Active clinical trials for "Inflammation"

Objective 1: Characterize indices of systemic inflammation and gut microbiota composition and function after chronic (12 weeks) intake of pulses compared to control diet in human OW/OB-IR participants. Objective 2: Characterize dietary- and microbial-derived metabolite pools after regular intake of pulses (12 weeks) in human participants with OW/OB-IR compared to control diet. Objective 3: Characterize cognitive functioning after chronic (12 weeks) intake of pulses compared to control diet in human OW/OB-IR participants.

The purpose of this study is to test the effect of a cocoa-derived dietary flavanol on brain structures and cognitive outcomes in a 12-week randomized controlled trial of 146 healthy participants, age 50-69, who will receive this cocoa derivative or a placebo. Th investigators will also examine the role of inflammation in this relationship.

The objective for this project is to determine whether how certain behavioral and health functions change in persons with heavy drinking when they stop (or reduce) drinking for 30 days, and whether changes continue for up to 90 days. The study will also identify barriers and facilitators related to drinking reduction. The project will focus on clinical comorbidities including HIV disease control, cognitive and brain function, liver abnormalities, and chronic inflammation. The study teams propose to enroll 140 HIV+ and 40 HIV- adults with heavy drinking, and then use Contingency Management (CM) with financial incentives to encourage participants to maximally reduce alcohol consumption for 30 days. Participants will be required to wear an ankle biosensor (SCRAM monitor) at all times, which is used to monitor participants' drinking behavior. At 30 days, participants will complete a full day of follow-up, including cognitive testing, neuroimaging, blood testing, liver Fibroscan, and questionnaires. Many participants will also provide a stool sample for gut microbiome assessment at each time point. At 30 days, participants will participate in a motivational interview to discuss perceived benefits and obstacles to drinking reduction, and most participants will continue CM to 90 days (but can opt out at this point). Participants will complete another full-day assessment at 90 days, at which point persons may choose to drink or not on their own (no more CM). A final assessment will be conducted at 12 months. This A-B-A design will enable us to clearly identify whether alcohol effects on cognition and brain function are reversible in the context of HIV, and analyze specific cerebral and systemic pathophysiological factors contributing to these effects. The inclusion of HIV- adults will enable subgroup comparisons of alcohol reduction effects in the context of HIV vs. no-HIV. These HIV-negative participants will be recruited from the same settings as our HIV+ participants, and will include a similar proportion by age, race, and gender as the HIV+ participants. The study team will use information from the MI data and our other assessments to elucidate factors that predict both short term (during CM) and long-term (1-year) alcohol reductions, and study how changes in alcohol consumption affect important HIV clinical outcomes that will be monitored over time.

In recent times, the prevalence of obesity increases, reaching an epidemic scale. Elevated body weight is a risk factor in the development of several diseases such as diabetes, hypertension and cancer. Therefore, obesity management solutions, such as diet therapy are needed. The key issue is to choose the most appropriate diet to obtain an efficient outcome in losing weight, without experiencing adverse effects and a decrease in general health. A ketogenic diet, an auxiliary therapy for epilepsy, is recently one of the options commonly used for losing weight by overweight individuals, tempted by the commercials and internet influencers. However, there is limited knowledge about the effect of this diet on human health. To date, the majority of studies were conducted with a very-low-calorie regime applied before the bariatric surgeries, which itself may affect the loss of body weight, and in most studies, the control diets were missing. Taking into consideration that a ketogenic diet is an extremely eliminating diet, there is a risk of nutritional deficiencies after following it. Therefore, there is a strong need for more in-depth and comprehensive elucidation of the safety and physiological effects of the ketogenic diet used for the weight loss in overweight and obese individuals. This Project aims to evaluate the effectiveness of the eight-week, isocaloric, energy-restricted, ketogenic diet as a weight management solution in women with overweight and obesity compared to the standard, balanced diet with the same calorie content.

