Clinical Research Directory

PREVAIL VIIIa: Evaluation of Latent Tuberculosis Infection Screening Methods in People Living With Retroviral Infection in Liberia

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) is a health threat for people living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). People living with HIV are more likely than others to develop active TB. Also, TB makes HIV progress faster. TB is a leading cause of death among people in the West African country of Liberia. Researchers want to find an effective testing method for latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) to help people living with HIV in Liberia. Objective: To compare the interferon-gamma release assay (IGRA) and tuberculin skin test (TST) as LTBI screening tests in people living with HIV in Liberia. Eligibility: People ages 18 and older who take part in NIH study #19-I-N014 and are scheduled to have or have had IGRA at a Month 12 HONOR study visit. Design: Participants will be screened with a medical history and physical exam. Their medical records and HONOR study records will be reviewed. Participants will have TST. Purified protein derivative will be placed in the skin of their forearm. They will be observed for adverse reactions for 15 minutes. Between 48 and 72 hours after placement, they will have a second study visit to have the TST read. If they miss this time frame, they can return up to 7 days after placement. If they have a positive test result, they will have a chest x-ray. They will have a third study visit to review the results of the chest x-ray. They will be referred for clinical care if needed. They will take a pregnancy test if needed. Participation will last from 2 days to 6 weeks.

Paradoxical Tuberculosis Reactions in Patients Without HIV Infection

Background: Most people with tuberculosis (TB) feel better after starting treatment. But for some people, the opposite happens. They may feel better at first, but then suddenly get worse. This is a paradoxical reaction. Researchers want to better understand what causes this reaction and what happens after someone has it. Objective: To learn about paradoxical reactions to TB treatment. Eligibility: Adults 18 and older diagnosed with confirmed or suspected TB and currently on treatment for at least 2 weeks, with or without signs/symptoms of a paradoxical inflammatory reaction. Design: Participants will be screened with a physical exam and medical history. They will give blood and urine samples. Eligible participants will visit either the NIH Clinical Center or the Mexico Clinic sites 3 times over 6 to 18 months. Each visit will take 7 hours to complete; visits may be scheduled over more than 1 day. Participants may have more visits if their TB symptoms change. Participants will give blood, urine, and sputum samples. They will have adverse event assessments. They will have 2 to 3 positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) scans. PET/CT scans make pictures of the inside of the body. For this, participants will lie on a table that slides into a donut-shaped scanner. They will get a small amount of radioactive dye through an IV, which is a small plastic tube placed in a vein in the arm using a needle. Participants may have optional apheresis at the NIH site only. For this, blood is taken from a needle in one arm. White blood cells are separated from the rest of the blood. The rest of the blood is returned through a needle in the other arm.

Antigen-specific Cytotoxic T Cells in the Treatment of Opportunistic Infections

Epstein Barr Virus (EBV) or Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection results in significant morbidity and mortality in hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) patients. HSCT patients often face opportunistic infections due to the immunosuppressive state during transplantation. Antimicrobial drugs are usually used for prophylactic purposes and for treatment after early detectable infections. Unfortunately, some patients develop resistance to such drug treatment. In addition to HSCT patient, immune compromised patient may also be victim to opportunistic infections. Many infections can be effectively managed by functional immune recovery. In this study, the safety and efficacy of microbial-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) will be investigated.

A Study of Daily Rifapentine Combined With Isoniazid (1HP) for Tuberculosis Prevention in Children Less Than 13 Years of Age With and Without HIV

This study aims to find the proposed dose of Rifapentine (RPT) taken once daily with Isoniazid (INH) for 28 days to prevent tuberculosis (TB). The study will take place at multiple locations and children under 13 years old will be divided into two groups: one group will include children without HIV, and the other group will include children with HIV who are on antiretroviral treatment. Up to 144 children will participate, and participants in each group will be followed for 24 weeks.

Re-evaluating the Duration in Children of TB Treatment

Current tuberculosis (TB) treatment is effective (works well), but it takes a long time to cure TB. This study will evaluate if TB treatment with a higher dose of rifampicin, one of the TB medicines, and shorter TB treatment duration is as effective and safe as the standard, TB treatment (with the usual rifampicin dose and usual duration). This study hopes to find a better shorter treatment that works as well as the current treatment (standard of care). This could benefit children worldwide who are getting TB treatment. Children 3 months to less than 10 years of age who have drug-susceptible TB (can be successfully treated with standard TB medicines) are eligible for this study.

