Neuro-immune mechanisms in brain health
Research type
Research Study
Full title
A study of neuro-immune mechanisms in brain health from bio-samples (ANIMATE)
IRAS ID
321380
Contact name
Adam Al-Diwani
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Oxford
Duration of Study in the UK
5 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
The immune system protects the body from infection. Separate from this role, It is now known to also have an important role in keeping the brain healthy more generally. It is thought that in conditions where brain health worsens, such as in cognitive and mental health conditions, these 'neuro-immune mechanisms' may go wrong.
We aim to study these ‘neuro-immune’ mechanisms by sampling blood from patients with these conditions and relate this to their symptoms. In particular we will focus on comparing patients with typical illness patterns and responses to treatment with those with more unusual patterns and treatment responses. We anticipate that neuro-immune mechanisms are more likely to be present in the unusual presentations. We will precisely describe cognitive and mental health at the time of sampling. This will largely be from the clinical notes and where possible, supplemented by specific brief research interviews.
Select participants will be able to donate additional samples which will even more precisely help understand neuro-immune mechanisms supporting brain health: cerebrospinal fluid, lymph node aspirate, and/or stool – all obtained with safe and well tolerated procedures that we have previously used to research neuro-immunity in brain health. For some participants this could involve follow-up visits to see study change over time, and with routine treatments.
Working with patients in ‘real-world’ clinics and ward settings will allow our findings to be meaningful to the same common conditions in the near future. This approach will also allow us to take samples at the same time as routine blood tests – for convenience and to reduce number of procedures.
We will study these samples with cutting edge laboratory methods that provide great detail and look at associations using advanced statistical methods. This is a tried and tested approach that has helped discover other immune diseases and treatments that affect brain health. We aim to find specific neuro-immune mechanisms relevant to predicting brain health outcomes but also potentially be targeted by precision medicines in future.
REC name
London - Bromley Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
23/LO/0459
Date of REC Opinion
20 Jun 2023
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion