Active clinical trials for "Inflammation"

Protection of brain development is a major aim in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Neonatal encephalopathy (NE) occurs in 1.8 to 7.7 infants per 1000 births. Over the last six years, several randomized control trials have demonstrated that therapeutic hypothermia reduces the rate of death or disability at 18 months of age among infants who survived. However, the neurodevelopmental outcome in milder NE not treated with hypothermia remains unclear. A multicenter prospective observational study will be conducted to determine biological changes of mild neonatal encephalopathy who are not recruited for therapeutic hypothermia .

Aim : To compare, among patients with an uncontrolled moderate to severe asthma, the blood eosinophil levels of smokers and non-smokers. Secondary aims: In uncontrolled moderate to severe asthmatic subjects, to compare between asthmatic smokers and non-smokers: sputum eosinophils counts, fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO), pre and post bronchodilator Forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) / Forced vital capacity (FVC), Asthma-related quality of life, asthma exacerbations during the year preceding enrolment in the study, Medical direct and indirect costs related to asthma during the year preceding enrolment in the study, and adherence to asthma treatment during the year preceding enrolment in the study. Methods: Cross sectional observational study. Never-smoker and smoker asthmatics treated with at least 2 controller medications with a smoking history ≥10 pack/year with a ACQ score ≥ 1.5 points will be identified in the database RESP. Their clinical data will be matched to the Régie de l'assurance médicale du Quebec (RAMQ) and Maintenance et exploitation des données pour l'étude de la clientèle hospitalière (MED-ECHO) administrative databases and reMed (data on medications for patients with private health insurance) in order to access to data on medical services, hospitalisations and medications delivered by pharmacies. T

The purpose of this study is to define the natural history and causes of chronic critical illness (CCI) in surgical intensive care patients who have had sepsis. The investigator wants to study a sub-population of sepsis patients that have intra-abdominal sepsis. The purpose of this research study is to define the acute changes in frailty (weakness, slowness, loss of muscle mass), comorbidity (medical problems) and disability (difficulty with mobility and performing routine daily functions) after having an infection that is located in the abdominal cavity or torso. The investigator believes having severe infection contributes to acute and permanent changes in these areas, especially in those of advanced age.

A suture is a biomedical device that is made of natural or synthetic materials. Sutures are used to close tissue surfaces until wounds heal and regain their ability to withstand normal stresses. Although different suture materials are available for various dental procedures, clinicians commonly neglect to select sutures based on their mechanical properties and capabilities. Instead, clinicians rely on their clinical experience to determine which suture material will suffice for wound closure and healing. To our knowledge, there have been no published studies detailing the results of mechanical testing on sutures after clinical application. The aim of this study is to clinically, histologically, and mechanically assess the four common sutures used in periodontal and dental surgery, with the hopes of providing clinicians with a guide that will allow them to choose sutures based on the clinical, histological, mechanical properties that best fit the stress and strain applied to the wound.

COVID-19 is a rapidly evolving pandemic with approximately 5% of all patients which require intensive care unit admission. In critically ill patients infected with COVID-19, approximately 15% had severe shock requiring medications to increase blood pressure. It appears that blood vessel tone is altered and microcirculation is not well regulated in patients with COVID-19. The underlying pathophysiology and contributing factors are unknown. The association with subsequent organ dysfunction and outcome is also unclear. Therefore, the investigators aim to investigate serial changes of relevant biomarkers in this population to improve the understanding of this disease, to investigate the association with clinically important outcomes and to find out how best to treat patients. The data will serve to develop strategies for individualised management of this high-risk group.

Emerging evidence indicates that circadian rhythms may be disrupted following cancer and its treatment, and that circadian rhythm disruption may be an underlying pathophysiological mechanism of cancer- and cancer treatment-related symptoms (CRS) such as fatigue, sleep disturbance, cognitive impairment, and depressed mood. Given the detrimental effect of CRS on cancer survivors' quality of life, and a pressing demand for effective interventions to treat CRS, there is a need for a comprehensive examination of circadian disruption related to cancer and its treatment, and its association with CRS. The study will prospectively examine circadian rhythms and a CRS composite score in recently diagnosed breast cancer patients from prior to surgery or chemotherapy to 12 months later. A matched healthy control group will serve as a comparison.

