Healthy Paid Clinical Trials in Maryland

Protocol Number: 22DK0002 Title: Effects of Ultra-processed versus Unprocessed Diets on Energy Metabolism Background: Many diets worldwide include both processed and unprocessed foods. Researchers want to study the effects these foods have on a person s health. Objective: To study how different diets affect a person s health and metabolism. Eligibility: Adults aged 18 60 without diabetes who have stable weight and can exercise. Design: Participants will be screened with: Medical history Physical exam Heart tests Resting energy expenditure (to determine calorie needs) Blood and urine tests 20-minute stationary bicycle session Food, diet, and mental health questionnaires Participants will stay at NIH for 4 weeks. They will receive 3 meals a day and may eat as little or as much as they want. The diet will change each week. Their weight will be recorded daily. They will ride a stationary bicycle daily. Each week, they will do the following: Spend 1 day in a special room that assesses their metabolism Have 24-hour urine collections Give skin and fecal samples Repeat some screening tests Have scans to measure body fat Complete computerized behavior tasks Wear an activity monitor to track physical activity Wear a glucose monitor. A sensor will be inserted under the skin with a small needle. It will be replaced weekly. Take taste tests. They will swish water and flavored liquids around in their mouth and pick which ones had a non-neutral taste. They will also compare liquids for which ones taste better. Participation will last for 4 weeks. Sponsoring Institution: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases ... Read Less

This protocol is a screening and natural history protocol, which allows for evaluation of patients and families where neurological conditions are present for enrollment into other studies and will also be used to screen healthy volunteers to create a pool of potential future HV matches for HMCS protocols. Through diagnostic evaluations, data will be collected for research use in this study. Read Less

Background: - Researchers at the National Institutes of Health give many tests of hearing and balance. These tests can help detect problems that affect hearing or balance. It is important to know exactly how healthy people perform on each of these tests. This information will indicate when a test result is normal and when a test result shows a problem. Researchers also want to determine the best methods for each test. Objectives: - To test different types of hearing and balance tests, and collect information on normal values for each test. Eligibility: - Healthy volunteers between 5 and 70 years of age. Design: This study will require a single visit to the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center. It will include both screening tests and study tests of hearing and balance. Sometimes, a second visit may be required if a test is designed to measure the same thing on 2 different days. Each visit will last between 2 and 5 hours, depending on the number of tests scheduled per visit. Participants will have a physical exam and medical history. They will also have basic tests to check for normal hearing and balance. Participants may have different hearing tests, including the following: Auditory Evoked Potentials to study how the ears and brain handle sound information. Auditory Processing Tests to study how a person processes complex sounds like speech in background noise. Tests of middle ear and inner ear function. Participants may have different balance and inner ear tests, including the following: Balance test on a tilting platform. Different tests to measure how well the eyes, ears, and brain work together to help maintain balance. Treatment will not be needed as part of this study. Read Less

This study will describe the phenotype (physical and behavioral traits) of overweight and obese people. It will characterize the hormones, metabolism, food preferences, fitness and physical activity levels, sleep patterns and thought processes in people with and without weight problems. Genetic material will be collected for studies of the internal codes that influence body weight. People over 18 years of age from all weight categories (lean, overweight, obese) who are reasonably healthy may be eligible for this study. Participants undergo the following tests and procedures: Physical exam, electrocardiogram, blood and urine tests, instructions for recording food intake for 7 days Metabolic studies for menstruating women. Resting metabolic rate to study how many calories the body burns at rest. Mixed meal test to measure hormones such as insulin that regulate blood sugar. Glucose tolerance test to determine how sensitive the body is to insulin. 24-hour energy expenditure to measure the amount of oxygen breathed in and the amount of carbon dioxide breathed out. Repeat 24-hour energy expenditure. Diurnal blood sampling and temperature assessment to study the body s internal clock. Air-displacement plethysmography (Bod Pod) to measure body composition. Dual energy x-ray absortiometry (DEXA) to measure body fat and bone density. Repeat Bod Pod and DEXA. Anthropometric measurements and bioelectrical impedance to measure height, weight, and circumferences, skinfold thickness, fluid status and percentage body fat. Bromide dilution to measure the amount of water not in cells in the body. Doubly labeled water to measure the amount of calories burned in a 7-day period. 24-hour diet reports. Endothelial reactivity to measure how the blood vessels stretch or dilate for assessing cardiovascular health. Treadmill or bicycle exercise capacity test. Physical activity monitor. Unicorder to detect any breathing difficulties that may interfere with sleep. Fat and muscle biopsy to look for variations in gene expression in fat tissue and muscle. Neurocognitive testing to check memory, decision-making, hand-eye coordination, and reasoning. Evaluation of mood problems and assess personality type. Evaluation to assess the quantity and quality of pain experienced. Taste testing to determine the response to bitter, salty, sweet and sour substances. Occupational therapy evaluation to explore the subject s adaptations, if any, for performing personal, social or professional activities; the subject s views on his or her weight, body size and shape, and strategies to control weight. Read Less

