ArticlePloS one2022
A natural history study to track brain and spinal cord changes in individuals with Friedreich's ataxia: TRACK-FA study protocol.
Article in PloS one, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. It is linked to trial NCT04349514 (A Natural History Study to TRACK Brain and Spinal Cord Changes in Individuals with Friedreich Ataxia), which is not on this map. Cited by 15 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
A Natural History Study to TRACK Brain and Spinal Cord Changes in Individuals with Friedreich Ataxia (TRACK-FA)
Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed, 18 citations in OpenAlex.
- MRI end-points for clinical trials in ataxias: recommendations from the Ataxia Global Initiative MRI Biomarkers Working Group.Nature reviews. Neurology · 2026Review
- Hereditary Ataxias: From Pathogenesis and Clinical Features to Neuroimaging, Fluid, and Digital Biomarkers-A Scoping Review.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- Automated Deep Learning-based Segmentation of the Dentate Nucleus Using Quantitative Susceptibility Mapping MRI.Radiology. Artificial intelligence · 2025Article
- Neuroimaging Biomarkers for Friedreich Ataxia: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of the TRACK-FA Study.Annals of neurology · 2025Observational
- The Natural History Study and Biomarker Collection of the Clinical Research Consortium for the Study of Cerebellar Ataxia (CRC-SCA).Cerebellum (London, England) · 2025Review
- Predictive machine learning and multimodal data to develop highly sensitive, composite biomarkers of disease progression in Friedreich ataxia.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- A global perspective on research advances and future challenges in Friedreich ataxia.Nature reviews. Neurology · 2025Review
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- Article
- Dietary and lifestyle interventions for the management of hereditary ataxias.Frontiers in nutrition · 2025Review
- Review
- New and Emerging Drug and Gene Therapies for Friedreich Ataxia.CNS drugs · 2024Review
- Reproducible Spinal Cord Quantitative MRI Analysis with the Spinal Cord Toolbox.Magnetic resonance in medical sciences : MRMS : an official journal of Japan Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine · 2024Review
- MR Imaging in Ataxias: Consensus Recommendations by the Ataxia Global Initiative Working Group on MRI Biomarkers.Cerebellum (London, England) · 2024Review
- Spinal cord magnetic resonance imaging and spectroscopy detect early-stage alterations and disease progression in Friedreich ataxia.Brain communications · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
37 authors at 14 institutions in 6 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionDrug development for neurodegenerative diseases such as Friedreich's ataxia (FRDA) is limited by a lack of validated, sensitive biomarkers of pharmacodynamic response in affected tissue and disease progression. Studies employing neuroimaging measures to track FRDA have thus far been limited by their small sample sizes and limited follow up. TRACK-FA, a longitudinal, multi-site, and multi-modal neuroimaging natural history study, aims to address these shortcomings by enabling better understanding of underlying pathology and identifying sensitive, clinical trial ready, neuroimaging biomarkers for FRDA.
methods200 individuals with FRDA and 104 control participants will be recruited across seven international study sites. Inclusion criteria for participants with genetically confirmed FRDA involves, age of disease onset ≤ 25 years, Friedreich's Ataxia Rating Scale (FARS) functional staging score of ≤ 5, and a total modified FARS (mFARS) score of ≤ 65 upon enrolment. The control cohort is matched to the FRDA cohort for age, sex, handedness, and years of education. Participants will be evaluated at three study visits over two years. Each visit comprises of a harmonized multimodal Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Spectroscopy (MRS) scan of the brain and spinal cord; clinical, cognitive, mood and speech assessments and collection of a blood sample. Primary outcome measures, informed by previous neuroimaging studies, include measures of: spinal cord and brain morphometry, spinal cord and brain microstructure (measured using diffusion MRI), brain iron accumulation (using Quantitative Susceptibility Mapping) and spinal cord biochemistry (using MRS). Secondary and exploratory outcome measures include clinical, cognitive assessments and blood biomarkers. DISCUSSION: Prioritising immediate areas of need, TRACK-FA aims to deliver a set of sensitive, clinical trial-ready neuroimaging biomarkers to accelerate drug discovery efforts and better understand disease trajectory. Once validated, these potential pharmacodynamic biomarkers can be used to measure the efficacy of new therapeutics in forestalling disease progression. CLINICAL
trial registrationClinicalTrails.gov Identifier: NCT04349514.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.