The GPAC Study

The Global Prevention of Asthma in Children (GPAC) Study is a world-wide clinical study evaluating a medical strategy known as oral immunoprophylaxis to determine whether it can prevent the development of allergies and asthma in high risk children.

While not all cases of asthma are caused by allergies, allergies to inhaled allergens (such as house dust mite, timothy grass, and cat) are one of the most common causes of childhood asthma.

Research performed by Professor Patrick Holt of the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research and colleagues indicates that prevention of allergies to inhaled allergens can cause changes in the immune system that may inhibit the development of asthma.

Preventative strategies to date have generally focused on avoidance of allergens. However, for the common inhaled allergens believed to be linked with the development of asthma, complete avoidance would require extreme measures and is therefore impractical.

The GPAC Study will use oral immunoprophylaxis

against common inhaled allergens as a preventative

measure - to determine whether this technique can

prevent the development of allergies and thus

reduce the risk of developing asthma.

What does the study involve?

Children enrolled in the GPAC Study will

receive oral drops of either a mixture of

allergens ( house dust mite, timothy grass and cat )

or a placebo (containing no allergens) once a

day for a year. Over the next three years, the

children will be monitored to see whether they

develop allergies and/or asthma, and to

determine how the oral immunoprophylaxis

affects their immune system’s response to allergen exposure. 

As this is a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study, neither doctor nor participants (neither child nor parents) will know whether they received the allergen mix or placebo until after the study is complete.
 

Those interested in participating will be asked to attend an initial screening visit at the closest study site. Enrolled participants will be asked to attend study visits seven times during the first year and six visits over the subsequent three years. At these visits, children will be assessed for allergy and asthma symptoms as well as provide blood and saliva specimens for laboratory testing. The parents will be required to complete simple questionnaires.

The GPAC Study will enroll 200 children between the ages of 18 and 30 months at five international study sites.
 
More information is available in the FAQ's page.