Active clinical trials for "Hypercholesterolemia"

To conduct focused studies of lipoprotein physiology and pathophysiology in genetically characterized patients with the objectives of understanding disease mechanisms, developing better treatments, and identifying and preventing early vascular disease.

A layer of cells called the endothelium line the walls of blood vessels. These cells produce substances that control the tone of blood vessels and thus control blood flow through the vessel. This regulating activity of the endothelium is dysfunctional in several diseases of the heart and blood vessels, including high blood pressure and high levels of cholesterol. Previous research has pointed toward a decrease in the action of nitric oxide (NO) as the cause of this abnormality. Nitric oxide is a substance produced by the cells of the endothelium that plays a role in the relaxation of blood vessels. In this project researchers plan to study blood flow through the blood vessels in patients forearms after receiving four different drugs: sodium nitroprusside, acetylcholine, L-NMMA, and aspirin. These four drugs act on the blood vessels of the forearm through different mechanisms. Acetylcholine and sodium nitroprusside are drugs that open the blood vessels of the forearm and increase blood flow through the vessel. L-NMMA is a drug that blocks production of nitric oxide (NO). Aspirin's role in controlling blood flow is unknown. Patients participating in this research study will not directly benefit from it. However, the study will contribute to researchers understanding of diseases of the blood vessels and heart.

The study aims at testing the level of adherence to the Mediterranean diet among health-workers, comparing this aspect to the extra-working physical activity, anthropometric measures and prevalence of cardiovascular, metabolic and neoplastic diseases previously diagnosed.

Familial hypercholesterolemia is a genetic disease characterized by increased levels of low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C). It is underdiagnosed and undertreated despite relatively high prevalence and significant association with increased mortality.

Several types of human cells convert cholesterol into other molecules, including oxysterols. Oxysterols can promote breast cancer growth and help tumours to spread. Some breast cancer types recruit other cells (host cells) able to produce oxysterols within the local cancer environment. How these other cells help breast tumours metastasize or resist chemotherapy is not well understood, but epidemiological and clinical studies suggest elevated LDL-C is associated with worse survival, poorer response to therapy and an increased propensity for disease relapse in breast cancer patients. In this trial the investigators will test how an LDL-C lowering dietary intervention (using commercially available phytosterol added food products), alters the ability of non-cancer cells (adipocytes, fibroblasts and macrophages) collected from high LDL-C volunteers to change chemotherapy response and metastatic process in breast cancer cells. In this trial, volunteers with high LDL-C levels will be recruited by the University of Leeds, and divided randomly into two arms that cross over. The experimental period (yogurt drink enriched with phytosterols) and placebo period (non-enriched yogurt drink) will each last for 8 weeks, alternated with a 4 weeks of wash-out period. Samples will be collected 4 times (week-0, week-8, week-12, week-20) during the study and will include blood, white blood cells (macrophages), and fat tissue cells. Measurements will include oxysterol, LDL-C and phytosterol concentrations (volunteers' serum/plasma, media from the host cells/breast cancer experimental culture) and how the host cells alter the behaviour of cancer cells in the laboratory.

The aim of the study is to assess if abnormal lipid levels in childhood could cause early damage of the inner layer of the vessels, the endothelium. Dysfunction of the endothelium is the first event in the development of atherosclerosis, is present at all stages of atherosclerosis and is potentially reversible in childhood. It has been suggested that dyslipidemia, via its detrimental effects on endothelium, could impair renal function. This study will assess the dysfunction of the kidneys in children with dyslipidemia.

The study evaluates if the relationship between total serum cholesterol is dependent on the total serum homocysteine. Fasting blood samples will taken from participants and two batteries of cognitive scales will be used to asses any cognitive decline.

The purpose of the overall study is to improve medication use rates among veterans by looking at the risk factors of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL). It will involve patients who have high LDL-C level (<130mg/dl) and /or may have difficulty taking their medications based on how often they refilled their medications in the last 12 months. The investigators will test an innovative adherence packaging relative to usual care. The primary hypothesis is that veterans who receive the intervention will have greater improvement in their medication adherence as measured by pill refill at 6 and 12 months of follow up as compared to the control group.

This is an open-label, randomized, two treatment, two sequences, two periods crossover study, using a crossover 2x2 design, where each subject will be randomly assigned to reference or test formulation, in order to evaluate if both formulations are bioequivalent.

This study intends to determine the effects of genetic polymorphisms on statin response and daily systemic exposure (24-hour area under the time-concentration curve) of statins in African-American patients.