Active clinical trials for "Inflammation"

We wish to investigate the effects of 3 weeks of orally administered fish oil supplements on the airway sensitivity (provoking dose to cause a 15% fall in FEV1, PD15) to inhaled mannitol (AridolTM). Mannitol, an osmotic stimulus has been demonstrated as a useful model for exercise-induced asthma. We also wish to investigate if there is any associated improvement associated with selected markers of airway inflammation that can be measured in the sputum, blood, urine and exhaled breath condensate. Oral fish oil supplements have recently been demonstrated to be effective inhibitors of exercise-induced asthma, in association with an inhibition of markers of inflammation, over a 3 week treatment period. This finding has important implications in the treatment of asthma as this is a faster and more effective improvement than what is seen with inhaled corticosteroids on exercise-induced asthma. This observation requires validation and further investigation. We wish to study this in two patient groups; (a) steroid naïve asthmatics taking beta2 agonist when required and (b) asthmatics taking regular inhaled corticosteroids < 1000 mcg/day.

The purpose of this phase 3 study is to determine if difluprednate ophthalmic emulsion is effective in the treatment of postoperative inflammation.

Chronic hemodialysis (CHD) patients display multiple metabolic abnormalities related to advanced uremia. Despite vigorous attempts to prevent these abnormalities and their consequences, most CHD patients suffer from a unique form of nutritional derangement, which can be termed as "uremic wasting". Several studies have demonstrated that the presence of uremic wasting, especially the degree of loss of muscle mass, sharply increases mortality and hospitalization rate in CHD patients. Several factors have been thought to be associated with uremic wasting, including hormonal derangement, anorexia, physical inactivity, and concurrent illnesses. Chronic inflammation, also highly prevalent in these patients, causes muscle catabolism in animal models and certain clinical conditions. Epidemiological studies show an association between chronic inflammation and uremic wasting in hemodialysis patients indicating a possible causal relationship. The cause for the activated inflammatory state in CHD patients is believed to be multi-factorial. Nevertheless, it is certainly important for the host to limit its biological activity by eliciting a stronger anti-inflammatory response, for example through the production of naturally occurring receptor antagonist. Interleukin 1 beta, one of the major pro-inflammatory cytokines has been shown to be associated with protein catabolism in several chronic disease states, including advanced uremia. A balance between interleukin 1 beta (agonist) and its naturally occurring receptor antagonist IL-1ra may play a pivotal role in controlling the inflammatory response and its consequences in this population. The overall goal of this particular grant application is to examine the short-term effects of the administration of the recombinant form of IL-1ra on 1) chronic inflammatory state and 2) protein homeostasis in chronically inflamed CHD patients. We have updated our protocol to perform an interim analysis. The interim analysis will be performed after half of the planned study sample has been enrolled (14 subjects; 7 in each arm). The interim analysis has been approved by the Data Safety Monitoring Board.

This study involves a drug called celecoxib, which is commonly prescribed for people with arthritis. Arthritis is caused by inflammation of the joints or tissues. Inflammation also occurs in the blood vessels that lead to your heart, and the purpose of this study is to see if celecoxib can reduce the blood vessel inflammation associated with high cholesterol and heart disease.

This prospective, randomized, controlled study aims to investigate the effects of atorvastatin treatment in hemodialysis patients concerning progression of coronary artery calcification, progression of carotid artery intima-media thickness, endothelial function, and inflammation.

Background: When there is a threat to the body, the immune system triggers inflammation. Too much inflammation can damage the body or cause painful symptoms. Some people with HIV feel sick after they start HIV drugs because their recovering immune systems cause too much inflammation. Or their immune systems can become activated all the time. This can cause serious health problems. Researchers want to test if the drug CC-11050 helps treat inflammation in people taking HIV drugs. Objectives: To test if CC-11050 is safe and well-tolerated for people with HIV who are taking HIV drugs. To see if it reduces inflammation. Eligibility: People ages 18 and older with HIV who have been on antiretroviral therapy for at least 1 year. Design: Participants will be screened with: Medicine review Physical exam and medical history Blood and urine tests Chest x-ray Electrocardiogram (ECG): Soft electrodes on the skin record heart signals. Participants will be randomly assigned to take capsules of either CC-11050 or a placebo. They will take the capsules every day for 12 weeks. They will continue to take their HIV drugs. Participants will have a baseline visit within 2 months of screening. This includes: Physical exam and medical history Blood and urine tests ECG Leukapheresis: Blood is removed by a needle in one arm and passed through a machine that removes white blood cells. The rest of the blood is returned through a needle in the other arm. Participants will have follow-up visits 2, 4, 8, 12, and 16 weeks after the baseline visit. These may include repeats of some of the baseline tests.

The purpose of this study is to explore a possible link between the autonomic nervous system and immune function in patients with HIV. Sometimes HIV can cause these nerves to function abnormally, this is called HIV-associated autonomic neuropathy (HIV-AN). HIV-AN is a condition that is different from person to person. In some people it causes no symptoms and is not harmful, in others it may cause symptoms such as dizziness or lightheadedness, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, constipation, or problems urinating. Most people with HIV-AN don't know that they have it. One of the important nerves in the autonomic nervous system is the vagus nerve. Abnormal function of the vagus nerve may cause stomach and intestinal slowing, which could lead to an overgrowth of bacteria. The body senses these bacteria and tries to fight them, leading to inflammation. In this study the researchers will test whether abnormal function of the vagus nerve in HIV is associated with stomach slowing and overgrowth of bacteria, and if a drug called pyridostigmine can help.

Abdominal obesity is a major risk factor for heart attack, stroke, peripheral vascular disease, dementia, cancer and Type 2 diabetes. The central hypothesis for this proposal is that pro-atherogenic mediators emanate from inflammation in deep subcutaneous adipose tissue (dSAT) that are released into the systemic circulation and damage the arterial vasculature. The investigators postulate that inflammation of dSAT, when quantified by macrophage phenotyping/enumeration will be a) closely linked with systemic levels of pro-atherogenic mediators and b) tightly associated with endothelial dysfunction and loss of central arterial elasticity, which are highly predictive of future cardiovascular disease (CVD) complications. These relationships provide the basis for macrophage-targeted therapy to reduce obesity-related inflammation and impaired arterial vasoreactivity. The investigators will evaluate a novel approach using a dipeptidyl peptidase 4 inhibitor (DPP4i) sitagliptin, which blocks signal transduction for monocyte/macrophage activation. Thus, in abdominally obese, 18-40 years-old adults without clinical CVD, the show study is expected to show that sitagliptin versus placebo will: significantly improve early measures of arterial damage (brachial artery endothelial dysfunction and reduced carotid elasticity). significantly attenuate inflammation in dSAT and local production of pro-inflammatory mediators in adipose tissue, which will be associated with decreases in systemic pro-atherogenic mediators that contribute to atherogenesis. Since many obese persons fail to sustain weight loss by lifestyle interventions including diet and exercise, an important public health goal is to identify relatively safe alternative strategies that can be used pre-emptively in "asymptomatic" obese persons when arterial dysfunction and damage is still reversible before atherosclerosis progresses to serious CVD events.

Rationale : Electric muscle stimulation reduced critical-illness related weakness in patients with severe sepsis and septic shock. But optimal protocol of the stimulation in unknown. Hypothesis: Focal muscle contraction may improved the muscle power and have systemic anti-inflammatory via cytokine secretion . The difference of electricity used in upper limb or lower limb stimulation may lead to different effect. Study design: Stratified randomized parallel control study, comparing Biceps, Quadriceps electric muscle stimulation vs. non-stimulation group. Participant: adult patients with severe sepsis and acute respiratory failure requiring mechanical ventilation. Intervention: daily stimulation of bilateral Biceps or Quadriceps by programmed electric devices 32 minutes, 5 days/week Outcome: Primary outcome: Ventilator-dependent days Secondary outcome: change of hand drip muscle power/interleukin-1b/interleukin-6/interleukin-8/TNF-alpha

The investigators are attempting to determine if the response to aspirin in women is related to the level of estrogen and progesterone that a woman has.