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic presents a great challenge to global health. The first case was identified in December 2019 in Wuhan, China and since has infected nearly 100 million people and claimed almost 2 million lives worldwide. In response, the medical community and scientists have worked hard to develop effective therapies and guidelines to treat a wide range of symptoms including the use of the antiviral drug remdesivir, convalescent plasma, antibiotics, steroids, and anticoagulant therapy. To prevent the spread of the disease, multiple vaccines based on mRNA and DNA technologies that include inactivated viral components have been developed and millions of doses are currently being administered worldwide. Early analysis of data from the phase III Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccine trials suggested the vaccine was more than 90% effective in preventing the illness with a good safety profile (Polack et al., 2020). However, there are still many unknowns regarding the long-term safety of these newer vaccine technologies and the level and duration of immunogenicity. SARS-CoV-2 infection results in seroconversion and production of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. The antibodies may suppress viral replication through neutralization but might also participate in COVID-19 pathogenesis through a process termed antibody-dependent enhancement (Lu et al., 2020). Rapid progress has been made in the research of antibody response and therapy in COVID-19 patients, including characterization of the clinical features of antibody responses in different populations infected by SARS-CoV-2, treatment of COVID-19 patients with convalescent plasma and intravenous immunoglobin products, isolation and characterization of a large panel of monoclonal neutralizing antibodies and early clinical testing, as well as clinical results from several COVID-19 vaccine candidates. In this study, we plan to assess the effic of both vaccines on the healthcare workers. As healthcare workers begin to receive their first vaccination dosage, we will start looking for traces of antibodies within the blood and saliva. The data provided will help us determine the efficacy of the vaccine over a period of 1 year, identify any difference in efficacy amongst different populations (gender, age, and ethnicities) differences among vaccine types, demographics and follow-up on any potential side effects. We will collaborate with Nirmidas Biotech Inc. based in Palto Alto, California, a Stanford University spinoff on this project. Nirmidas Biotech. Inc is a young diagnostic company that have received several FDA EUA tests for COVID-19. We will perform IgG/IgM antibody detection by the NIRMIDAS MidaSpot™ COVID-19 Antibody Combo Detection Kit approved by FDA EUA for POC testing in our hospital site for qualitative antibody testing. We will then send dry blood spot and saliva to Nirmidas for the pGOLD™ COVID-19 High Accuracy IgG/IgM Assay to quantify antibody levels and avidity, both of which are important to immunity. The pGOLD assay is a novel nanotechnology assay platform capable of quantifying antibody levels and binding affinity to viruses. We collaborated recently with Nirmidas on this platform and published a joint paper in Nature Biomedical Engineering on COVID-19 Ab pGOLD assay (Liu et al., 2020). It is also capable of detecting antibodies in saliva samples and could offer a non-invasive approach to assessing antibody response for vaccination.

Atherosclerotic coronary heart disease is a condition thought to involve low-grade inflammation. Several reports, clinical and epidemiological, have demonstrated that intake of fish oil may be beneficial in attenuating the inflammatory process. Still, however, there are lacking data in respect to whether differences in composition of various marine oils may influence the inflammatory status differently. The hypothesis of the current study is that extract from the antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) is better than traditional fish oils when compared head-to-head with balanced composition of omega 3 content on inflammatory status.

Migraine is prevalent in 10-12% of the population. It involves the development of a cranial perivascular neurogenic inflammation. Recent information suggests that migraine might be a risk factor to stroke. The possible mechanisms that might relate migraine and stroke are: 1. Migraineous infarction 2. A primary endothelial disorder. 3. Genetic relation 4. An ongoing inflammatory process. C reactive protein (CRP) is a sensitive marker for an inflammatory process.The data on the relation of migraine to inflammation is limited. The aim of the current study is to assess inflammatory factors as possible markers for migraine.

The aim of the study is to develop a simple computer program, evaluating nutritional status of HD patients. The programming will enable to perform a nutritional screening, based on biochemical measures, taken as part of HD patients' routine care every month. The program will identify patients at risk of malnutrition, define the degree of malnutrition, and identify patients who at risk for increased morbidity and mortality. Patients who are at risk of malnutrition will be treated by a standard nutrition; dietary counseling (high protein diet, appropriate calories intake and use of oral supplementation. Intra-dialytic parenteral nutrition (IDPN) will be used for patients who fail to improve nutrition status by standard nutrition care, as a second line treatment. The effect of IDPN on their nutrition status will be evaluated. A sub group of 30 patients will provide blood smample to assess a NIR method for Cr determination as creatinine is one of the parameters our nutrition score is based on.