Investigating functional immune profiles in Multiple Sclerosis
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Investigating functional immune profiles in the peripheral immune system of Multiple Sclerosis patients
IRAS ID
144267
Contact name
Denise Fitzgerald
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Queens University Belfast
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 10 months, 31 days
Research summary
This pilot study will investigate the numbers and function of different types of immune cells in different categories of Multiple Sclerosis(MS) patients. To do this volunteers will donate a small volume of blood for research purposes. This blood will be processed in a research laboratory and different types of cells will be grown and analysed. Data will be collected about the number and functions of specific groups of cells in specific groups of patients that are either experiencing flare-ups or not, groups that are deteriorating over time and groups on different types of treatments as well as healthy control subjects. Numbers and functions of specific immune cell populations will be compared in these groups of research volunteers. In addition to the immune information generated from blood samples, this work will also measure immune factors in saliva to determine if saliva could be used in the future as a less invasive method of sampling patients at different stages of disease or on different treatments.
REC name
Yorkshire & The Humber - Leeds West Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
15/YH/0171
Date of REC Opinion
2 Apr 2015
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion