Active clinical trials for "Inflammation"

The overall study objectives are to examine whether: Persons with spinal cord injury (SCI) having elevated body mass are at greater cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk for fasting and postprandial lipidemia, glycemia, and vascular inflammation than persons with SCI having 'normal' body mass, and An inexpensive, low-risk, widely-available pharmacotherapy safely reduces CVD risks associated with fasting and postprandial lipidemia, glycemia, and vascular inflammation.

Inflammation and endothelial dysfunction are being increasingly recognized as key etiological factors in the development of atherosclerosis and subsequent cardiovascular disease (CVD). These pro-atherogenic states are strongly correlated and often found co-segregating among individuals with obesity and the metabolic syndrome. There is increasing evidence to support the use in clinical practice of these novel markers of atherosclerosis and CVD risk. Recent data from the JUPITER study (Justification for the Use of Statins in Primary Prevention: An Intervention Trial Evaluating Rosuvastatin) has provided undisputable evidence that treating patients with elevated plasma CRP concentrations, a marker of systemic subclinical inflammation, leads to marked reduction in the risk of CHD even in patients with highly desirable LDL-C levels. There is also accumulating evidence associating endothelial dysfunction, which is defined as incapacity of the arteries to vasodilate when required, to an increased risk of CVD. While there are more and more studies on how diet affects inflammation and endothelial function, the impact of dairy consumption per se on these novel risk factors for CVD has not been well characterized. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of dairy consumption on markers of inflammation and other risk factors in men and women with low grade systemic inflammation.

The primary objective of this study is to compare the incidence of postoperative hypergranulation tissue formation after gastrostomy tube placement among children randomized to one of three treatments, in addition to measuring tube dislodgements and rates of resource utilization for complications.

Up to 35% of hip fracture patients have been shown to experience heart injury after surgery, and as many as 10% have a heart attack or die in the three months after surgery. Hip and knee arthroplasty patients are also at risk of cardiovascular complications. Patients who have these complications have higher levels of inflammation postoperatively. Statins (such as atorvastatin/Lipitor) lower cholesterol and also lessen inflammation. Both of these effects are important in preventing heart attacks. Statins have been shown to reduce the risk of heart attacks in non-surgical patients, and to protect from heart attacks in patients having heart surgery. Whether statins can prevent heart attacks in orthopedic patients is not known. In this pilot study the investigators will treat 30 orthopedic surgery patients (hip fracture, hip or knee arthroplasty) with either atorvastatin or placebo (a capsule with no study drug). Patients will start the study drug prior to surgery and take it for 45 days after surgery. Neither the doctors nor the patients will know whether they are taking atorvastatin or placebo. The investigators will look for evidence of inflammation and heart injury after surgery. The investigators hypothesize that atorvastatin will lessen the degree of postoperative inflammation found in these patients. In this study, the investigators will use a very sensitive test of heart injury that can detect problems even when patients have no symptoms. The investigators hypothesize that this test will demonstrate silent heart injury in over 50% of the hip fracture patients and over 30% of arthroplasty patients in our study. The results of this trial will help us to develop a larger study in 1000 hip fracture and joint replacement patients to determine whether atorvastatin protects orthopedic surgery patients from heart injury and other complications of surgery.

The aim of the project is to compare NBI endoscopy and standard endoscopic method using white light and evaluate accuracy both methods in early detection and diagnosis hypopharyngeal and laryngeal precancerous and cancerous lesions. A higher contrast between the mucosal epithelium and blood vessels is achieved in NBI endoscopy using filtered light comparing to white light observations. This allows detection of small mucosal changes, few millimetres in diameter, which are not observable using white light. The second aim in patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the upper aerodigestive tract is to compare extension of mucosal lesions by evaluation of NBI endoscopy and white light endoscopy, which is crucial for perform targeted biopsy and for determination of resection margins in cancer surgery. The investigators expect that dysplastic changes of mucosa or early laryngeal cancerous lesions are detected in white light endoscopy rarely. In case our hypothesis is confirmed, frequency of precancerous and early cancerous lesions of hypopharynx and larynx is more common in patients with non-specific symptoms of laryngeal and pharyngeal diseases.

The purpose of this study is to determine the efficacy of pomegranate extract and pomegranate juice on skin inflammation and aging. The information gained from this study may lead to the development of a pomegranate product that can decrease the effects of aging, inflammation and harmful bacteria on the skin. In this study, two pomegranate products (extract and juice) will be compared with a placebo, a study product that looks like pomegranate extract, but contains no active ingredients.

Traffic related air pollution is a well-recognised and much studied contributor to smog and is linked to a number of adverse health outcomes. Although traffic pollutants can travel long distances, exposure to the highest levels of the raw emissions can occur closest to the source; e.g. in a car in dense traffic conditions. Time spent in-vehicle may contribute up to half of commuters' daily exposure to certain air pollutants. Most new cars now have or allow for a cabin air filter, but it is not known how well cabin air filtration can reduce exposure to traffic-related air pollution. This intervention study will measure commuters' exposure to air pollutants in rush hour traffic. It will evaluate the impact of this exposure on stress hormones in saliva, and short term cardiopulmonary health indicators such as blood pressure, heart rate variability and respiratory inflammation. It will also look at effects on cognition (mental processing and judgement) in this real world environment where any deficit could be important to safety. In addition, the study will examine whether cabin air filtration can reduce the exposure to traffic related air pollutants and result in improvements in short term cardiopulmonary and cognitive function. This research will contribute to our understanding of how this environment contributes to Canadians' overall air pollution exposure as well as the potential health impacts. It will also test a potentially valuable and economical means of reducing exposure to traffic related air pollution in a commuting environment. The study may also guide the future implementation of the use of cabin filters as an exposure reduction intervention. Overall Project Objectives: Can cabin air filtration effectively reduce exposure to traffic related air pollution? Does commuter exposure to air pollution affect short term stress, and cardiopulmonary and cognitive function? Can cabin air filtration mitigate the health effects of commuters' exposure to air pollution?

This study will evaluate the effects of inhaled fluticasone on cell counts and inflammatory mediators measured in sputum of healthy volunteers following exposure to inhaled lipopolysaccharide.

Non-steroidal Anti-inflammation Drugs can effectively reduce the lower urinary tract symptoms from benign prostatic hyperplasia

Studies have shown that patients with ESRD on hemodialysis have high levels of inflammatory markers which may contribute to the high rates of cardiovascular disease and mortality seen in these patients. Vitamin D use in dialysis patients has been shown to have a survival benefit, with paricalcitol at advantage over calcitriol. Since there is some evidence for involvement of the vitamin D receptor in inflammation, this study is designed to look for an effect of paricalcitol on markers of inflammation in hemodialysis patients.