The Leiden Huntington Study Group has a broad interest and activity in HD research. Examples of ongoing research are:
- Enroll-HD: a worldwide, observational study for persons with Huntington's Disease (HD) and their families to collect data to improve our understanding and treatment of HD.
- PRIDE-HD: A Phase 2, Dose-Finding, Randomized, Parallel-Group, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study, Evaluating the Safety and Efficacy of Pridopidine 45 mg, 67.5 mg, 90 mg, and 112.5 mg Twice-Daily versus Placebo for Symptomatic Treatment in Patients with Huntington’s Disease.
- research on the progression of cognitive abilities and psychiatric problems over the years in Huntington’s disease.
- research to identify connections between different brain areas on MRI scans, and so analyse the differences and developments in these areas between people with Huntington’s disease (in an early stage and without symptoms) compared to healthy controls over a period of three years.
- research using MRI as well as electrophysiological techniques, this study is aimed at assessing both structure and function of the brain in Huntington’s disease and measuring rates of change over time compared to that of people not carrying the mutated gene. This type of “biomarker” research is important for understanding and measuring disease progression, which in turn can be used to better understand the effect of potential therapies
- research at the department of Human Genetics focusses on finding the molecular mechanisms behind the disease and use this knowledge to develop novel therapies. Also finding good biomarkers that can track the progression of the disease in blood samples from Huntington disease patients is an important research line. These biomarkers are vital for future clinical trial to measure if a new treatment is effective.