Emergency PWAS in Respiratory Infectious Disease

Sponsor

The University of Hong Kong (Other)

Overall Status

Not yet recruiting

CT.gov ID

NCT05336851

Collaborator

(none)

2,000

Enrollment

Location

Anticipated Duration (Months)

55.6

Patients Per Site Per Month

Study Details

Study Description

Brief Summary

Develop an emergency PanorOmics Wide Association Study (ePWAS) for the early, rapid biological and pathophysiological characterisation of known and novel Infectious Diseases in adult patients presenting to emergency departments with suspected, acute, community-acquired respiratory infectious disease (scaRID).

Phase 1

Develop an ED-ID biobank (named ePWAS-RID). Phase 2
Targeted research for the discovery of novel diagnostics, prognostics and therapeutics

Condition or Disease	Intervention/Treatment	Phase
Viral Infections Bacterial Infections Fungal Infections Mixed Infection Mycobacterium Infection Infection of Uncertain Aetiology Pneumonia Sepsis	Diagnostic Test: Biomarker blood draw and saliva collection

Detailed Description

Introduction

Pandemic Preparedness

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected over 220 million people, claimed over 450 000 lives and invoked variable responses across the world. Delays in acquiring quality clinical and scientific material on the transmissibility, clinical nature, outcomes and lethality of novel and known infectious diseases (ID) translate into healthcare inefficiencies, societal and economic stress, and increased morbidity and mortality. Regions with greater success in the fight against COVID-19 were well prepared before the pandemic.

Pathogens

The pathogens most likely to cause annual epidemics and pandemics are respiratory viruses. In Asia, viral infections account for 30-40% of sepsis cases. Each year there are 100 million cases of viral community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) of which 60% progress to sepsis. These viruses cause host-mediated, inflammatory, immune responses which progresses through three phases: preliminary regulated inflammation; intermediate dysregulated proinflammation; and late dysregulated hypoinflammation.

Clinical Spectrum

RID is a heterogeneous population of patients. This complex spectrum of heterogeneity extends throughout the underlying molecular biology and pathophysiology from genome to phenome. It includes significant individual variation in regulated and dysregulated systemic inflammatory host responses to infection in the presence and absence of organ dysfunction. Critical illness from any ID involves both host susceptibility to the pathogen and host propensity to develop dysregulated inflammation and organ failure (e.g. pulmonary inflammation and/or acute kidney injury).

PanorOmics-Wide Association Studies

In the five years prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the United Kingdom's Genetics Of Mortality In Critical Care (GenOMICC) study recruited patients with a spectrum of critical illness syndromes (e.g. influenza, sepsis, and emerging infections) to better understand host mechanisms that lead to life-threatening outcomes. As a result, the GenOMICC investigators, along with collaborators from Spain and Italy, were well placed to perform genomic-association studies on critically ill COVID-19 patients and to make recommendations for future studies.

An integrated panorOmics approach has the potential to uncover causal associations and linkages across the entire spectrum of host biology including genomics, epigenomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics and lipidomics, through to clinical phenotype. However, panorOmics as a discipline faces the same challenges as Genome-wide association studies (GWAS), only more so. Although GWAS correlate genomic loci with complex signatures and traits, efficient detection is hindered by false positives, linkage disequilibrium, and high expense. True causal variations and real underlying associations require multiple filters if they are to be detected.

The investigators propose to develop an ED-based system of dynamic studies on blood and saliva samples taken from patients at an early stage of ID. Early stage refers to a process in the patient pathway that precedes most patient recruitment in other studies i.e. on wards or ICU. The two primary objectives are a) to develop an ED-ID biobank; and b) to undertake preliminary discovery and targeted research for the discovery of novel diagnostics, prognostics and therapeutics.

The investigators will define early multiOmics signatures of RID and identify relationships to known and novel ID. Few studies have been published on the integrated panorOmics of COVID-19, and few if any address the early phases of illness or differentiating features in comparison to other respiratory illnesses.

In disease stratified, case-control matched comparisons of adult patients with scaRID attending EDs, what panorOmic signatures differentiate low risk from high risk across a 30-day WHO-Clinical Progression Scale (WHO-CPS)?

