Description Module
The Description Module contains narrative descriptions of the clinical trial, including a brief summary and detailed description. These descriptions provide important information about the study's purpose, methodology, and key details in language accessible to both researchers and the general public.
Description Module path is as follows:
Study -> Protocol Section -> Description Module
Description Module
Ignite Creation Date:
2025-12-24 @ 11:40 PM
Ignite Modification Date:
2025-12-24 @ 11:40 PM
NCT ID:
NCT03406351
Brief Summary:
Societies become increasingly urban - more than half the world's population now lives in cities. Urbanization elevates anthropogenic (man-made) exposure to air pollutants. A clear association exists between exposure to air pollutants and exacerbations (worsening) of pre-existing asthma, incidence of nighttime asthma, difficulties with asthma control and increased disease risk. In 2012, the Public Health Management Corporation's Community Health Data Base estimated that 19.4% of adults in Philadelphia had asthma compared to a national prevalence of 7%.
Asthma has a clear temporal signal. A majority of asthma patients, up to 75%, reports nighttime awakenings due to worsened cough, wheeze and dyspnea. This time-of-day-dependent exacerbation of symptoms, coined nocturnal asthma, is associated with poorer disease control, more frequent medication, and higher asthma-related morbidity and mortality. Consequently, several pathophysiological mechanisms proposed for nocturnal asthma relate to circadian clock biology.
Lung function oscillates over the course of 24 hours, peaking around noon and reaching its nadir during early morning hours. Concentrations of air pollutants show oscillating patterns in urban settings.
In this clinical research study, the investigators start to address how spatiotemporal fluctuations in air pollutants relate to asthma. Mechanistically, the investigators wish to address the hypothesis that microRNAs (miRs) act as interface between asthma phenotypes, circadian clocks and environmental exposure.
Study:
NCT03406351
Study Brief:
Protocol Section:
NCT03406351