Clinical Research Directory

Effect of Hypoxic Conditioning on Cerebrovascular Health in the Elderly

In line with the ever-growing aging of Western populations, the development of preventive strategies to slow down the effects of aging on cardiovascular health represents a major challenge in order to preserve functional capacities and a sufficient quality of life in the elderly. The alteration of vascular function (at the cerebral and systemic level) with aging is an important feature in the clinical picture including a decrease in physical and cognitive capacities. Although physical activity is recognized as an essential means of combating the effects of aging, optimizing its effects by defining the most effective strategies of practice remains a key objective. Offering alternative interventions to exercise training is also necessary for people who are unwilling or unable to engage in a physical activity program. In this context, hypoxic conditioning, alone or in conjunction with rehabilitative exercise training, is a new therapeutic modality with strong preclinical validity, in particular from a cardiovascular standpoint, and used in other pathologies to improve cardiovascular function and exercise performance and quality of life. Our aim is, therefore, to investigate the effect of hypoxic conditioning (alone or in conjunction with exercise training) on cerebrovascular health in the elderly.

Thrombo-inflammation Biomarkers Trial in Acute Cerebral Hypoxia

The goal of this trial is to study, in three well-defined clinical situations responsible for cerebral hypoxia, the concentrations of biomarkers of thrombo-inflammation compared to a population of patients without cerebral hypoxia, and to study in patients with cerebral hypoxia the association between these concentrations and the clinical evolution.

Neonatal Brain Oxygenation Study

Implementing target ranges for regional cerebral saturations in extremely preterm infants in the first week of life may improve neurodevelopmental outcomes at 22-26 months corrected age compared to those without targeted cerebral saturations (Csat) using near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS). Infants will be randomized to a targeted cerebral saturation monitoring group with visible reading of Csat or to a control group with cerebral saturation monitoring, but with blinded Csat measures. Those in the targeted Csat group will follow a treatment guideline to maintain cerebral oxygenation in the target range. The primary outcome is neurodevelopmental outcome as determined by Bayley III cognitive scale score.

Brain Oxygenation-II

The Brain Oxygenation-II study (BOx-II) is a phase-II, multicenter, single-arm clinical trial evaluating interventions based on near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) monitoring of cerebral oxygen saturation in extremely premature infants. Enrolled infants will follow a treatment guideline to maintain cerebral oxygen saturation in a target range within the first 72 hours of life. The primary outcomes will include interventions used to maintain cerebral saturation in target range, rates of cerebral hypoxia and systemic hypoxia, and a composite of death or severe brain injury detected on term-equivalent magnetic resonance imaging.