qMAP-PD: Version 1.2
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Quantitative MRI for Anatomical Phenotyping in Parkinson’s disease (qMAP-PD)
IRAS ID
247033
Contact name
Christian Lambert
Contact email
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
Z6364106/2018/04/126, UCL Data Protection Registration Reference No
Duration of Study in the UK
3 years, 8 months, 1 days
Research summary
Parkinson’s disease is a common degenerative disorder of the brain that becomes more likely with age. A combination of muscle stiffness, tremor and slow movements alert the clinician to its presence. These symptoms begin to be detectable once half of the nerve cells within a brain region called the substantia nigra have already died. Once diagnosed, disease progression is highly variable. About half the people diagnosed will develop significant problems within four years.
There is evidence that Parkinson’s disease actually begins up to 20 years before it is diagnosed; it starts in a different part of the brain and progresses slowly causing more subtle problems. This intervening period is called “pre-clinical Parkinson’s”. During this period there are certain problems, such as loss of smell or certain sleep disturbances, which are more likely to be experienced by individuals with the condition. However, it is not currently possible to identify who amongst these individuals have pre-clinical Parkinson’s or how quickly the disease will progress once diagnosed.
This work seeks to use non-invasive brain-scanning techniques to understand why Parkinson’s disease is so variable, develop ways to predict how quickly the disease will progress based on an individual’s brain structure and diagnose the condition during the pre-clinical phase. We will pair this information with genetic and other blood markers, to try to understand some of the biological reasons causing this variability. By achieving these aims, strategies aimed at slowing the condition can be researched more accurately, and the disease can be better characterized within an individual, allowing current treatments to be tailored to their present and future needs.REC name
London - Fulham Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
18/LO/1229
Date of REC Opinion
27 Jul 2018
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion