Clinical Research Directory

Improving Physical Ability and Cellular Senescence Elimination in HIV

This clinical trial is a Phase II study designed to test the safety and effectiveness of a combination of dasatinib and quercetin (D+Q) in improving physical function for people with HIV who are frail or prefrail. The study will involve 80 participants, all aged 50 or older, who have been living with HIV for at least 10 years determined to meet criteria for diagnosis of frail or prefrail and are currently on a stable antiretroviral therapy with viral suppression. Participants will be randomly assigned to one of two groups: one group will receive the D+Q treatment, and the other will receive a placebo. The treatment will be given in six cycles over 12 weeks, with participants taking the medication for two days followed by 12 days without treatment. After the 12-week treatment period, participants will be monitored for another 12 weeks to assess the long-term effects. The study aims to determine if D+Q can improve physical function and other health outcomes in this population. Randomization will be stratified by sex and age to ensure balanced groups.

Metabolic Control of Aging and Disease - the MetAGE Deep Phenotyping Cohort

The goal of this prospective observational study is to identify and validate blood based aging biomarkers in relation to cardiometabolic phenotypes of young and old, female and male subjects with or without obesity. The main question is to gain insights into the interaction of obesity related metabolic alteration and aging, and the relevance of loss of metabolic control in the development of age-related diseases in order to build a foundation for targeted drug- and lifestyle interventions in future studies.

New Clinical Rehabilitation Approach for the Management of Falls Risks

Accidental falls in older adults are one of the world's major pubic health problem, because of their strong association with injuries and mortality rates. In Quebec, falls are responsible for a high rate of hospitalization (more than 1800 emergency department visits every day) and deaths (more than 10,000 in recent years). Preventing falls is therefore a key mission for health professionals. This research program aims to develop a new clinical approach to the rehabilitation management of the older with a neuro-musculoskeletal disorder and a risk of falling. This program is part of a new partnership project between UQAC and specialized geriatric services at the CIUSSS Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean (La Baie site). These geriatric services admit more than 400 new patients per year, representing a large pool of participants for the new program's development. Specifically, this program has 4 phases: 1) Create a clinical profile of patients in rehabilitation care from specialized geriatric services (ex: reasons for consultation, neuro-musculoskeletal disorders, rates and causes of falls, etc.); 2) to diagnose functional deficits of these patients on different dimensions of functional and physical evaluations, using standardized tests and high-tech instruments (ex: platform of force); 3) determine the effectiveness of a new exercise intervention program (OTAGO) for falls prevention; and 4) Measure client and professional team satisfaction as well as long-term impact of this new approach used to prevent falls. The most significant impact of this new program will be to reduce public health expenditure for care of older adults with balance disorder and risk for falls; and therefore, be implanted in other CIUSSS institutions from Quebec.

Brain Health Virtual Reality Study

The Interventions for Brain Health Virtual Reality Study is a NIH-funded clinical research trial at the University of California San Diego (UCSD) Health under the supervision of the study principal investigator Dr. Judy Pa. The overarching goal of this trial is to use a novel virtual reality (VR) based intervention that simultaneously engages physical and cognitive activity aimed at improving brain health and cognition in older adults. The investigators will compare 3 types of interventions: physical activity, VR cognitive activity, and combined VR physical and cognitive activity over 16 weeks to evaluate physical and brain health changes.