Evaluating the Safety and Immunogenicity of MTBVAC

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the safety and immunogenicity of MTBVAC in adolescents and adults living with and without HIV in South Africa

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....

Biomarker Analysis for Diagnosing and Treatment Monitoring in Extrapulmonary Tuberculosis Patients in Nairobi, Kenya

Tuberculosis (TB) remains a global health threat with high incidence, especially in Africa. The proportion of extrapulmonary TB (EPTB) can escalate up to 36% in areas with a high HIV prevalence. Effectively managing and controlling EPTB in high-burden regions, such as Kenya, faces obstacles owing to the limitations of the current diagnostic tools. Traditional methods, such as smear microscopy and culture, often fail to detect EPTB due to the paucibacillary nature of the disease and while newer molecular techniques such as Xpert MTB/RIF have improved the diagnosis of pulmonary TB, they demonstrate reduced sensitivity for EPTB. The inadequacy of these tools results in delayed or missed diagnosis, contributing to higher morbidity and mortality. This underscores the urgent need for more sensitive, non-invasive diagnostic methods that can be applied in resource-limited settings like Kenya. This study aims to establish a biomarker-based diagnostic method for EPTB, using biomarkers such as lipoarabinomannan (LAM), MPT64, and Ag85B to diagnose and to monitor treatment response. Additionally, to clarify the characteristics and causative microorganisms of patients suspected of having TB but yielded negative results. Techniques such as ultrasensitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) and urine concentration methods will be employed to improve detection sensitivity. It also seeks to explore the extent of non-tuberculosis mycobacteria (NTM) and fungal infections in patients in patients presenting as presumed TB. This prospective cohort study will be conducted at Kenyatta National Hospital and Mbagathi County Hospital in Nairobi, enrolling 763 adult patients with presumed extrapulmonary TB (EPTB) and 150 control participants from November 2024 to October 2028 Clinical and demographic data, along with sputum, blood, and urine samples, will be collected at enrolment for microbiological tests and biomarker analysis. The accuracy of biomarkers will be assessed by comparing their sensitivity and specificity against established diagnostic standards. For confirmed EPTB cases (n=50), follow-up samples will be collected during TB treatment to monitor biomarker trends alongside the patient's clinical progress. This study can enhance EPTB diagnosis by evaluating the diagnostic profile of candidate biomarkers in urine or blood samples. The findings may lead to the development of accurate, non-invasive diagnostic tools suited for resource-limited settings, improving early detection and treatment outcomes. Additionally, by clarifying the epidemiological and microbiological profiles of TB, NTM, and fungal infections, the study could guide more targeted clinical management strategies, ultimately improving patient care in high-burden regions.

KAP Regarding Tuberculosis Among Physicians in Assiut City

To Strengthen tuberculosis education and awareness among physicians in Assiut city in the framework of national tuberculosis control program.

A Trial of Radial EBUS Versus VBN for the Peripheral Pulmonary Lesions

Peripheral pulmonary lesions are of growing importance in respiratory field. Early detection of lung cancer, tuberculosis and other diseases often needs a bronchoscopic investigation with different types of navigation. Current randomized clinical study is intended to compare three different modalities of navigation in bronchial tree - virtual bronchoscopy (VBN), radial endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS) and combination of both techniques.

BRIGHT-Child TB: Short-Course Treatment for Non-Severe Pulmonary Tuberculosis in Children

The goal of this Phase II, multicenter, open-label, randomized controlled trial is to evaluate the efficacy and safety of short-course treatment regimens for children with non-severe, drug-susceptible pulmonary tuberculosis. The main questions it aims to answer are: * Do the 3-month bedaquiline, delamanid, contezolid, and pyrazinamide regimen (BDCZ) and the 4-month fixed-dose combination (FDC) regimen provide effective treatment, as measured by tuberculosis-free survival at 12 months after treatment initiation? * What are the safety profiles of the two short-course regimens, as measured by the incidence of grade 3 or higher adverse events? * How do the short-course regimens compare with the standard 6-month treatment regimen in terms of treatment success, treatment failure, recurrence, and tuberculosis-free survival during follow-up? Researchers will compare the 3-month BDCZ regimen and the 4-month FDC regimen with the standard 6-month treatment regimen to evaluate their efficacy and safety in children with non-severe, drug-susceptible pulmonary tuberculosis. Participants will be randomly assigned to one of three treatment groups and will receive the allocated regimen. They will undergo clinical assessments and safety monitoring during treatment, with follow-up to assess treatment outcomes, tuberculosis recurrence, and tuberculosis-free survival at 12, 18, and 24 months after treatment initiation.

ID93/GLA-SE Vaccination + BCG Challenge

The purpose of this study is to: 1. Demonstrate the safety of a novel TB vaccine (ID93/GLA-SE) when given to both BCG-vaccinated and BCG-naïve volunteers. 2. Provide preliminary immunogenicity data of this novel TB vaccine (ID93/GLA-SE). This clinical trial will apply an aerosol BCG challenge model involving 48 participants - 24 historically BCG-vaccinated volunteers and 24 BCG-naïve volunteers. Bronchoscopies will be performed 14 days post-challenge to measure BCG recovered from bronchial samples. Blood tests will be taken to look at potential immunological markers of immunity.

Prevent TB: Choice Architecture for TPT Delivery

Background: Clinical guidelines and policies often fail to achieve high levels of delivery of intended clinical interventions. The difference in what the investigators know works and what is actually delivered at the clinic-level to patients, is known as the "science-to-service gap." In the realm of tuberculosis (TB) prevention, this gap is reflected in \<20% of TB preventive therapy (TPT) -eligible persons living with HIV (PWH) being offered or initiated on isoniazid preventive therapy (IPT) in many settings. Recent innovation in TPT have brought new pharmacological options allowing for shorter courses, intermittent dosing, or both. The overarching goal of this study is to identify a generalizable approach to overcome current barriers to delivery of TPT in order to achieve high levels of TPT delivery during routine care in public clinics. Multiple approaches are in standard use to change prescribing behavior including in service training, audit and feedback, clinical mentoring, the use of clinical decision aids, and "academic detailing." However, the overall change is generally modest. To achieve a substantial increase in TPT delivery (from current approximately 20% to 60-80%) will require a fundamental change in the approach to selecting patients for TPT - a redesign of the choice architecture of TPT prescribing. Methods: The investigators are proposing a choice architecture that makes prescribing TPT the "default" or standard option and that for TPT not to be prescribed will require a choice by a clinician to "opt-out" of TPT for a specific patient. The investigators are proposing a cluster randomized design to test the choice architecture approach to increasing delivery of TPT. Clinics will be randomized to one of two strategies: (1) standard implementation and (2) choice architecture default TPT. Because of the clinic-level nature of the implementation strategies, all PWH receiving care at a clinic will be exposed to the standard implementation or TPT routinization implementation. Clinical process data will be used to assess the effectiveness of each strategy to determine the proportion of PWH (1) screened for TPT, (2) eligible for TPT, and (3) prescribed TPT. Significance: TB is the leading cause of death among PWH in South Africa and elsewhere on the continent. TPT is a proven intervention to reduce mortality among PWH but is not widely prescribed. This study seeks to identify an implementation strategy to reach optimal TPT prescribing.

A Pragmatic Trial With Optimized Dose of Rifampicin and Moxifloxacin for the Treatment of Drug Susceptible Pulmonary Tuberculosis

Tuberculosis (TB) remains a major global public health problem, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) in Africa, Asia, and Eastern Europe. Approximately 10 million people fall sick with TB, causing up to 2 million deaths, worldwide per year. Considerable progress was made in TB control from 1990-2015, motivating the World Health Organization (WHO) to launch an ambitious EndTB strategy. However, the effect of the ongoing Coronavirus Disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic has been devastating and the last two years have seen the first year-on-year increases (of 5.6%) in TB mortality since 2005 . In order to regain lost ground, and re-establish progress towards elimination of TB, innovation is needed in all aspects of TB control, including development of shorter treatment regimens for drug susceptible (DS) and multi-drug resistant / rifampicin resistant (MDR/RR) forms of the disease. This protocol seeks to conduct the TB clinical trial combining the 8-methoxyfluroquinolone and optimised dose of rifamycing to address two questions. The first is to confirm the non-inferiority of a four-month optimised dose rifamycin and moxifloxacin-based regimen amongst African TB patient populations with high rates of co-incident HIV. Secondly, we seek to establish that the rifamycin of choice in potent 4-month anti-TB treatments could be rifampicin as this will be more rapidly up-scalable for public health impact.

