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Chronic RhinosinusitisFAMRINCT01179139

Pathogenesis of Chronic Sinusitis in Relationship to Tobacco Smoke Exposure

A study testing Biopsy in people with Chronic Rhinosinusitis, run by Massachusetts General Hospital at 1 site in United States.

Completed

Finished. The study has ended and is not enrolling. Results may be posted on the official record.

Official record
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Trial summary

The purpose of the study is to better understand the causes of chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS)and to determine if being around secondhand cigarette smoke causes swelling in the sinuses. Read more about this study

Who is it for?
Ages 21 to 70 yearsHealthy volunteers can take part
Conditions the study is for
Chronic Rhinosinusitis
What is being tested?
Biopsy
Could I receive a placebo?
No, everyone receives an active treatment
How many people
97 participants
Where
1 siteUnited States
Study dates
Dec 2003to Apr 2011
Phase
Interventional
Are there results?
None posted in the registry

Key requirements

Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.

  • Ages 21 to 70 years
  • All sexes
  • Healthy volunteers accepted
  • Adult, Older adult

Who may be able to join

  • All of the subjects will satisfy the recently proposed definition for chronic sinusitis, i.e. having symptoms for at least 12 weeks with two or more of the following: anterior and/or posterior mucopurulent drainage, nasal congestion, or facial pain/pressure. Subjects must also have objective evidence of disease on rhinoscopic examination, consisting of (a) thick white or colored mucus from at least one sinus area, (b) edema of the middle meatus or ethmoidal area or (c) the presence of polypoid tissue in the nasal cavity or sinus areas. Sinus CT scans will not be obtained.

Who cannot join

  • Subjects with current or past use of cigarettes. Subjects with a history suggestive of immune deficiency (i.e. those who have had > one pneumonia in the past 12 months or those with known immune deficiency) will be excluded. Subjects with a known history of cystic fibrosis, Kartagener's syndrome, immotile cilia syndrome, hypogammaglobulinemia, and individuals taking medications that alter clotting and those with bleeding disorders will also be excluded. Subjects who are pregnant or who have a history of fainting will also be excluded. Subjects who are pregnant, planning to become pregnant, or breastfeeding.

Trial locations and contacts

1 site in 1 country.

United States1 site
  • Massachusetts General Hospital

    Boston, Massachusetts, 02114

Other trials in United States

About this study

The purpose of the study is to better understand the causes of chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS)and to determine if being around secondhand cigarette smoke causes swelling in the sinuses. To answer this question, we are inviting healthy volunteers, volunteers with chronic sinusitis, and volunteers with chronic sinusitis with nasal polyposis to complete a questionnaire and undergo a series of tests. These tests will measure their allergies, their exposure to cigarette smoke and the swelling in their sinuses. We are asking you to take part because you are in one of these groups. About 166 people will take part in this research study. All subjects will be enrolled at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). The Flight Attendants Medical Research Institute (FAMRI) and the Harvard Clinical and Translational Science Center Harvard Catalyst) are paying for this study.

Read the detailed description

Chronic sinusitis is one of the most prevalent chronic illnesses in the United States and a significant health concern in terms of public health care expenditure. We wish to learn more about pathogenic factors causing or contributing to chronic sinusitis. One of these factors is secondhand smoke (SS) exposure. However, several other factors are involved, including allergic, environmental, genetic and microbiologic factors and in any given patient, several of these factors may be contributing to the disease. One of our goals is to see whether specific patterns of inflammatory cells, cytokines or chemokines exist that can differentiate these causative factors and to help us to better understand their individual contributions to the disease.

Several inflammatory cells, cytokines and chemokines are present in chronically inflamed sinus tissue, and we believe they form the basis for the disease process. At present, we know very little about what drives them into the sinus tissues. We believe that the types of inflammatory cells, cytokines and chemokines elicited in this disease depend on the inciting stimulus.

