MUCINS: Mucociliary Clearance in Stroke

Study Description:
For many patients, a stroke is not only a sudden life-threatening condition but can also be accompanied by other serious complications such as pneumonia. Previous research has shown certain factors which can increase the risk of pneumonia in stroke patients. Reduced movement is one such symptom, as are difficulties and disorders in swallowing and an overall weakness of the immune system which occurs in the aftermath of a stroke.  Even though stroke is a common condition and pneumonia is a frequent complication for such patients, as of now there are still no convincing preventive measures for addressing this.

Therefore, in the MUCINS study, we would like to investigate whether self-cleaning of the lungs (mucociliary clearance) after a stroke is somehow blocked or restricted.

Towards this goal, 12 stroke patients and 12 individuals as part of a control group will be examined. For the control group, adults who have a bronchoscopy planned as part of their regular treatment or patient care are eligible for participation.

We would like to use this examination to extract mucosal tissue from the mucous membrane of the nose, trachea and bronchi by means of brushing mucosal tissue so that we can then analyze it in the laboratory.

To better asses the risk of pneumonia after stroke, data from the two groups of patients will be compiled and compared along with results from a blood test and a survey.

With your help and participation, we can improve the care of stroke patients and better address their needs in the future.

The study "Mucociliary Clearance IN Stroke" (MU-CINS) is carried out by the NeuroCure Clinical Research Center (NCRC) and the Center for Stroke Research Berlin (CSB), Charité – University Medicine Berlin (Director and Project Manager: Prof. Dr. Andreas Meisel), and is funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG)

Principal Investigator: Prof. Dr. med. Andreas Meisel (Leitung AG zerebrovaskuläre Erkrankungen, NCRC)

Registration: The study is registered in  ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT03884166)

Course of the study: 12/2020