Active comparator
    Other Neurodegenerative Disorders with Voice Dysfunction

    • Twenty people with other neurodegenerative disorders requiring evaluation of voice dysfunction by an ENT doctor.

    Diagnostic Test: Cytology and Immunohistochemistry

  • Placebo comparator
    Voice Dysfunction

    Twenty people with voice tremor and/or presbylarynx, but no evidence of Parkinson's other neurodegenerative disease, requiring evaluation of voice dysfunction by an ENT doctor.

    Diagnostic Test: Cytology and Immunohistochemistry

Interventions

  • Diagnostic testCytology and Immunohistochemistry

    Determine if nasal swabs can provide an adequate sample for evaluation using cytology and immunohistochemistry for alpha-synuclein, A-beta and p-tau staining.

05

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Alpha-synuclein Levels From Nasal Swabs

    Determine if nasal swabs can provide an adequate sample for evaluation using cytology and immunohistochemistry for alpha-synuclein, Amyloid-beta (A-beta) and Phospho-tau (p-tau) staining.

    Time frame: Up to 4 weeks after swab is completed

06

Results

Posted Nov 25, 2022
Limitations and caveats
Due to lack of enrollment, and the COVID-19 pandemic, the analysis of biospecimens was not performed. None of the collected samples from this study were analyzed for the outcome measures in this record, and therefore there are no results to report beyond participant flow.

Participant flow

Participant flow — Overall Study
MilestoneParkinson's Disease With Voice Dysfunction PatientsOther Neurodegenerative Disorders With Voice Dysfunction
Started45
Completed45
Not completed00

Outcome measures

PrimaryAlpha-synuclein Levels From Nasal Swabs

Determine if nasal swabs can provide an adequate sample for evaluation using cytology and immunohistochemistry for alpha-synuclein, Amyloid-beta (A-beta) and Phospho-tau (p-tau) staining.

Time frame:
Up to 4 weeks after swab is completed

No measurements were reported for this outcome.

Adverse events

Collected over The study was done in a single session for each participant, typically taking 4 hours.. Non-serious events are listed at a 0% frequency threshold.

Adverse event summary by group
GroupDeathsSeriousOther
Parkinson's Disease With Voice Dysfunction Patients0/4 (0%)0/4 (0%)0/4 (0%)
Other Neurodegenerative Disorders With Voice Dysfunction0/5 (0%)0/5 (0%)0/5 (0%)

Baseline characteristics

Enrollment was stopped due to COVID-19 pandemic after 4 subjects with PD and 5 with other neurodegenerative disorders with voice dysfunction were enrolled.

Age, Categorical
Age, Categorical(Participants)Parkinson's Disease With Voice Dysfunction PatientsOther Neurodegenerative Disorders With Voice DysfunctionVoice DysfunctionTotal
<=18 years0000
Between 18 and 65 years0303
>=65 years4206
Sex: Female, Male
Sex: Female, Male(Participants)Parkinson's Disease With Voice Dysfunction PatientsOther Neurodegenerative Disorders With Voice DysfunctionVoice DysfunctionTotal
Female22—4
Male23—5
Race (NIH/OMB)
Race (NIH/OMB)(Participants)Parkinson's Disease With Voice Dysfunction PatientsOther Neurodegenerative Disorders With Voice DysfunctionVoice DysfunctionTotal
American Indian or Alaska Native0000
Asian0000
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander0000
Black or African American0000
White4509
More than one race0000
Unknown or Not Reported0000
07

Study locations

1 site
  • University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
    Little Rock, Arkansas 72205, United States
08

References and documents

Study documents

  • Study protocol · Jan 1, 2019
  • Informed consent form · Jan 1, 2019

Documents are hosted by the registry — open the source record to download them.

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No

09

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT03299062
Lead sponsor
University of Arkansas
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
Oct 2, 2017
Start date
Nov 14, 2017
Primary completion
Dec 21, 2021
Completion
Dec 21, 2021
Results posted
Nov 25, 2022
Last update
Nov 25, 2022

Study contacts

Rohit Dhall, MD, MSPH
principal investigator · University of Arkansas

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
No
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
Yes
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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This study is completed, as verified in Oct 2022. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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