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Immunological Mechanisms in Sarcoidosis

Recruiting
Conditions
Sarcoidosis
Interventions
Procedure: peripheral blood sampling, bronchoscopy, upper airway and faeces sampling
Registration Number
NCT06576505
Lead Sponsor
Region Stockholm
Brief Summary

There is no cure for the inflammatory disease sarcoidosis. Virtually any part of the body can be affected but most often the lungs and lymph nodes. Outcomes after diagnosis vary widely among sarcoidosis patients, with some experiencing resolving disease and others developing chronic disease and lung fibrosis. Cardiac sarcoidosis can lead to life threatening arrythmias and calcium metabolism disturbances can lead to renal impairment.

Treatment with different forms of immunosuppressants are usually tried to dampen symptoms but are not effective in all patients. Furthermore, the disease usually flares up after cessation of treatment. The variability in diseae course and treatment response is thought, at least to some degree, to be explained by individual differences in genetics, immune cells and signaling pathways. But existing evidence is limited. In other inflammatory diseases the gut microbiome is of importance for disease course but its role in sarcoidosis has not been clarified.

In this prospective project the investigators will study genes, inflammatory cells and signaling molecules in the lung, upper airways and blood, and to some extent microbes, also in faeces. Healthy volunteers will be included for comparative studies. Most samples will be taken during normal diagnostic work-up and follow-up of patients with/with suspected sarcoidosis. The findings will be correlated to disease course and effects of different treatments. By linking to national health data and demographic registries, comorbidities and environmental factors will be correlated to data.

By this, the investigators hope to improve understanding of which genes, cells and signaling molecules that are of importance for resolving vs non-resolving disease and why some patients respond to a certain treatment and others don´t. The overall goal is to assess and predict sarcoidosis outcomes. We hypothesize that blood-based biomarkers including those taken during routine care as well as novel cell, signaling molecules and genetic markers, in combination with clinical characteristics can be used to predict outcomes, also treatment response, in sarcoidosis. The results can lead to tailored treatment and individual follow-up for each patient with sarcoidosis.

Detailed Description

Not available

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status
RECRUITING
Sex
All
Target Recruitment
5000
Inclusion Criteria
  • Suspicion of sarcoidosis
  • Swedish speaking
  • Able to understand and approve of study protocol
  • No contraindications for planned interventions
  • For inclusion of healthy controls they need to be healthy and the same criteria as listed above for patients.
Exclusion Criteria
  • No suspicion of sarcoidosis
  • Not Swedish-speaking
  • Not able to understand study protocol
  • Not approving of study protocol
  • Contraindications for planned interventions

Study & Design

Study Type
OBSERVATIONAL
Study Design
Not specified
Arm && Interventions
GroupInterventionDescription
Sarcoidosis patientsperipheral blood sampling, bronchoscopy, upper airway and faeces samplingThis study only consists of one arm. The investigators follow patients prospectively and observe clinical parameters including disease course (resolving, non-resolving, which organs are involved, inflammatory markers, chest X-ray etc) and effect of treatment. In this respect the study is observational. However, the patients undergo repeated peripheral blood samples and some also undergo sampling from upper airways, faeces and a bronchoscopy and hence, the study falls in the interventional category
Primary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Disease activity3 months and 12 months

This refers to cardiac sarcoidosis and is estimated with PET-CT

Number of participants with resolving vs non-resolving disease2 and 5 years from baseline

Data will be collected from the medical record wether the disease resolved or not

Number of participants with immunosuppressive treatment5 years

Data on treatment will be collected from the medical record

Number of participants with more than 10% change from enrollment in percent of predicted Forced Expiratory Volume in one second (L/s) at 5 yearsBaseline and 5 years

Measured with spirometry

Change from enrollment in Immunoglobulin G (g/L) at 5 yearsBaseline and 5 years

Measured in serum

Change from enrollment in fatigue at 5 yearsBaseline and 5 years

The Fatigue Assessment Scale will be used. Maximum score is 50 and minimum 10. A higher score means more fatigue.More than 22 points means the participant suffers from fatigue and more than 34 extreme fatigue.

Change from enrollment of radiographic findings at 5 yearsBaseline and 5 years

Chest X-ray will be classified according to Scadding staging

Change from enrollment of angiotensin converting enzyme (E/L) at 5 yearsBaseline and 5 years

Measured in serum

Change from enrollment of soluble Interleukin Receptor 2 (U/ml) at 5 yearsBaseline and 5 years

Measured in serum

Change from enrollment of complete blood cell count (/10x9 L) at 5 yearsBaseline and 5 years

Measured in blood

Change from enrollment of creatinine levels (micromol/L) at 5 yearsBaseline and 5 years

Measured in plasma

Change from enrollment of C-reactive protein (mg/L) at 5 yearsBaseline and 5 years

Measured in serum

Number of patients with more than 10% change from enrollment in percent of predicted Diffusing capacity of the Lungs for Carbon Monoxide (%) at 5 yearsBaseline and 5 years

Measured with spirometry

Number of participants with more than 10% change from enrollment in percent of predicted Forced Vital Capacity (L) at 5 yearsBaseline and 5 years

Measured with spirometry

Change from enrollment of calcium levels (mmol/L) at 5 yearsBaseline and 5 years

Measured in serum

Secondary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Karolinska University Hospital

🇸🇪

Stockholm, Sweden

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