Clinical Research Directory

Training Protocol on the Natural History of Tuberculosis

Background: \- Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease that affects numerous people worldwide. Researchers are interested in actively recruiting individuals with TB for research and treatment studies. Objectives: \- To collect blood and other samples to study the natural history of tuberculosis. Eligibility: \- Individuals 2 years of age and older who have either active or latent tuberculosis. Design: * Latent TB patients: Participants will have a single study visit with a physical examination and medical history, and will provide blood samples for testing. * Active TB patients: Participants will have an initial visit with a physical examination and medical history, and will provide blood samples for testing. Participants will also provide sputum samples if required, and may have an optional skin punch biopsy to collect a sample of skin tissue for study. * Treatment for active TB will be provided as part of this protocol. * Active TB participants may be asked to return for study visits every 1-2 months while receiving treatment.

Study of Mycobacterial Infections

This study will examine the symptoms, course of disease and treatment of non-tuberculous mycobacterial (NTM) infections, as well as the genetics involved in these infections. Patients with NTM have recurrent lung infections and sometimes infections of the skin and other organs as well. They may also have curvature of the spine, barrel chest, and heart valve weakness. The study will compare the features of NTM with those of Job syndrome and cystic fibrosis, other diseases involving recurrent infections of the lungs and possibly other organs. Patients with diagnosed or suspected non-tuberculous mycobacterial infection, cystic fibrosis or Job syndrome may be eligible for this study. All participants will have a medical and family history, blood and urine tests, imaging studies that may include X-rays, computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans, and DNA and other genetic studies. In addition, all patients with Job syndrome and cystic fibrosis, and patients with NTM who have lung disease undergo the following procedures: * Scoliosis survey X-rays of the spine to look for curvature or other abnormalities of the spinal column * Echocardiography imaging test that uses sound waves to examine the heart chambers and valves * Electrocardiogram measurement of the electrical activity of the heart * Pulmonary function tests breathing tests to measure how much air the patient can move into and out of the lungs * Body measurements measurements of height, weight, arm span, finger length, etc. * Joint function assessment of joint mobility using different maneuvers to test flexibility of joints and ligaments * Examination of physical features that might be associated with NTM, such as high arched palate of the mouth, flat feet, or certain skin features * Dermatology (skin) examination for reactive skin conditions or other skin problems and possibly a skin biopsy (surgical removal of a small skin tissue sample for microscopic examination) * Interview with genetics specialist These tests may require several days to complete. Patients with NTM will also be examined by a cystic fibrosis specialist and may have a sweat test. In addition, NTM patients will be asked to return to NIH every year for 5 years for follow-up tests, if medically indicated, including CT of the chest, scoliosis survey and examination by other specialists.

Mycobacteriophage Treatment of Non-tuberculosis Mycobacteria

About 10 people with cystic fibrosis (CF) and persistent Nontuberculosis mycobacteria (NTM) infection despite treatment will be screened to find out if their NTM infection has at least one mycobacteriophage that is effective in killing the mycobacteria. Individuals who are found to have at least one phage will be offered assistance in pursuing FDA approval for treatment via expanded-access Individual New Drug (IND) for compassionate-use. They will receive phage treatment for 1 year along with their guideline-based antibiotics for NTM. Individuals who are not identified as having a phage match will be followed as they continue to receive guideline based antibiotic therapy for 1 year. All subjects, including those who do not have a phage match will continue to be observed for the duration of the study, or about 1 year.

Gene Expression Profiles in Spinal Tuberculosis.

Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the top ten causes of death worldwide with approximately 10 million cases globally and 1.2 million deaths. Sub-Saharan Africa carries the highest burden of TB. South Africa has one of the highest HIV and TB rates worldwide with an HIV prevalence rate in adults of 19% and a TB case notification rate of 615/100,000 in 2019. Over many years, focus has been paid to pulmonary TB and extrapulmonary TB (EPTB) has received only little attention even though it accounts for almost a quatre of all TB cases. The diagnosis of EPTB remains challenging simply because sample collection requires invasive procedures in the absence of a blood-based diagnostic test. Spinal TB (spondylitis or spondylodiscitis caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis) - often known as Pott's disease - accounts for up to 10% of EPTB and affects young children, people with HIV-coinfection and elderly, and often leads to lifelong debilitating disease due to devastating deformation of the spine and compression of neural structures. Little is known with regards to the extent of disease and isolated TB spine as well as a disseminated form of TB spine have been described. The latter presents with a spinal manifestation plus disseminations to other organs such as the lungs, pleura, lymph nodes, the GIT or urinary tract or even the brain. In the Spinal TB X cohort, the investigators aim to describe the clinical phenotype of spinal TB using whole body PET/CT and identify a specific gene expression profile for the different stages of dissemination and compare findings to previously described signatures for latent and active pulmonary TB. A blood-based test for spinal TB would lead to earlier diagnosis and treatment in all settings globally and improve treatment outcome of this devastating disease.

M. Avium WGS During Mav-PD Treatment

This is a prospective observational study using whole genome sequencing (WGS) to investigate whether new strains (other than the initially identified strain(s)) of M. avium are responsible for persistently culture positive sputum during treatment (refractory disease), or the reversion to culture positive sputum after prior conversion to negative. The study will further investigate for differences between participants living in the Toronto/York region versus participants living elsewhere. The primary goal of this prospective observational study is to understand why some patients with M. avium lung disease have persistent or recurrent M. avium in their sputum despite treatment. The aim is to understand whether it is usually due to treatment failure or new infection.

Drug Exposure and Minimum Inhibitory Concentration in the Treatment of MAC Lung Disease

The incidence and prevalence of nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) infections have gradually increased over the years worldwide (1-3). In China, Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) was the most prevalent NTM specie (4), while challenged by long treatment duration, frequent drug-induced adverse events, lack of treatment alternatives, poor treatment outcome and high recurrence rate (5, 6). In order to maximize the efficacy of the few available drugs and prevent the development of drug resistance, ensuring adequate plasma drug concentrations are of importance. Despite the role of pathogen susceptibility, determined by minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), is non-negligible, the evidences regarding its association with treatment outcome are limited, especially for rifamycin and ethambutol. The difficulties in explaining the clinical values of MIC might partially be attributed to the lack of in vivo drug exposure data, which cannot be accurately predicted by the dose administered because of between-patient pharmacokinetic variability (7). Therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) is a strategy to guide and personalize treatment by measuring plasma drug concentrations and pathogen susceptibility, which might have the potential to improve treatment response to MAC lung disease. In this observational study, the hypothesis is that the drug exposure and/or MIC of antimycobacterial drugs are correlated to the treatment response of MAC lung disease, which is assessed from the perspective of treatment outcome, mycobacterial culture negative conversion, lung function, radiological presentation and self-reported quality of life. Consenting adult patients with culture-positive MAC lung disease will be recruited in study hospital. Respiratory samples (sputum and/or bronchoalveolar lavage fluid) will be collected regularly for mycobacterial culture on the basis of BACTEC MGIT 960 system and MIC will be determined using a commercial broth microdilution plate. Drug concentrations will be measured at 1 and/or 6 months after treatment initiation using liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). The final treatment outcome is recorded at the end of MAC treatment and defined according to an NTM-NET consensus statement (8).

Transmission and Acquisition of Nontuberculous Mycobacteria Outbreak Investigation (TrANsMIt)

The goal of this observational study is to facilitate standardized nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) outbreak investigations in healthcare centers. The main questions it aims to answer are: * Are respiratory NTM isolates identified as having membership in a suspected healthcare outbreak highly related based on whole genome sequencing? * Does epidemiologic investigation support healthcare-associated patient-to-patient NTM transmission? * Does healthcare environmental sampling support healthcare-associated NTM acquisition? If healthcare-associated NTM outbreaks are suspected, participants identified as having membership in a cluster of highly-related NTM infections will complete a demographic questionnaire.