Background: Inflammation can play a role in diseases like heart disease and rheumatoid arthritis. PET scans can help detect inflammation. Two new drugs may create better PET images. Objective: To see if the drugs [11C]ER176 and [11C]MC1 can help image inflammation. Eligibility: People ages 18 and older with rheumatoid arthritis or idiopathic inflammatory myopathy (IIM). Healthy volunteers enrolled in protocol 01-M-0254 or 17-M-0181 are also needed. Design: Healthy participants will be screened under protocol 01-M-0254 or 17-M-0181. Participants with arthritis or IIM will have a screening visit. This will include: Medical history Physical exam Blood and urine tests Possible CT or X-ray: A machine will take pictures of the body. Healthy participants will have 1 or 2 visits. They may have urine tests. They may take the drug celecoxib by mouth. They will have a PET scan. A small amount of one or both study drugs will be injected through a catheter: A needle will guide a thin plastic tube into an arm vein. Another catheter will draw blood. They will like on a bed that slides into a machine. Their vital signs and heart activity will be measured. Participants with arthritis will have up to 2 visits after screening. They may take celecoxib and have PET scans. Participants with IIM will have up to 3 visits after screening. At 1 or 2 visits, they will take celecoxib and have PET scans. They will have 1 visit where they have an MRI: They will lie on a table that slides into a machine. The machine takes pictures of the body. Read Less

Background: - Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans must be performed according to specified sets of parameters that provide optimal images of each organ and each area of the body. These scanning parameters are often specific to the institution or organization at which they are employed, and may also depend on the manufacturer of the MRI scanning equipment. Because MRI scanning equipment is always being updated and upgraded, researchers are interested in developing new and optimized scanning parameters for MRI scans. Objectives: - To improve current methods and develop new techniques for magnetic resonance imaging. Eligibility: Individuals 18 years of age and older who are either volunteers or current NIH protocol participants. Participants must not have any medical history factors (e.g., extreme claustrophobia, history of metal implants) that would prevent them from receiving MRI scans. Design: Participants will have at least one MRI scan that will last from 20 minutes to 2 hours (most scans will last between 45 and 90 minutes). The total time commitment for most visits will be approximately 4 hours from start to finish. Some MRI techniques require standard monitoring equipment or specific procedures during the scanning, such as an electrocardiogram. Participants will have blood samples taken at the time of the scan. Some MRI studies will require the use of a contrast agent that will be administered during the scan. Volunteers may be asked to return for additional MRI scans over the course of a few years. Follow-up scans may be done on the same part of the body or on different parts of the body. No more than one MRI scan will be performed in any 4-week period for this protocol. Read Less

The purpose of this study is to use brain imaging technology to measure changes in blood flow to areas in the brain as individuals perform intellectual tasks. This study will use functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine blood flow to areas of the brain as participants engage in tasks associated with visual perception, visual recognition, and memory. Read Less

Background: - Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a widely used scanning technique to obtain images of the human body and evaluate activity in the brain. A particular MRI method called magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) can be used to study brain chemistry as well, which may help researchers who are studying new treatments for psychiatric illnesses. Researchers are interested in improving current MRI and MRS techniques, as well as developing new MRI and MRS techniques to view and measure brain chemicals and brain activity. Objectives: - To implement, develop, and optimize brain chemistry imaging techniques using magnetic resonance imaging and magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Eligibility: - Healthy individuals between 18 and 65 years of age. Design: This study will involve a screening visit and a scanning visit at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center. Participants will be screened with a full medical and physical examination, blood and urine tests, and neurological testing. During the second visit, participants will have an MRI scan of the brain. (Participants who have received an MRI within the past year will not need to have a second one; the images of the previous scan will be used for this study.) All participants will then have an MRS scan using the same scanning equipment. Read Less

This study will evaluate the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics (PK), and pharmacodynamics (PD) of single and multiple ascending doses of AZD4144 administered orally in healthy participants. Read Less

Background: Vaccines against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, have been highly effective against preventing severe disease. But the protective effects of these vaccines appear to wane over time. Researchers want to learn why. Objective: To learn more about how the immune system responds to vaccines against infections like SARS-CoV-2. Eligibility: Healthy adults ages 18 or older who are scheduled to receive either a new vaccine or a booster shot against SARS-COV-2 or another emerging infection. Design: Participants will be screened with a medical history and blood and urine tests. Participants will have up to 8 study visits in 1 year. Each visit should last less than 2 hours. At each visit, participants will give blood samples. Some blood samples will be used for genetic testing. They will also give updates on their health. After the first study visit, participants will receive either a first vaccination or a booster shot. They must get the vaccine in their community or workplace. They will not get the vaccine at NIH. This study currently focuses on SARS-CoV-2, but it will expand to other infectious diseases as they emerge and become the target of new vaccines. ... Read Less

Background: Problem drinking affects nearly half the people who drink alcohol. Drinking alcohol affects a person s social behavior and brain structure, but researchers don t have a good understanding of how. They want to test a technique called neurofeedback to learn more about how to treat problem drinking. Objectives: To study what happens in the brains of people who drink alcohol when they look at pictures of social things and of alcohol. To learn if people can control brain activity in a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner and if this helps people with drinking. Eligibility: Adults ages 21 65 who have an alcohol use disorder. Healthy volunteers ages 21 65 Design: Participants will be screened with Physical exam Medical history Blood, urine, and heart tests Mental health interview Questions about their alcohol drinking. At each session, participants will have: A urine test for drugs and pregnancy. If they test positive, they cannot participate. A breath alcohol test and assessment for alcohol withdrawal. Participants will complete surveys, talk to researchers about behaviors, and play games. Participants will have MRI brain scans. The scanner is a metal cylinder in a strong magnetic field. They will lie on a table that slides in and out of the scanner for 1 2 hours. Participants will do tasks in the scanner: They will look at pictures, sometimes of alcohol. They will try to hit a goal. Some participants will get feedback during this task. They will see how their brain activity changes or how someone else s changes. Participants may have follow-up phone questions at least 3 times over about 6 months.... Read Less

This research is being done to assess the effect of radiofrequency (RF)-based treatment on skin and skin conditions. Read Less