Umbilical Cord Mesenchymal Stem Cell for Aging-related Low-grade Inflammation

The goal of this single-group, open-label, phase I/II clinical trial is to evaluate the safety and efficacy of the transplantation of umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells in aging-related low-grade inflammation patients' pro-inflammatory cytokines. The main questions to answer are: * Is the transplantation of umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells in aging-related low-grade inflammation patients safe? * Comparison of the expression levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-1α/β, TNF-α/β, IL-6, IL-11, IL-18, IFN-γ) in the patient's blood before (day 0), after 90 days, and after 180 days of cell transplantation. * Comparison of the expression levels of anti-inflammatory cytokines (IL-10, TGFβ, IL-1) in the patient's blood before (day 0), after 90 days, and after 180 days of cell transplantation. * Comparison of the inflammation balance by the ratios of pro-inflammatory cytokines to anti-inflammatory cytokines in the patient's blood before (day 0), after 90 days, and after 180 days of cell transplantation. * Comparison of the HbA1C index in the diabetes patient's blood before (day 0), after 90 days, and after 180 days of cell transplantation. * Comparision of the indices of Cholesterol, Triglyceride, LDLc, HDLc in the dislipidemia patient's blood before (day 0), after 90 days, and after 180 days of cell transplantation. * Comparison of the BMI in the obese patient's blood before (day 0), after 90 days, and after 180 days of cell transplantation. * Determination of adverse effect frequency in the patients before (day 0), during, after 90 days, and after 180 days of cell transplatation. Participants will receive two intravenous infusions of 100 million umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells on days 0 and 90. The patient will be monitored for safety and measured as per the study protocol until day 180.

Effectiveness of a Strength Program Over Cognitive Functionality in Older Adults

This is a randomized, parallel, double-blind clinical trial. The main objective is to compare the efficacy of strength training, multimodal exercise with non-specific exercises and a control group on cognitive functionality and physical composition in subjects over 65 years of age with mild or non existent cognitive impairment currently receiving occupational therapy. The intervention in both groups will be carried out for 30 weeks, with three weekly sessions. Two evaluations will be performed, one pre-intervention and one post-intervention. Cognitive Functionality (Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MOCA) and Lawton and Brody Scale), Sleep quality (Athens insomnia scale and Pittsburgh sleep quality index), physical functionality (Timed up and go (TUG), chair stand test and hand grip test and Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB)), body composition (Body fat %, skeletal muscle index (SMI), appendicular skeletal muscle (ASM), waist circumference, waist hip ratio, body weight, body mass index (BMI)) will be evaluated.

Prevalence, Determinants and Natural History of Frailty and Pre-frailty in Elderly People

Frailty syndrome (i.e. frailty) is a geriatric syndrome which relies on the reduction of multisystem reserve capacity. Frail people have a lower potential to respond to external stressors and various life incidents as well as they present a weak prognosis particularly in cardiovascular diseases. Yet, frailty is not only a set of physical deficits, but it also concerns psychological and social dimensions of human functioning. Hence, an approach to frailty should be multidimensional because such a concept more adequately reflects a functional degradation in the elderly. Frailty is usually associated with the impaired condition of circulatory system, and therefore, an identification of subclinical cardiovascular abnormalities is paramount in the frailty prevention and treatment. Another potential mechanism which may predispose to frailty is a dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system. This system plays a crucial role in the response to internal or external stressors such as diseases and activities of daily living. An impairment of the autonomic nervous system function may maintain or accelerate the frailty process. In this scientific project, a comprehensive echocardiography will investigate cardiac function with a particular attention to features which typically change with age, like flow parameters and chambers sizes. The activity of the autonomic nervous system will be explored with the analysis of heart rate, blood pressure and respiratory signals. The study participants will also undergo routine medical examination and a number of additional tests, including: assessment of cognitive function, psychological condition, nutrition status, activities of daily living, and risk of falls. The study group will comprise community dwelling elderly individuals over the age of 65 years who get around by themselves. After 2 years, the participants will be re-examined for their frailty and independence status, as well as their survival will be checked with the National Health Found electronic system. The aim of this project is to seek for factors determining frailty and to explore the frailty impact on the elderly people survival. Particular attention will be paid to the multidimensional frailty which is a new concept of the functional decline in the elderly. In addition, the prevalence of different modes of frailty in Polish community will be investigated. The results of this research should help to establish preventative and therapeutic strategies against frailty.