Active clinical trials for "Communicable Diseases"

The foods we eat - our diet - can affect whether we develop diseases during our lives, such as diabetes or heart disease. This is because the amount and types of foods we eat can affect our weight, and because different foods are metabolised (processed) by the body in different ways. Scientists have also found that the bacteria in our guts (the gut microbiome) affects our metabolism, weight and health and that, together with a person's diet and metabolism, could be used to predict appetite and how meals affect levels of sugar (glucose) and fats (lipids) found in blood after eating. If blood sugar and fat are too high too often, there's a greater chance of developing diseases such as diabetes. The gut microbiome is different in different people. Only 10-20% of the types of bacteria found in our guts are found in everyone. This might mean that the best diet to prevent disease needs matching to a person's gut microbiome and it might be possible to find personalised foods or diets that will help reduce the chance of developing chronic disease as well as metabolic syndrome. The study investigators are recruiting volunteers aged 18 years or over from the TwinsUK cohort to take part in a study that aims to answer the questions above. The participants will need to come in for a clinical visit where they will give blood, stool, saliva and urine samples. The participants will also be given a standardised breakfast and lunch and fitted with a glucose monitor (Abbott Freestyle Libre-CE marked) to monitor their blood sugar levels. After the visit, the participants will be asked to eat standardised meals at home for breakfast for a further 12 days. Participants will also be required to prick their fingers at regular intervals to collect small amounts of blood, and to record constantly their appetite, food, physical activity and sleep using apps and wearable devices.

The main objective of this study is to qualify and quantify, by microscopy techniques, CD4+ lymphocyte abnormalities during HIV infection in 7 patients who are naive to any ARV (antiretroviral ) treatment and secondarily to follow the kinetics of reversion of the observed abnormalities, as well as the evolution of the levels of PLA2G1B and its cofactor gp41 in 8 patients under ARV treatment

Children enrolled in the study will receive either the prebiotic inulin or a placebo for 21 days during the study period. They will start taking the product seven days before transplant starts until 14 days after transplant. Stool will be collected twice weekly until thirty days after transplant or discharge, whichever occurs first. Stool samples will be sampled for metagenomic sequencing to identify the diversity of bacteria within the stool. They will also be analyzed for amount of short-chain fatty acid content (a breakdown product of inulin) as well as for presence of genes that confer antibiotic resistance. From 30 days after transplant until 100 days after transplant, two stool samples will be collected at regularly scheduled follow up appointments (near day 60 and day 100). No product (inulin or placebo) will be given during this time frame. The study period ends 100 days after transplant.

To determine efficacy of using 3 minutes povidone-soaked suture in reducing surgical site infection during wound closure in elective surgery.

Study hypothesis: Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) patients with chronic bacterial colonization have lower levels of mucins and antimicrobial peptides in their airways

Background: Malignant tumors may lead to a catabolic state with loss of muscle and adipose tissue. The full picture of catabolism is termed cachexia and is associated with significant morbidity and mortality of cancer patients. Although the full picture is rarely observed up to 50% of children with cancer suffer from significant malnourishment. Additionally to tumor-induced catabolism, side-effects of chemotherapy may be problematic for the patients. In this regard up to 60% of children suffer from gastrointestinal mucositis presenting with nausea, vomiting, diarrhea or constipation and abdominal pain. In the worst case, mucositis may lead to bacterial translocation with life-threatening inflammatory response. Clinically this may require a reduction of the dosage or the number of chemotherapy cycles resulting in reduced effectivity. Up to now the therapy of mucositis is only symptomatic. Recent research of the applicant has shown a significant reduction of Lactobacilli in mice with neuroblastoma (a malignant childhood tumor). The dysbiosis was associated with catabolism, increased gut permeability and inflammation. Astonishingly, chemotherapy alone also leads to a significant reduction of Lactobacilli compared to sham mice, which may be linked to the development of mucositis clinically. Overall, the intestinal microbiome seems to play an essential role in the development of tumor-associated catabolism and chemotherapy-induced mucositis. Aim: The aim of this project is to determine if the changes in the intestinal microbiome observed in mice can also be seen in children with neuroblastoma. Methods: One part of the study will include 10 children with neuroblastoma (inclusion after verification of the diagnosis) and 10 healthy controls. The fecal microbiome will be determined by 16S-ribosomal deoxyribonucleic acid (rDNA) pyrosequencing. Volatile organic compounds in the breath will be sampled and measured by Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectroscopy. A basic science human work package will address the question if there are differences. In the second part serial investigations in children with neuroblastoma will assess whether or not these patients show alterations of the intestinal microbiome under chemotherapy.

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is the most common cause of congenital infection, with approximately 0.5% of pregnant women being infected during pregnancy. CMV transmission to the fetus occurs in about one third of women who are infected in first trimester. Babies infected before birth are at risk for serious neurological complications such as intellectual disability, seizures, deafness, and even death. Most couples facing a diagnosis of congenital cytomegalovirus infection in their unborn baby focus heavily on the predicted neurological outcome for their child. To date, methods to assess brain development in fetuses have been mainly limited to detecting structural brain abnormalities by ultrasound. However, these ultrasound signs may not become apparent until very late in pregnancy, and some neurological disability is not accompanied by any structural brain changes. More research on methods of predicting neurodevelopmental outcome independent of structural brain malformations before third trimester is urgently needed. The purpose of this study is to investigate a new method of studying the health of unborn babies using amniotic fluid. Amniocentesis is often performed after maternal CMV infection to diagnose fetal infection. Prior research by Dr Hui has demonstrated that cell free RNA in amniotic fluid can provide meaningful information from multiple organs including the fetal brain. The investigators propose to collect and analyse a small sample of amniotic fluid to detect which genes are turned "on" or "off" (gene expression) in a fetus that has a congenital CMV infection, compared to those without any infection. The genes that are differentially expressed in CMV infected fetuses will then be analysed to provide information on the broad physiological processes that are altered due to the infection ("functional analysis") and identify neurodevelopmental gene transcripts of interest for future studies ("biomarker discovery").

The purpose of this study is to assess the impact of disseminating information on comparative performance, along with actionable messages on how to improve health outcomes, to district-level decision-makers in India using a randomized, controlled design. This information should improve prioritization of health services by district health officers, budget allocation for health, and implementation of priority health services at the district level.

The primary purpose of this experimental therapy is to treat, with the aid of bacteriophages, patients with non-healing postoperative wounds or bone, upper respiratory tract, genital or urinary tract infections in whom extensive antibiotic therapy failed or the use of the targeted drug is contraindicated.

In the presented project, the role of heme oxygenase 1 and 2 in the procesess associated with fibroproduction in the chronic HCV infection will be studied. Heme oxygenase expression will be evaluated by the techniques of molecular genetics and immunohistochemistry, both in the liver tissue and in peripheral blood mononuclear cells. These parameters will be correlated with basic virological and clinical characteristics of the chronic HCV infection. The investigators' expected results may help in understanding the mechanisms of fibroproduction in chronic HVC infection and, therefore, contribute to explain individual differences in the development of chronic HCV infection.