The Pathophysiology of Tourette Syndrome: a Multimodal Study

Overview

The purpose of this study is to characterize the functional and anatomical connectivity changes in Tourette syndrome and its relation with iron deficiency.

Full Title of Study: “fMRI Study on Iron Deficiency in the Pathological Mechanism of Tourette Syndrome”

Study Type

  • Study Type: Observational [Patient Registry]
  • Study Design
    • Time Perspective: Cross-Sectional
  • Study Primary Completion Date: November 2016

Detailed Description

Tourette syndrome (TS) is a childhood-onset chronic neuropsychiatric disorder with an increasing prevalence (range 0.05-3%).The investigators previous study showed that lower serum ferritin and iron levels in children with Tourette syndrome than in healthy children. The exact mechanism explaining how iron deficiency contributes to the pathophysiology of TS is unclear.One question is whether or not peripheral iron deficiency in children with Tourette syndrome can inflence the brain extrapyramid structure and resting state brain function?Another question is how well peripheral iron indices correlate with central iron content? The third question is for TS children with peripheral iron deficiency, oral iron supplement (5mg/Kg/d) at least 8 weeks, the peripheral iron indicies return to normal levels, how the brain iron contents and the relative structure and brain function change?, To test the above-metioned hypothesis, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) , diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and susceptibility weighted imaging (SWI) are applied to investigate the volume change of extrapyramid structure such as caudate nucleus and putamen, resting-state brain function and brain iron content before and after oral iron supplementation in TS children with peripheral iron deficiency, TS children with peripheral normal iron levels and normal healthy controls. The investigators hope to confirm that iron deficiency may play a causal role in the dopamine metabolism and it helps to further explore the pathophysiology of Tourette syndrome and also would contribute to significant advance in the therapeutic option for TS children with peripheral iron deficiency.

Clinical Trial Outcome Measures

Primary Measures

  • Amplitude of low frequency fluctuation of BOLD signal in Tourette syndrome and its relation with iron deficiency
    • Time Frame: two years
    • Amplitude of low frequency fluctuation of BOLD signal has proven to be a promising way to detect disease-related local brain activity.This study investigate ALFF in Tourette syndrome and provides insights into the pathological mechanism of Tourette syndrome

Secondary Measures

  • Brain iron levels in Tourette syndrome
    • Time Frame: two years

Participating in This Clinical Trial

Inclusion Criteria

  • 6-12 years old – Characterized by vocal tic and muscle twitch – No positive signs was found through neurological examination, no significant psychomotor retardation, Exclusion Criteria:

  • Hepatolenticular degeneration – Rheumatic chorea – Myoclonic epilepsy – History of mental disease or brain trauma

Gender Eligibility: All

Minimum Age: 6 Years

Maximum Age: 12 Years

Are Healthy Volunteers Accepted: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Investigator Details

  • Lead Sponsor
    • Second Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University
  • Provider of Information About this Clinical Study
    • Principal Investigator: Jian Hua Feng, professor of medicine – Second Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University
  • Overall Official(s)
    • Jianhua Feng, Doctor, Principal Investigator, Second affiliated hospital,zhejiang University,school of medicine,
    • Jianhua Feng, Doctor, Principal Investigator, Secon Affiliated Hospital,Zhejiang University,School of Medicine

Clinical trials entries are delivered from the US National Institutes of Health and are not reviewed separately by this site. Please see the identifier information above for retrieving further details from the government database.

At TrialBulletin.com, we keep tabs on over 200,000 clinical trials in the US and abroad, using medical data supplied directly by the US National Institutes of Health. Please see the About and Contact page for details.