Active clinical trials for "Inflammation"

The goal of the study is to determine whether grape consumption can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease by reducing the presence of inflammatory molecules and positively altering cholesterol levels, lipid profiles, and immune cell responses.

The goal of the study is to find out whether a high fat meal increases blood lipids and causes monocyte (white blood cell) activation, and whether blueberry intake at the same meal lessens monocyte activation in healthy people.

Determine the effects of 8 week Investigational Supplement on cellular detoxification and gene expression profiles

Inflammation is reported as one of the most recent hypotheses to explain BPH. Recent published works pointed out that urine and serum markers could be used for detection of prostatic inflammation. The aim of the study is to assess the activity on inflammation biomarkers (serum and urine inflammation markers) of Permixon® 160 mg hard capsule and Tamsulosine Arrow LP in the treatment of urinary symptoms related to BPH. The potential links between serum and urinary markers of inflammation and BPH clinical symptoms at baseline and on treatment will be explored.

The metabolic syndrome may be defined as the constellation of cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors that comprises obesity, type 2 diabetes, dyslipidemia, and hypertension. Lack of habitual physical activity and certain dietary patterns, including high-saturated fatty acids (SFA) intake, contribute to increase the risk of CVD, whereas the greatest risk reduction is related with monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA), mainly from olive oil, and omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA). Vitamin B3, as a major substrate for nicotinamide phosphoribosyltransferase (NAMPT), has also emerged as a nutritional intervention strategy for prevention of CVD. NAMPT has been shown to exert activities of central importance to cellular energetics and innate immunity. Within the cell, NAMPT is the rate-limiting step in a salvage pathway of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) biosynthesis. By virtue of this role, it can regulate cellular levels of NAD+ and thereby NAD+-consuming enzymes. NAMPT is also released by a variety of cells, and elevated levels can be found in the systemic circulation of subjects with a range of inflammatory disorders. Recent evidences suggest that, primarily due to its high MUFA content, olive oil is useful as an optimal fat for the modulation of CVD risk factors in the postprandial state. In addition, NAMPT has been shown to correlate with triglycerides in the fasting plasma, and a potential regulatory role for fatty acids on NAMPT expression has been proposed. The global aim of the project is to assess whether olive oil (MUFA), compared to other dietary fatty acids (SFA and omega-3 PUFA) and in association with vitamin B3 could have benefits on NAMPT-related inflammation and atherosclerosis. We hope to provide important novel insights on the relationship among dietary fatty acids, NAD+ metabolism, and metabolic syndrome. This aim is expected to be achieved in one principal objective: To elucidate the influence of olive oil (MUFA), butter (SFA) or fish oil (omega-3 PUFA) meals supplemented by vitamin B3 on postprandial NAMPT modulation and its involvement on leukocyte inflammatory response in subjects with metabolic syndrome.

Background: - Brain inflammation due to high alcohol intake may affect thinking, memory, and concentration. Researchers want to measure this using positron emission tomography (PET). Objective: - To study how excessive alcohol consumption affects brain function. Eligibility: Adults 30-75 years old who are moderate or severe alcohol drinkers. Healthy volunteers. Design: Participants will be screened with medical history, physical exam, interview, and blood and urine tests. Their breath will be tested for alcohol and recent smoking. Phase 1: Participants will stay in the hospital 3 days. They will have blood and heart tests and daily urine tests. A small plastic tube will be inserted by needle in each arm. One will go in a vein, the other in an artery. Participants will have 2 PET scans with 2 different radioactive compounds. Participants will lie on a bed that slides in and out of the scanner with a cap on their head. Participants will have magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans. Participants will lie in the scanner either resting with their eyes open or while performing an attention task. Participants will have tests of memory, attention, concentration, and thinking. They may answer questions, take tests, and perform simple actions. Phase 2 of the study will only be done if Phase 1 results show brain inflammation. Phase 2 will repeat Phase 1. For healthy volunteers, Phase 2 will begin 3 weeks after Phase 1. Other volunteers must not have alcohol for at least 3 weeks and stay in a hospital up to 4-6 weeks between Phase 1 and Phase 2. After Phase 2, they will have 5 follow-up calls over 3 months.