For the purpose of this study, scaRID is defined as:

A fever or a temperature >37.5°C; AND
One or more relevant symptoms:

respiratory symptoms (e.g. cough, shortness of breath), OR
systemic symptoms (e.g. chills, rigors, myalgia), OR
gastrointestinal symptoms (e.g. nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea); AND

No obvious alternative cause (see exclusion criteria).

PanorOmic associations will be derived from liquid biopsy samples, including whole blood, plasma, serum, white cell pellet, red cell effluent, salivary supernatant, and salivary cells. Liquid biopsy biomarkers include genomic, transcriptomic, proteomic, metabolomic, lipidomic and haematological contents.

Hypothesis The investigators hypothesise that in propensity-matched, adult patients with pathogen-specific and disease specific RID (e.g. SARS-CoV-2, Influenza A) there are significant differences in panorOmic signatures that delineate host susceptibility and host response for mild to severe disease.

Objectives

The purpose of this proposal is to develop an emergency PanorOmics Wide Association Study (ePWAS) biobank for the early, rapid biological and pathophysiological characterisation of scaRID. More specifically, in adult patients presenting to EDs with scaRID and within 10 days of symptom onset, we aim:

To develop an ED-ePWAS-RID biobank of blood and saliva samples
To use this databank for exploratory and targeted research in the search for diagnostic and prognostic markers and to understand underlying mechanisms of disease

The goals of the biobank and the ePWAS-RID repository are:

to develop the infrastructure for a sustainable ED-based biobank of blood and saliva samples matched to clinical phenotypes and critical outcomes.
to develop the repository according to international standards thereby minimising heterogeneity and rendering the material suitable for international research frameworks that aims to facilitate access to human biological materials.
to prepare a repository for preliminary discovery of novel diagnostic, prognostic, and therapeutic markers.
to facilitate targeted research on the pathogenesis of respiratory infections, host susceptibility, and host response.
to derive biomarker platforms of training set models for early RID detection, pathogen differentiation, monitoring, risk stratification and prognosis; and to validate those models using independent and external datasets.

Study Design

Study Type:

Observational [Patient Registry]

Anticipated Enrollment :

2000 participants

Observational Model:

Case-Control

Time Perspective:

Prospective

Official Title:

Emergency PanorOmic Wide Association Study in Respiratory Infectious Disease (ePWAS-RID)

Anticipated Study Start Date :

May 2, 2022

Anticipated Primary Completion Date :

May 1, 2025

Anticipated Study Completion Date :