Rapid Research in Diagnostics Development for TB Network (R2D2 Kids) and Assessing Diagnostics At POC for TB in Children (ADAPT for Kids)

Every year there are an estimated 230,000 childhood deaths from TB. There is an urgent need for novel tests for TB diagnosis in children under 15 years. The Rapid Research in Diagnostics Development for TB Network (R2D2 Kids) and the Assessing Diagnostics at Point-of-care for Tuberculosis in children (ADAPT for Kids) studies seek to reduce the burden of TB worldwide by evaluating faster, simpler, and less expensive TB triage and diagnostic tests for use in children.

Tuberculosis Treatment Shortening Trial

Tuberculosis (TB) is a serious infection that can affect the lungs and other parts of the body. The usual way to treat TB is to take 4 medicines by mouth every day for 2 months, then take 2 of the same medicines for 4 more months, for a total of 6 months. The purpose of this study is to see if taking 4 months of TB medicines is as effective in curing some TB patients as taking 6 months of TB medicines. Study participants will include 758 human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-non-infected individuals, ages 18-60. Participants will be treated with 4 standard drugs called isoniazid, rifampicin, pyrazinamide and ethambutol. All individuals will take TB medicines for at least 4 months. After 4 months of treatment, if no TB germs are growing in sputum samples, participants will be assigned to either stop taking TB medicine (4 months of treatment) or to continue taking TB drugs for 2 more months (6 months of treatment). Participants will be involved in study procedures for up to 30 months.

Tuberculosis Sentinel Research Network (TB-SRN)

The overarching objective/aim of the study is to assess pulmonary TB treatment and longer-term outcomes among people with and without HIV in African population in order to inform policy and practice around TB treatment and create a platform for additional TB research in Zambia

Diagnostic Innovations for Pediatric Tuberculosis in Bolivia

Pediatric tuberculosis (TB) continues to pose diagnostic challenges in low- and middle-income countries with high rates of TB disease, due to the well-described impact of paucibacillary disease in children, and current TB culture and polymerase-chain reaction tests are of limited usefulness due to cost, restricted availability, and poor sensitivity in specimens available from younger children. Our team of experts from Tulane, Johns Hopkins University, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, and Asociación Benéfica Prisma have confronted all of these challenges through more than 25 years of collaboration in Peru and Bolivia. Our goal is to directly address the challenges of TB in children by evaluating a new diagnostic approach developed by MPI Tony Hu at Tulane University using a CRISPR-mediated TB assay (CRISPR-TB) optimized to detect circulating Mycobacterium tuberculosis cell-free DNA (Mtb-cfDNA), and used to analyze cryopreserved serum in pilot studies from adults and children with presumptive TB, their asymptomatic household contacts, and a cohort of symptomatic children living with HIV (CLHIV) at high risk for TB. Results from symptomatic adult cohorts yielded a pooled sensitivity of 93%; specificity of 93%; positive predictive value of 95%; and negative predictive value of 92%. In limited pilot studies in CLHIV CRISPR-TBD results accurately identified all confirmed TB (13/13) and most children with unconfirmed TB (80%; 52/65). We propose to enroll 200 presumptive TB cases and an equal number of well control subjects in each of 2 study populations (test population and validation population) identified through clinics associated with the "Dr. Mario Ortiz Suarez" Children's Hospital in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. We will determine the distribution of cfDNA concentrations in peripheral blood in a "test population" composed of two age-based groups of children (2 months-6 years, 7-14 years) with respiratory disease grouped by likelihood of TB based on the NIH consensus case definitions (confirmed TB, unconfirmed TB, and unlikely TB) and in age-matched controls grouped by presence of latent TB infection (LTBI), with cfDNA measured serially in time among TB cases receiving antibiotic therapy. We will also validate standard ranges of quantitative cfDNA established for clinical subgroups of children with TB disease or LTBI in an independent validation cohort. An additional aim will determine the correlation between quantitative cfDNA and quantitative imaging-based TB scores based on evidence of disease in the lung, the primary target organ in TB disease, by (1) chest radiograph, measured by computer-aided analysis using the CAD4TB v7 system, and by (2) lung ultrasound, performed with a portable/low-cost probe assisted by machine learning algorithms for automatic interpretation. These biomarkers will be tested as potential cofactors that may be combined with cfDNA levels in peripheral blood, to improve the detection of TB disease in children. The results of this study will be the first step in a process to find a path to allow detection of the many "unconfirmed" TB cases and ideally make the diagnosis of pediatric TB in reach for low resource settings where it is so critically needed.

