All articles tagged with #clinical trial
A clinical trial in DR Congo is testing an experimental antiviral pill to prevent Ebola after exposure, as the country’s deadliest outbreak on record continues to spread across seven provinces with no approved vaccine for the specific virus strain.
A pilot study from UC San Francisco found that adults with depression experienced significant symptom improvements after cutting ultra-processed foods for four weeks. Published in JAMA Psychiatry, the trial involved 20 participants who swapped between a usual diet and a low-ultra-processed diet. While depression scores dropped notably during the dietary intervention, researchers emphasize the small sample size and lack of blinding, calling for larger studies to confirm these findings.
A clinical trial led by ALIMA is testing a preventive pill for the Bundibugyo Ebola virus in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The study aims to protect uninfected individuals before symptoms appear, distinct from vaccines or curative treatments. While the outbreak has surpassed 8,000 cases, this trial offers a potential new tool to break infection chains.
A Phase 1 trial involving 10 women with severe osteoporosis demonstrated a 94% reduction in fractures after receiving autologous mesenchymal stromal cells modified to target bone tissue. While the study was primarily designed to assess safety, results indicated improved bone structure and fewer breaks, suggesting potential for future regenerative treatments.
CAMH researchers used PET brain imaging to find reduced markers of dopamine neuron health across striatal regions in people with long COVID, indicating loss of dopamine-releasing neurons that tracks with fatigue, reduced motivation, slower movement, and memory difficulties; the findings point to a dopamine-centered mechanism and could guide new treatments, with a planned clinical trial to test dopamine-boosting approaches alongside inflammation-focused work.
Ten women with advanced osteoporosis received autologous bone-marrow–derived mesenchymal cells engineered to improve bone-homing; after a single infusion, fracture rates dropped dramatically and stayed low for years, suggesting a potential one-time regenerative therapy, though the study was small, lacked a control group, and participants were on standard osteoporosis drugs, requiring larger randomized trials.
A small 12-week trial of rentosertib, an AI-discovered drug for IPF, found blood protein changes and aging biomarkers that made participants appear biologically 3–4 years younger, strongest after four weeks at 30 mg twice daily; the results, published in Nature Biotechnology, are preliminary, based on 42 IPF patients, and do not prove real aging reversal. Larger, longer trials including non-IPF populations are needed; a Phase 3 study is underway in China.
A UK-led Phase III study called PrevenTRON will test Roche’s drug Trontinemab in about 1,600 people aged 55–80 who have elevated p-tau217, a biomarker predicting cognitive decline, to see if treating before memory loss begins can prevent dementia. Participants will undergo memory screening and biomarker testing, then be randomized to Trontinemab or placebo for 4–6 years, with the goal of shifting focus from cure to prevention of Alzheimer’s disease.
Novartis announced that pelacarsen, an experimental drug designed to lower lipoprotein(a) and reduce risk of heart attack, stroke, and cardiovascular death, failed in a large clinical trial, delivering a shock to the field of cardiology and ending hopes for a new era in heart-disease prevention.
In a 20-day UK trial with 40 adults who had pre-hypertension or stage 1 hypertension, daily intake of peppermint oil (50 μL in water twice daily) reduced systolic blood pressure by 8.48 mmHg (about 8 points) and diastolic by 4.57 mmHg, with resting heart rate about 9 bpm lower versus placebo. The effect may be due to menthol relaxing blood vessels, but results come from a small, short study and should not be generalized yet; larger, longer trials are needed. Published in PLOS One.
A small trial of daraxonrasib (Rasonque) in non-small-cell lung cancer with RAS mutations showed tumor shrinkage in more than 30% of participants, signaling potential beyond pancreatic cancer. A larger randomized trial is under way to confirm efficacy and durability, with regulatory decisions pending. The drug, which had already received FDA approval for pancreatic cancer after earlier successes, works as a molecular glue that exposes RAS to inhibition via cyclophilin A, a mechanism that could extend to other hard-to-treat tumors, though resistance can emerge.
A small randomized trial (42 adults with obesity and prediabetes) compared ketogenic, Mediterranean, and low-fat diets. The keto group reduced liver fat by about 67% and improved liver insulin sensitivity more than the other diets, with roughly 50% no longer meeting prediabetes criteria by the end, while weight loss was similar across groups. The study’s short duration and small sample size limit generalizability, so keto may be a short-term option before transitioning to a Mediterranean pattern for long-term health.
An early NEJM-published trial found that a drug approved for pancreatic cancer shrank tumors in about one-third of patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer who had already undergone standard treatments; larger trials are underway to confirm its safety and effectiveness.
Two Phase 3 UP-AA trials of the JAK1 inhibitor upadacitinib (Rinvoq) showed substantial hair regrowth in severe alopecia areata: 24 weeks of treatment yielded 45–55% of patients achieving at least 80% scalp coverage and up to 23% reaching complete regrowth, with improvements continuing through a 52‑week extension; Europe approved the drug for this use in 2026 and the FDA decision in the US was pending at that time; safety matched other JAK inhibitors, necessitating monitoring.
Dr. Odayme Quesada in Cincinnati has secured a $3.6 million NIH grant to lead the nation’s first clinical trial of a treatment for CMD in ANOCA. The five‑year study will test the diabetes/heart failure drug dapagliflozin against a placebo in 120 men and women, enrolling at The Christ Hospital Health Network with University of Cincinnati researchers as collaborators; enrollment is expected to begin fall 2026.