May 1, 2025

Arms and Interventions

Arm	Intervention/Treatment
Viral infection Viral infection subjects presenting within 8 days from symptom onset will have at least one whole blood and saliva drawn a) in the emergency department (if available) or hospital within 8 days of the onset of symptoms; and if they agree	Diagnostic Test: Biomarker blood draw and saliva collection Three peripheral 10 - 20mL blood sample (if available) Three 1 - 5mL salivary samples (if available)
Bacterial infection Bacterial infection subjects presenting within 8 days from symptom onset will have at least one whole blood and saliva drawn a) in the emergency department (if available) or hospital within 8 days of the onset of symptoms; and if they agree, a further two samples at b) 24 hours +/- 6 hours from symptom onset (if available); and c) 48 hours +/- 6 hours from symptom onset (if available).	Diagnostic Test: Biomarker blood draw and saliva collection Three peripheral 10 - 20mL blood sample (if available) Three 1 - 5mL salivary samples (if available)
Viral-Viral co-infection Viral-viral co-infection subjects presenting within 8 days from symptom onset will have at least one whole blood and saliva drawn a) in the emergency department (if available) or hospital within 8 days of the onset of symptoms; and if they agree, a further two samples at b) 24 hours +/- 6 hours from symptom onset (if available); and c) 48 hours +/- 6 hours from symptom onset (if available).	Diagnostic Test: Biomarker blood draw and saliva collection Three peripheral 10 - 20mL blood sample (if available) Three 1 - 5mL salivary samples (if available)
Bacterial-Viral co-infection Bacterial-Viral co-infection subjects presenting within 8 days from symptom onset will have at least one whole blood and saliva drawn a) in the emergency department (if available) or hospital within 8 days of the onset of symptoms; and if they agree, a further two samples at b) 24 hours +/- 6 hours from symptom onset (if available); and c) 48 hours +/- 6 hours from symptom onset (if available).	Diagnostic Test: Biomarker blood draw and saliva collection Three peripheral 10 - 20mL blood sample (if available) Three 1 - 5mL salivary samples (if available)
Fungal-Mycobacterium co-infection Bacterial-Viral co-infection subjects presenting within 8 days from symptom onset will have at least one whole blood and saliva drawn a) in the emergency department (if available) or hospital within 8 days of the onset of symptoms; and if they agree, a further two samples at b) 24 hours +/- 6 hours from symptom onset (if available); and c) 48 hours +/- 6 hours from symptom onset (if available).	Diagnostic Test: Biomarker blood draw and saliva collection Three peripheral 10 - 20mL blood sample (if available) Three 1 - 5mL salivary samples (if available)
Infection of uncertain origin Infection of uncertain origin subjects presenting within 8 days from symptom onset will have at least one whole blood and saliva drawn a) in the emergency department (if available) or hospital within 8 days of the onset of symptoms; and if they agree, a further two samples at b) 24 hours +/- 6 hours from symptom onset (if available); and c) 48 hours +/- 6 hours from symptom onset (if available).	Diagnostic Test: Biomarker blood draw and saliva collection Three peripheral 10 - 20mL blood sample (if available) Three 1 - 5mL salivary samples (if available)
Control Subjects Control group subjects, if they agree, will have at least one whole blood and saliva drawn a) in the emergency department (if available) or hospital within 8 days of the onset of symptoms (if applicable); and if they agree, a further two samples at b) 24 hours +/- 6 hours from symptom onset (if applicable); and c) 48 hours +/- 6 hours from symptom onset (if applicable).	Diagnostic Test: Biomarker blood draw and saliva collection Three peripheral 10 - 20mL blood sample (if available) Three 1 - 5mL salivary samples (if available)

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

WHO-CPS [Up to 30 days]
Differentiation of WHO-CPS >6 from WHO-CPS ≤6

Secondary Outcome Measures

Mortality [Up to 30 days]
Mortality is defined as all-cause, Binary: Yes or No
Mortality [one year]
Mortality is defined as all-cause, Binary: Yes or No

Eligibility Criteria

Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study:

18 Years to 100 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study:

All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers:

Yes

Inclusion Criteria:

Patients eligible for enrolment include:

With reference to previous inclusion criteria are:

Adults ≥18 years of age; AND
Suspected, acute, community-acquired, respiratory, infectious disease (scaRID)*; AND
Informed consent.

Note: scaRID is defined according to ALL three criteria:

Community acquired (not hospitalised for <28 days); AND
Acute infection (defined as symptom onset <8 days and any ONE of reported fever or chills or aural temperature >37.5°C or hypothermia or leucocytosis or leucopaenia or new altered mental status); AND
Probable respiratory infection - According to any ONE of:
new cough or new sputum production or
chest pain or
dyspnoea or
tachypnoea or
abnormal lung examination or
respiratory failure; or
physician's judgment (presenting with systemic or gastrointestinal symptoms).

Control subjects will be drawn from two groups:

The worried well - adult patients with a National Early Warning Score (NEWS) <3 and a temperature <37.5°C.
Relatives or accompanying friends with no acute illness.

Exclusion Criteria:

Refusal of consent;
Recent hospitalisation (<28 days);
Enrolled in another clinical trial
Cellulitis;
Skin or orthopaedic infections;
Urinary tract infection;
Acute abdominal sepsis;
Sexual transmitted disease;
Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection;
Immunocompromised/potential neutropenic fever;
Solid organ or haematopoietic stem-cell transplant within the previous 90 days;
Active graft-versus-host disease or bronchiolitis obliterans;
Severe traveller's disease requiring urgent hospitalisation and management including malaria, dengue, typhoid and other rickettsial diseases;
Stroke;
Toxidrome;
Non-organic acute psychosis.