The goal of this randomized controlled trial is to evaluate the impacts of an attachment-based intervention (Attachment Biobehavioral Catch-Up (ABC) and Home Book-of-the-Week (HBOW) program on emerging health outcomes (i.e., common childhood illnesses, body mass index, and sleep) in low-income Latino children (N=260; 9 months at enrollment). It is hypothesized that children randomized to ABC will have better health outcomes in comparison to the HBOW control group.

Chronic inflammation in polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) may be the result of dysregulation of cytokine production (due to insulin resistance, excess visceral fat and hyperandrogenemia), i.e., overproduction of pro-inflammatory factors (e.g. TNF, IL-1, IL-6) in relation to anti-inflammatory ones (IL-10). This condition may be an important link between obesity and insulin resistance, which is crucial in the etiopathogenesis of the syndrome. However, it is not known whether it results from the tendency to accumulate adipose tissue or is a feature of the syndrome itself. Concomitant endocrinopathies, i.e. obesity, dyslipidemia, insulin resistance, diabetes and thyroid diseases, may additionally influence the activity of chronic inflammation. There is no data indicating the relationship between chronic inflammation and PCOS phenotypes, the severity of metabolic disorders, ovarian reserve and the influence of thyroid function on its activity in PCOS.

Uncontrolled Gestational Diabetes Mellitus may leads to maternal and fetal complications. These complications can be avoided by adopting the dietary modifications along with medications. Previous studies suggested that consumption of low Carbohydrate diet improves Gestational Diabetes and related complications. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the effect of very low carbohydrate dietary intervention on glycemic, glycemic, metabolic, glycated and inflammatory markers.

The purpose of the study is to compare the relative contribution of systemic inflammation vs. Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) severity (as measured by Apnea Hypopnea Index) in predicting cardiovascular and metabolic aberrations associated with mild-to-moderate obstructive sleep apnea.

The use of titanium dental implants has become a common modern treatment to restore teeth. Although the success rate of dental implants is high, inflammation around the dental implant still occurs. The current study will investigate if the inflammation around the implant is due to bacterial infection, hypersensitivity or both. The goal of this cross-sectional study is to (1) Establish the levels of cytokines in peri-implant crevicular fluid associated with bacterial infection and hypersensitivity reaction; (2) Compare the levels of cytokines associated with hypersensitivity and bacterial infection between healthy implants and inflamed implants (peri-mucositis and peri-implantitis); (3) Determine whether the difference in the levels of cytokines, if they exist, reflects the clinical diagnosis of healthy implants and inflamed implants.

This study will collect information about markers of inflammation, blood clotting and blood vessel function in HIV-infected adults and healthy volunteers. Biomarkers are biological indicators that have been associated with disease. Certain markers of inflammation, blood clotting, and blood vessel function have been associated with risk of cardiovascular disease, stroke and death. One marker, called D-dimer, is a breakdown product of blood clots that has been associated with serious medical conditions, including deep vein thrombosis (formation of a blood clot in a vein deep in the body) and pulmonary embolism (blockage in the pulmonary artery that occurs when a blood clot from a vein breaks away, travels to the pulmonary artery and lodges there). High D-dimer levels have also been associated with cardiovascular disease and stroke risk. In a recent study of HIV-infected patients, higher D-dimer levels were strongly correlated with risk of death from any cause. The significance of changes in D-dimer and other biomarkers in HIV-infected adults is not well understood. This study will further explore D-dimer and other biomarkers to try to better understand the relationships between them and HIV infection. Healthy volunteers and HIV-infected adults 18 years of age or older may be eligible for this study. Two visits are involved, as follows: Visit 1 (screening visit to determine eligibility) Medical history and physical examination. Blood tests for HIV infection, blood counts, liver and kidney function. Pregnancy test for women who can become pregnant. Visit 2 Blood tests for hepatitis B and C Blood tests for markers of inflammation and blood clotting. Blood test for genetic changes that influence blood clotting. In some cases, visits 1 and 2 may be combined. Optional additional visits (up to 8 visits over 3 years) Additional blood draws for investigation of specific clinical or laboratory findings may be requested.