
Sterile Inflammation and Molecular Aberrations in MDS
Myelodysplastic SyndromesThe objective of this study is the description of the possible association between genetic mutation/aberration profiles, inflammatory tonus and clinical phenotype based on PROMs and HRQoL. Apart from gaining a better understanding of the causal correlation between genetics, sterile inflammatory processes and QoL (e.g. fatigue) in MDS, this study is supposed to identify potential novel biomarkers and, ultimately, therapeutic targets.

Evaluation of the LumiraDx Point of Care D-Dimer and CRP Tests
Embolism and ThrombosisInfection1 moreA Multicenter Study Conducted to Evaluate the Agreement between Fingerstick Whole Blood, Venous Whole Blood and Plasma Determined on the LumiraDx Point of Care D-Dimer and Point of Care CRP Tests to Results on the Reference Analyzer

Natural History of the Human Biological Response to Environmental Exposure and Injury
InflammationNormal Controls1 moreBackground: Environmental exposures like pollution, diet, and stress can help cause human diseases, or make them worse. Researchers want to better understand how injury and inflammation are caused by these exposures. They want to collect biological and environmental samples and other data. They may use the samples to measure a range of factors, like hormones, toxins, and chemicals. This will help them improve their studies. Objective: To identify and understand how environmental exposures contribute to human disease. Eligibility: Healthy adults ages 18 and older Design: Participants will be screened with questions about their health history, demographics, and medicines they take. Participants may give blood, hair, stool, saliva, and/or urine samples. They may have a skin punch biopsy to collect skin cells. They may give fingernail or toenail clippings. They may give a sample of exhaled breath. Participants may give a sputum sample. They will inhale a saline mist and cough mucus into a cup. Participants may have their nasal passages brushed, scraped, or washed. Participants may give cheek cell samples. They will swish mouthwash and spit it into a cup. Participants who produce sperm may give samples. Participants may have bronchoscopy to collect fluid. A saline solution will be put into their lung and then suctioned out, washing areas of the lung. Participants may have a pelvic or transvaginal ultrasound. They may have lung function tests. Participants may collect household dust, urine, or stool at home. Participants will complete surveys about their health, diet, and exposures. Participation will last for one or more study visits. Participants may be contacted in the future to take part in other studies.

Characterization of Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C) and Its Relationship to...
Kawasaki DiseaseInflammationBeginning in mid-March 2020, pediatricians in communities in Western Europe, the UK, and the Eastern U.S. that had been severely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic noted an increased number of children presenting with fever and evidence of severe inflammation who required admission to intensive care. The syndrome was branded by the CDC in the U.S. as Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C). The most severely affected children presented with heart failure leading to shock and the absence of significant pulmonary disease. The clinical presentation in these patients shared many features with Kawasaki disease (KD), a self-limited pediatric vasculitis that can result in coronary artery aneurysms.The inflammatory markers, however, were much higher even than KD shock syndrome, a variant of KD presenting with distributive shock and requiring inotropic and vasoactive support in the ICU. Some patients were polymerase chain reaction (PCR)+ for SARS-CoV-2 while most were virus-negative but had detectable antibody suggesting that MIS-C was an immune-mediated reaction to antecedent exposure to the virus. While patients were being diagnosed with shock and MIS-C, children with a milder version of MIS-C that shared many features of KD were being diagnosed in these same regions.

Inflammation and Cardiovascular Health in Women
HIV/AIDSMyocardial InfarctionSystemic immune activation and inflammation are believed to play a significant role in the development and clinical course of myocardial infarction (MI). Among women with HIV (WHIV), heightened systemic immune activation and inflammation persist, even when HIV infection is well-treated with contemporary antiretroviral therapeutic regimens. Moreover, WHIV in high-resource regions face a three-fold increased risk of myocardial infarction as compared with matched non-HIV-infected women. The goals of this study are to better understand ways in which HIV infection-incited systemic immune activation and inflammation augment MI risk among women.

Inflammasome Activation and Cortisol Metabolism in Obese Women With Recurrent Miscarriage
ObesityInflammationThe prevalence of obesity among women of reproductive age is increasing. Obesity represents a chronic low-grade inflammatory state and NLRP3 inflammasome plays a pivotal role in obesity-induced inflammation. Obesity is associated with an increased risk of recurrent miscarriage (RM), but the underlying mechanisms are unclear. Abnormal inflammasome activation was also identified in the endometrium of women who experienced RM. Given inflammasome activation has emerged as common pathophysiology in obesity-related disorder and RM, the investigators wonder whether inflammasome activation occurs in the uterine macrophages of obese women, and result in early reproductive failure.

A RCT of CenteringPregnancy on Birth Outcomes and Maternal Inflammation
Preterm BirthThe purpose of the PIINC study is to identify differences in placental inflammatory lesions between women participating in group prenatal care versus standard prenatal care, and additionally, examine whether the frequency of placental inflammatory lesions differ by race and income. The investigators hypothesize that women participating in group prenatal care will have lower pro-inflammatory profiles compared to women in routine prenatal care.

Is There a Link Between Inflammation and Endocrinopathies in Turner Syndrome?
Turner SyndromeLiver abnormalities are common in Turner syndrome. The physiopathology of these abnormalities is unknown for the moment but their potentially serious evolution requires additional explorations.

Inflammation and Obesity-associated Disease
ObesityInflammation5 moreVisceral obesity and adipose inflammation is considered a driving force of obesity-related systemic disease, e.g. cardiometabolic disease, liver cirrhosis and chronic kidney disease (CKD). Inflammatory resolution is actively regulated by specialized pro-resolving mediators (SPMs), including the endogenous eicosanoid LXA4. Impairment of SPMs may underlie development of obesity-related pathology.We hypothesize that obese patients who develop obesity-related disease do so because they suffer from impaired endogenous production of pro-resolving lipids. This will result in aggravated adipose inflammation and fibrosis, which contribute to the systemic pathologies. We thus wish to investigate adipose inflammation and the pro-resolving lipid profile of obese subjects with and without obesity associated metabolic disease. We also aim to investigate whether LXA4, LXB4 and other anti-inflammatory agents (such as AICAR) can alter the phenotype of human adipose macrophages in ex vivo tissue culture. We also investigate basic pathways in inflammatory regulation and obesity related cardiometabolic disease.

Natural History of Inflammatory Muscle Diseases
Inflammation In Skeletal MuscleObjective: To collect information and biospecimens (such as blood, muscle, and skin samples) that will be used to research causes and treatments of inflammatory muscle diseases. Eligibility: People aged 12 years and older with suspected or confirmed inflammatory muscle disease. Healthy volunteers aged 18 years and older are also needed. Design: Participants will have at least 1 clinic visit. Each visit will last 4 to 8 hours. Some may return for additional visits. All participants will undergo these procedures (unless they are unable to): Physical exam, including blood and urine tests. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan of the thigh. Participants will lie still on a table with padding around 1 thigh. The table will slide into a tube. The scan will last for approximately 40 minutes. Some procedures are optional: Muscle biopsy. An area of skin will be numbed. A quarter-inch cut will be made. Several pieces of muscle tissue, about the size of grains of rice, will be removed. Skin biopsy. An area of skin will be numbed. A piece of skin about a quarter inch in diameter will be removed. Genetic testing. Some of the samples collected may be used for genetic testing.