Research Spotlight

Why Should We Bother with ACR-16, By LaVonne Veatch Goodman, MD - Tuesday, March 24, 2009

The HART clinical trial testing ACR16 in Huntington's began in October 2008 with its first participant. And as is usual, it has taken additional time to open all of the centers needed for this 220 person trial. But now with 17 centers actively recruiting, many participants are still needed to complete enrollment for this important trial. Overall, the HD community response to recruitment has been less than overwhelming. Why aren't we signing up in larger numbers? Why should we bother?

There is a straightforward answer: There will never be new treatments if we don't join clinical trials.

The ACR-16 Trial is Enrolling Participants. - Tuesday, March 24, 2009
A Phase IIB clinical trial of the dopamine stabilizer ACR16 is now being conducted by the Huntington Study Group under the direction of lead investigator Karl Kieburtz, M.D. Approximately twenty sites are now accepting volunteer participants with more sites expected to come on board shortly.

HSG 2008 and the Second Annual HD Clinical Research Symposium - Wednesday, January 07, 2009
Highlights from the 2008 Huntington Study Group Meetings and the Huntington Disease Clinical Research Symposium in November 2007 - By LaVonne Goodman M.D. and Jean Miller read more...

Stem Cell Sciences enters into services agreement with Huntington's Research Group, CHDI Foundation - Wednesday, December 03, 2008

Stem Cell Sciences plc (AIM:STEM, ASX:STC), a company focused on the commercialisation of stem cells and stem cell technologies, announces that it has entered into an agreement with CHDI Foundation, Inc., to support the standardisation of CHDI’s novel mouse embryonic stem (ES) cell lines.

Gene Find Sheds Light on Motor Neuron Diseases Like ALS - Wednesday, December 03, 2008
The work by the Harvard and Rochester scientists marks an important step in scientists’ understanding of how stem cells in the brain eventually grow into the extraordinary network of circuits that make up the human nervous system. Understanding how the body determines the destiny of stem and progenitor cells is crucial if physicians are to ultimately use the cells to create new treatments for motor neuron diseases like ALS and HSP, as well as other conditions such as Parkinson’s and Huntington’s diseases and spinal cord injury. read more...

HDSA Research Page - Thursday, September 11, 2008
The HDSA Research Web Page is updated weekly. read more...

DIMOND Trial Shows Positive Effects on Cognition - Tuesday, July 22, 2008
For the first time in a clinical trial for Huntington’s disease (HD), a drug has been shown to improve cognition, according to preliminary results released by the sponsor of the trial. The DIMOND trial was designed mainly to test the safety of the drug, Dimebon™, and since the trial was short, positive effects on cognition or behavior were unexpected.

Now Enrolling: 2CARE Trial of Coenzyme Q10 in Huntington Disease - Wednesday, May 14, 2008
In March, 2008, a clinical trial began that will test the ability of a naturally occurring compound called Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10), to slow progression of Huntington disease (HD) in its early stages. The trial, called 2-CARE, follows an earlier study that tested CoQ10 at a lower dosage with slight, but not statistically significant benefits. This new study expands on the earlier study using the compound at a much higher dosage and longer treatment period.

Inaugural (2007) Huntington Disease Clinical Research Symposium Program - Friday, March 21, 2008
The Scientific Program for the Inaugural Huntington Disease Clinical Research Symposium, held on December 1, 2007, in Boston, Massachusetts, is available online. read more...

Inaugural (2007) Huntington Disease Clinical Research Symposium Summary-Thursday, February 21, 2008
The Inaugural Huntington Disease Clinical Research Symposium, held on December 1, 2007, in Boston, Massachusetts, opened with a frank, endearing, and inspiring talk by Katharine (Katie) Moser, a young, healthy woman who learned less than three years ago that she has the gene for Huntington Disease (HD). Moser’s comments on the unmet clinical research needs from the perspective of the pre-manifest population framed the remaining presentations about the wide-ranging efforts currently underway to find new treatments for HD.

Review of Published Article "Predictors of Diagnosis of Huntington Disease" - Monday, January 21, 2008
As the search intensifies for treatments that might delay the onset or slow the progression of Huntington’s disease (HD), identifying the disease early has also become more important than ever. Currently, a person is diagnosed with HD when he or she shows unmistakable motor signs, such as chorea. However, recent research has demonstrated that the brain is affected many years before symptoms appear.

Review of Published Article "Tetrabenazine as Antichorea Therapy in Huntington Disease" - Friday, October 26, 2007

Update: December 8, 2007. An FDA advisory committee unanimously recommended approval of tetrabenazine for the treatment of chorea associated with HD. The FDA still must approve the drug, but the committee's unanimous recommendation makes this approval more likely. If approved, tetrabenazine will then become the first drug for HD approved in the United States.

Tetrabenazine has been widely used in Europe and Canada to treat chorea in people with Huntington’s disease (HD). However, it had never gone through the rigorous testing required by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to be approved for use in the United States. Clinical experience suggests that tetrabenazine is associated with fewer troublesome side effects than other drugs, called neuroleptics, that are used to treat chorea.

Review of Published Article "At Risk for Huntington Disease: The PHAROS Cohort Enrolled" - Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Among the 150,000 or so individuals in the United States and Canada who are at risk for Huntington disease (HD), only a fraction have chosen to undergo genetic testing that would tell them if, in fact, they have the HD gene. Since people who have decided against genetic testing make up the majority of people at risk for HD, a group of Huntington Study Group investigators reasoned that studying this group might provide critical information about the earliest indicators of the disease.

Review of Published Article "Preparing for Preventive Clinical Trials: The Predict-HD Study" - Wednesday, June 20, 2007
In the first published report emanating from The Predict-HD study, several markers of HD were shown to appear long before an individual would expect to be diagnosed. More importantly, since the markers varied in measurable and predictable ways prior to diagnosis, they may prove useful in upcoming clinical trials to determine whether experimental treatments can slow the progression of the disease.