An observational study in Interstitial Lung Disease (ILD), sponsored by University of Dundee. Recruiting at 3 sites in United Kingdom. Open to participants aged 18 Years to 90 Years, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-05-29.
Sponsored by University of Dundee · Observational
Patients with interstitial lung diseases (ILD) suffer significant delays in obtaining a diagnosis, and objective evidence of support for immunosuppressive therapies, due to weaknesses in the diagnostic tests available in ILD clinics.
This project will assess several non-invasive assessments, focusing on blood and breath based sampling, to identify candidate tests that may translate through to routine clinical use. The tests being assessed will be initially employed in Pigeon Fanciers, a group recognised to be at high risk of developing ILD compared to age matched controls, due to their regular exposure to a known cause of ILD. Candidate tests will also be assessed for change over time in this group. Tests which show promise will then be utilised in patients with ILD diagnoses, including those with severe respiratory failure, to assess their acceptability to patients and their ability to provide useful prognostic information, to allow powering of future definitive clinical trials.
Pigeon Fanciers attending a recruitment event at one of the large national meetings for the sport will undergo assessments after completion of informed consent. The basic assessments include collection of height, weight and lung function (e.g. spirometry). In addition we will collect basic information about current health, past medical history and current pigeon keeping habits (number kept, time spent with birds etc). Participants will then have a blood sample taken for collection of antibody level against Pigeons, and for storage for subsequent processing of relevant candidate objective tests. Participants will also perform an additional breathing test to allow collection of exhaled air, which will be analysed on site or via subsequent testing (dependent on test required). Results will be linked to symptoms on exposure to their pigeons and any subsequent diagnoses obtained.
Subsequent follow up of the Pigeon Fancier cohort, again via the participants attendance at large national meetings, will allow repeat of the candidate tests, enabling determination of natural variation and the effect of change in exposure or development of new medical conditions. We will also examine the dynamic change in candidate tests following natural exposures to causes of ILD, by performing the tests with a subset of Pigeon Fanciers before, during and after exposure to their birds.
Patients attending Interstitial Lung Disease clinics in NHS Tayside, and when admitted with their Interstitial Lung Disease, will be offered the opportunity to perform the non-invasive assessments available to Pigeon Fanciers, with their results being linked to subsequent clinical outcomes (progression of disease, response to treatment and time to death).
680 studies on the registry are indexed under Lung Diseases, Interstitial; 246 are open to participants now.
This study's planned enrollment of 750 is above the median of 157 across 278 observational studies indexed under Lung Diseases, Interstitial.
Browse Lung Diseases, Interstitial studies →University of Dundee is the lead sponsor of 113 studies on the registry; 3 are open to participants now.
Of its 5 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 3 (60%) have results posted.
Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.
Active Pigeon Fanciers, or patients with ILD presenting to clinics or hospital services with severe respiratory failure due to ILD
Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.
To participate subjects will either have to be active Pigeon Fanciers, or will be either attending ILD clinics for management of their interstitial lung disease or will present acutely to hospital services with severe respiratory failure due to ILD.
Exclusion Criteria:
Unable to provide
Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.
You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.
Informed consent
Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.
You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Active Pigeon Fanciers
Patients with established Interstitial Lung Disease attending clinic
Patients with established Interstitial Lung Disease admitted due to their condition
Prediction of subsequent clinical outcomes
The utilised tests will be examined for their ability to accurately predict the subsequent diagnostic label for ILD and clinical behaviour
Time frame: 5 years
Acceptability to participants
The tests employed will be assessed for their ease of performance and acceptability from a participant perspective
Time frame: 5 years
Plan to share: Undecided — Likely we will, but I need to clarify how best to do this. Data will not be available for sharing for several years, allowing time to discuss with sponsor on how to approach (mapping to recognised best practice at that time as likely to evolve)
No publications or documents are linked to this record.
Started Jan 2026 (actual). Primary completion is estimated for Jan 2036, 119 months after the start.
Of 111 non-industry observational studies under Lung Diseases, Interstitial, half reached primary completion within 72 months of starting (the median), counting those still running; a quarter within 35 and three quarters within 274. This study's planned 119 months is above that.
Counting every sponsor, half of 132 studies reached it within 55 months; a quarter within 31 and three quarters within 83.
How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.
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