Clinical Trial: Biomarker for Krabbe Disease

Study Status: Recruiting
Recruit Status: Recruiting
Study Type: Observational

Official Title: Biomarker for Krabbe Disease AN INTERNATIONAL, MULTICENTER, EPIDEMIOLOGICAL PROTOCOL

Brief Summary: Development of a new MS-based biomarker for the early and sensitive diagnosis of Krabbe Disease from plasma

Detailed Summary:

Krabbe disease is a rare, hereditary degenerative disorder of the central and peripheral nervous systems. It is characterized by the presence of globoid cells (cells that have more than one nucleus), the breakdown of the nerve's protective myelin coating, and destruction of brain cells. Krabbe disease is one of a group of genetic disorders called the leukodystrophies. These disorders impair the growth or development of the myelin sheath, the fatty covering that acts as an insulator around nerve fibers, and cause se-vere deterioration of mental and motor skills. Myelin is a complex substance made up of at least 10 different enzymes. Each of the leukodystrophies affects one (and only one) of these substances. Krabbe disease is caused by a deficiency of galactocere-brosidase, an essential enzyme for myelin metabolism. The disease most often affects infants, with onset before age 6 months, but can occur in adolescence or adulthood.

Symptoms include irritability, unexplained fever, limb stiffness, seizures, feeding difficulties, vomiting, and slowing of mental and motor development. Other symptoms include muscle weakness, spasticity, deafness, and blindness.

Overall calculated European frequency is 1 case per 100,000 populations, with a higher reported incidence in Sweden of 1.9 cases per 100,000 populations. An unusually high incidence, 6 cases per 1000 live births, is reported in the Druze community in Israel.

New methods, like mass-spectrometry give a good chance to characterize in the blood (plasma) of affected patents specific metabolic alterations that allow to diagnose in the future the disease earlier, with a higher sensitivity and specificity. Therefore it is the goal of the study to develop new biochemical markers from the plasma of the affected patients helping to ben
Sponsor: University of Rostock

Current Primary Outcome: Development of a new MS-based biomarker for the early and sensitive diagnosis of Krabbe disease from plasma and saliva [ Time Frame: 24 month ]

Original Primary Outcome:

Current Secondary Outcome: Testing for clinical robustness, specificity and long-term stability of the biomarker [ Time Frame: 24 month ]

Original Secondary Outcome:

Information By: University of Rostock

Dates:
Date Received: August 29, 2011
Date Started: August 2011
Date Completion: November 2018
Last Updated: November 23, 2016
Last Verified: November 2016