Cigarette smoke has well-documented deleterious effects on respiratory mucosa that could promote the development of chronic sinusitis. These include reduction in normal mucociliary function; increased nasal airway resistance; induction of mucin gene expression and induction of chronic inflammation. In the proposed study, we will extend our previous findings to investigate the relationships between SS exposure and these inflammatory markers and also examine the relationship of these cytokines to the expression of particular mucins.

Extracts of cigarette smoke have been shown to induce numerous other proinflammatory effects on respiratory epithelial cells either in vivo or in vitro. In this study we will analyze the gene expression of inflammatory markers in a nasal mucosal biopsy. Our intent is to study sinusitis rather than rhinitis. Nonetheless, we will examine nasal rather than sinus mucosa largely owing to the difficulties posed by obtaining samples directly from the sinuses. Furthermore, recent consensus reports have emphasized the importance of viewing sinusitis as a continuum of nasal and sinus mucosal inflammation. These same arguments have been put forward in terms of the concept of "one airway, one disease" which has emphasized the commonality of mucosal inflammation seen in the upper airway (rhinitis, sinusitis) and the lower airway (asthma). The biopsies will come from the middle turbinate. The latter structure has the same pseudostratified columnar epithelium and a virtually identical appearance to that of maxillary or ethmoid sinus mucosa. We have used biopsies from the middle turbinate in several previous studies of chronic sinusitis, primarily as a comparative tissue representing "healthy" sinus mucosa.

Being tested
Biopsy
Keywords
CRS

What participants receive

What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.

  • BiopsyOther

    Percutaneous 2-3 mm biopsies of middle turbinate mucosae and nasal polyps will be obtained with 5 mm Thrucut® (Smith \& Nephew, Memphis, TN) biopsy forceps. Generally, 2-3 specimens will be obtained from each side as in previous studies. Healthy controls and subjects with CRS without NP will have biopsies from both middle turbinates. Subjects with CRS with NP will have two nasal polyp biopsies and one middle turbinate biopsy.

Study groups in NCT01179139
Study groupRoleWhat they receive
Healthy ControlActive comparatorNot described
Receives: Other: Biopsy
CRSExperimentalNot described
Receives: Other: Biopsy

What is being measured

The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.

  1. Comparison of innate immune and inflammatory factor mRNA expression

    To compare the expression profile of innate immune and inflammatory factor mRNA expression in the epithelial and glandular tissue compartments in 8 patients with refractory CRS versus 8 healthy control nasal middle turbinates (HC) using microarray.

    Measured: 0hr

Secondary outcomes (1)
  1. Characterization of bacterial microbial community

    To characterize and compare the bacterial microbial community in the sinus mucosal tissues from 8 patients with refractory CRS versus 8 HC subjects.

    Measured: 0hr

Timeline

From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.

  1. First posted11 Aug 2010 (estimated)
  2. Study startDec 2003
  3. Primary completionJul 2010
  4. Study completionApr 2011

Resources

More details

For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.

Study design
Study type
Interventional
Phase
Phase N/A
Primary purpose
Basic science
Allocation
Non-randomised
Intervention model
Parallel groups
Masking
None (open label)
Enrolment
97 participants (actual)
IDs, dates and publications
ClinicalTrials.gov ID
NCT01179139
Sponsor's protocol ID
2003P002050
Acronym
FAMRI
Status last verified
May 2018
First submitted
15 Apr 2010
Last updated
18 May 2018
Results posted
No
Data monitoring committee
No

Questions about this trial

What is this clinical trial studying?

A study testing Biopsy in people with Chronic Rhinosinusitis, run by Massachusetts General Hospital at 1 site in United States.

The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.

Who may be eligible to take part?

The sponsor lists 1 inclusion and 1 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.

Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?

The record says: finished, as of the sponsor's last update on 18 May 2018. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.

Where is the study taking place?

The record lists 1 site in United States. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.

What are the possible benefits and risks?

They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.

Are results available for this study?

The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.

How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?

The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.

What does the primary outcome measure?

Comparison of innate immune and inflammatory factor mRNA expression (time frame: 0hr). It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.

Where can I read the original study information?
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?

No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.

How often is this information updated?

AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 18 May 2018.

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