The aim of the project was the evaluation of the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects of a whole grain pasta, enriched in barley β-glucans and fortified with strains of Bacillus coagulans, versus a control wheat pasta on healthy volunteers, using a parallel randomized controlled trial.

A major limitation of standard hemodialysis is that it does not clear the plasma from interleukin-6 (IL-6) and p-cresol, two uremic toxins responsible for the high cardiovascular risk in end stage renal disease (ESRD). In the present study, we evaluated whether these compounds are removed by HFR-Supra, a double-chamber hemodiafiltration system in which the ultrafiltrate (UF) returns to the patient after its regeneration through a resin cartridge. We selected 8 inflamed chronic hemodialysis (HD) patients, which underwent a single 240 minutes HFR session. We studied the change in both IL-6 and p-cresol circulating levels, by comparing pre- and post-HFR serum concentrations. In addition, we compared Il-6 and p-cresol levels in the UF entering (UFin) and exiting (UFout) from the cartridge, either at the start or at the end of the HFR session. The proinflammatory activity of UFin and UFout was determined by evaluating the changes that they induced in IL-6 messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) expression and release in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) collected from 8 healthy volunteers and cultured in vitro for 24 hr.

The proposed study is a sub-study of the CANTOS trial (A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, event driven trial of quarterly subcutaneous canakinumab in the prevention of recurrent cardiovascular events among stable post-myocardial infarction patients with elevated high sensitivity C-reaction protein (hsCRP) [CACZ885M2301]). The study proposes to perform serial Cardiopulmonary Exercise Tests (CPX) to prospectively measure changes in aerobic exercise capacity in patients with prior myocardial infarction (MI), elevated C reactive protein plasma levels, and symptomatic heart failure with reduced systolic function, who are enrolled in the main CANTOS trial and are randomly assigned to Canakinumab (3 different doses) or Placebo. The subjects enrolled in this substudy will undergo repeated CPX and echocardiograms over the first 12 months of the CANTOS trial. The subjects will received the experimental treatment as randomized in the main CANTOS trial and they will not receive any additional experimental treatment as part of the sub-study. This study is a an Investigator-initiated (Dr. Abbate) single-center (Virginia Commonwealth University) sub-study of the CANTOS trial, supported by Novartis pharmaceuticals.

Late-life depression is a major public health burden due to its high prevalence and associated morbidity, suicide risk, functional decline, and mortality. Unfortunately, current antidepressant therapies have limited effectiveness; hence, biologically plausible models for new treatments are being pursued. Systemic inflammation is hypothesized to play an important role on the onset and perpetuation of depression, especially in older women. Aging processes involve a heightened inflammatory state, and both inflammatory disorders and depression are more prevalent in women than men. However, increased systemic inflammation does not necessarily lead to depression in all women. Even when robust systemic inflammation is experimentally induced (e.g. endotoxin administration), largely variable increases in depressive symptoms are found. Defining the factors that account for this variability may identify individuals at risk of developing depression when exposed to heightened inflammatory states such as aging, obesity, and chronic disease, and informs future translational studies of depression prevention. In particular, the role of sleep disturbance in explaining this variability requires further attention because it is an independent risk factor for depression and heightens systemic inflammation by increasing the production of proinflammatory cytokines. The investigators have also discovered that women, but not men, who report sleep disturbance including short sleep duration experience significantly more depressive symptoms in response to an inflammatory challenge than women without sleep disturbance. Thus, it is hypothesized that sleep loss is a vulnerability factor for inflammation-induced depressive symptoms in women. However, to date, no experimental approach has been used to evaluate the role of sleep loss on inflammation-induced depressive symptoms. This proposal aims to examine this hypothesis by partial sleep deprivation (PSD) followed by endotoxin challenge in older women. It also aims to explore genomic and socio- emotional mechanisms underlying the association between sleep loss and depressive symptoms. In a randomized controlled factorial design, 80 healthy female volunteers aged 60 to 80 will be randomly assigned to one of 4 arms: 1) uninterrupted sleep followed by placebo; 2) uninterrupted sleep followed by endotoxin; 3) PSD followed by placebo; or 4) PSD followed by endotoxin. Subjects will be administered placebo or endotoxin in the morning after PSD or uninterrupted sleep. Depressive symptoms will be repeatedly assessed over 6 hours after placebo or endotoxin administration.