Linezolid Dosing Strategies in Drug-Resistant TB

The purpose of the study was to evaluate the efficacy (how well the medicines work) and tolerability (whether participants stop treatment because of side effects from a drug) of an anti-TB treatment regimen that compared two doses of linezolid (LZD), combined with bedaquiline (BDQ), delamanid (DLM), and clofazimine (CFZ). This study also measured the level of LZD and BDQ in the participants' blood.

A Study to Investigate the Repeat-dose Pharmacokinetics of a Combined Oral Contraceptive When Given Alone and in Combination With Ganfeborole in Female Participants of Non-childbearing Potential

This study is designed to assess the pharmacokinetics (PK), safety, and tolerability of Ganfeborole and Microgynon, an oral contraceptive containing ethinylestradiol (EE) and levonorgestrel (LNG), when Microgynon is administered alone and in combination with Ganfeborole in healthy female participants of non-childbearing potential.

Systems Analysis and Improvement Approach to Prevent TB

This randomized trial uses the evidence-based Systems Analysis and Improvement Approach (SAIA) adapted for tuberculosis (SAIA-TB) to assess the comprehensive tuberculosis (TB) care cascade across 16 clinics in rural Eastern Cape, South Africa to improve patient outcomes. The aims of this study are to: * Evaluate the effectiveness of SAIA-TB use in clinics on TB cascade outcomes for TB patients and with high-risk contacts * Determine the drivers of SAIA-TB implementation success or failure across clinics The investigators hypothesize that SAIA-TB implementation will lead to a 20% increase in each of: TB screening, TB preventive treatment initiation, and TB disease treatment initiation during the 18-month intervention period.

Study of a Single Dose of Pretomanid Added to an Optimized Background Regimen in Children With Rifampicin-Resistant Tuberculosis

The purpose of the study is to evaluate the pharmacokinetics (PK), safety, tolerability, and acceptability of a single dose of pretomanid, added to an optimized background tuberculosis treatment regimen (OBR), in children with rifampicin-resistant tuberculosis (RR-TB) with or without human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).

Evaluation and Demonstration of New Tuberculosis Diagnostics for Indonesia

The goal of this cluster-randomised controlled trial (CRCT) is to learn whether the use of new non-sputum-based diagnostic tests and other intervention components for tuberculosis (TB) diagnosis in healthcare facilities (HCF) can increase TB notifications. The main questions it aims to answer are: (1) Does the diagnostic intervention package raise TB notifications by HCF?; (2) Does the diagnostic intervention package raise the proportion of patients with TB who are diagnosed with microbiological tests, lower the time needed for TB diagnosis, lower the number of visits to HCF before TB diagnosis, raise the use of TB tests by healthcare providers, and lower the costs for TB diagnosis? Researchers will compare the diagnostic intervention package provided to HCFs and the community in the intervention arm with the standard of care in the control arm to assess the intervention's effect. Healthcare providers will be trained to provide diagnostic interventions to patients visiting their HCFs and to community residents in the areas surrounding HCFs.

Validation of a Tuberculosis Treatment Decision Algorithm in HIV-infected Children (TB-Speed HIV)

TB-Speed HIV is a prospective multicentre management study evaluating the safety and feasibility of the recently proposed PAANTHER TB treatment decision algorithm for HIV-infected children with presumptive TB. It will be conducted in four countries with high and very high TB (Tuberculosis) incidence (Côte d'Ivoire, Uganda, Mozambique, and Zambia) which have not participated in the study that developed the PAANTHER algorithm.