Clinical Study on the Application of PET Probes Targeting DDR2 in the Diagnosis of Interstitial Lung Disease With Cognitive Impairment

Starting soon

Conditions studied: Interstitial Lung Disease

In brief

According to statistics, 45% of human disease-related deaths are associated with organ fibrosis, among which pulmonary fibrosis poses a severe threat to patients' lives. In recent years, the application of novel therapeutic approaches (such as tumor immunotherapy and organ transplantation) and COVID-19 infections have further expanded the clinical demand for the diagnosis and treatment of pulmonary fibrosis. Currently, the two small-molecule drugs approved for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) (pirotinib and nintedanib) can only slow the decline in lung function and fail to improve patient mortality . Therefore, early diagnosis and early treatment of pulmonary fibrosis have become a clinical consensus , urgently requiring the emergence of innovative technologies and methods. Recent studies have demonstrated that collagen is not only a product of fibrosis but also a driving factor in its sustained progression . Therefore, identifying key molecular targets that promote collagen-driven fibrotic progression represents a critical direction for anti-fibrotic therapeutic research. Human collagen receptors identified include the discoidin domain receptor (DDR) family (including DDR1 and DDR2) and the integrin family (including α1β1, α2β1, α10β1, and α11β1). Extensive literature and preliminary research by various groups have established that DDR2 is the collagen receptor with the most significantly elevated expression level in the lung tissue of IPF patients. Unlike the "fast-on, fast-off" activation pattern of cytokine receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs), the tyrosine phosphorylation of DDR1 and DDR2 requires the binding of large ligand molecules such as collagen for several hours before induction and can persist for dozens of hours, exhibiting a unique "slow-on, slow-off" pattern. This activation characteristic suggests that such molecular mechanisms may underlie the enduring biological effects mediated by DDRs in the progression of chronic fibrotic diseases.

Key facts

Study ID

NCT07459179

Run by

Daping Hospital and the Research Institute of Surgery of the Third Military Medical University

People needed

50

Starts

2026-04-01

Expected to finish

2027-12-31

Last updated by the study team

2026-03-11

Who can join

Age: 18 and older. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: not accepted.

You may qualify if…

• No gender restriction, age ≥18 years (inclusive);
• Patients with interstitial lung disease who meet one of the following diagnoses: connective tissue disease-associated interstitial lung disease (CTD-ILD), idiopathic nonspecific interstitial pneumonia (iNSIP), chronic allergic pneumonia, sarcoidosis, environmental/occupational lung disease, or unclassifiable idiopathic interstitial disease (IIP);
• Screening subjects who were definitively diagnosed with interstitial lung disease (ILD) by high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) within the preceding 6 months;
• In the first 3 months prior to screening, the carbon monoxide diffusion capacity (DLCO) (Hb-corrected) was within 30% to 80% (inclusive) of the predicted value; the forced vital capacity (FVC) was within 40% to 70% (inclusive) of the predicted value;
• The chief complaint is memory decline or other symptoms of cognitive impairment, with a disease course of ≥3 months;
• meets the diagnostic criteria for cognitive impairment caused by Alzheimer's disease (AD), mild cognitive impairment (MCI), or other related neurodegenerative diseases;
• The scores on the cognitive function screening scale meet the criteria for cognitive impairment (e.g., Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) <24 points, or Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) <26 points);
• Exclusion of cognitive dysfunction caused by severe depression, brain trauma, brain tumors, cerebrovascular accidents, etc.

You may not qualify if…

• patients in critical condition requiring emergency care;
• Individuals with drug and/or alcohol abuse, or those with allergic predisposition;
• women of childbearing potential, pregnant and lactating women;
• bacterial, viral or fungal infections that require systemic treatment;
• The study excluded participants deemed unsuitable by the investigators.

Where it is running

• Daping Hospital, Army Medical University — Chongqing, Chongqing Municipality, China

Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov

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