Validating Gulf War Illness Blood Biomarkers

Launched by ROSKAMP INSTITUTE INC. · Feb 9, 2023

Keywords

ClinConnect Summary

This clinical trial is studying Gulf War Illness (GWI) to identify specific blood markers that could help understand the condition better. Researchers want to see if certain fats and metabolites in the blood are linked to cognitive decline, especially in veterans who carry a specific gene known as APOE ε4. They will also look at how diet and other health factors affect these blood markers and how they relate to problems in the brain. The goal is to validate these blood markers as useful tools for diagnosing and understanding GWI.

To participate, you need to be at least 35 years old and have served in the Gulf War during 1990-1991, meeting specific criteria for GWI. If you’re a veteran without GWI, you can still join as a control participant. You must be able to understand and communicate in English. Participants will undergo tests that involve blood samples and may answer questions about their health and experiences. Importantly, those with certain serious health conditions, like cancer or significant psychiatric issues, will not be eligible to ensure everyone’s safety during the study.

Gender

ALL

Eligibility criteria

• Inclusion Criteria:
• • 1. Age 35 years or older.
• • 2. For GWI cases, served in the 1990-1991 Gulf War as active duty, national guard, or reserves and meet criteria for the CDC Chronic Multisymptom Illness (CMI) GWI definition or Kansas GWI definition.
• • 3. For controls, must be a veteran in the same age range as those veterans with GWI as defined above.
• • 4. Ability to understand written and spoken English or availability of a legal representative who can understand written or spoken English. Participants and caregiver/informants must be able to read, write and speak the language in which psychometric tests are provided with visual and auditory acuity (corrected) sufficient to allow for accurate testing.
• Exclusion Criteria:
• 1. Diagnosed or being treated by a physician for any of the following (Steele et al, 2000) and deemed clinically significant per the discretion of the PI:
• • 1. Cancer (except for non-melanoma skin cancers)
• • 2. Chronic infectious disease
• • 3. Problems resulting from postwar injuries.
• • 4. Liver disease
• • 5. Lupus
• • 6. Multiple sclerosis
• • 7. Stroke
• • 8. Serious psychiatric condition (those associated with psychosis and/or for which the respondent had been hospitalized since 1991).
• • 9. Dementia or any type of Parkinson's disease (PD).
• • 2. Hospitalized in the last 5 years for alcohol or drug dependence, depression, or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
• • 3. Female subject is either pregnant or nursing.