Maryland Paid Clinical Trials

Treponema pallidum is a bacterium that causes the disease syphilis. The primary objective of the study is to evaluate the testing performance of two diagnostic molecular techniques \[quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) and transcription-mediated amplification (TMA)\] for the detection of Treponema pallidum in maternal and neonatal specimens from participants with the diagnosis of syphilis using the Centers for Disease Control's (CDC's) Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI) Treatment Guidelines for adult and congenital syphilis. Read Less

The purpose of this study is to learn about the safety and effects of the study medicine ritlecitinib for the possible treatment of nonsegmental vitiligo. Vitiligo causes white patches on your skin when the cells that give your skin color are destroyed. Nonsegmental means that it can affect both sides of the body such as both knees and both hands. Ritlecitinib has been tested in earlier clinical studies and has a favorable safety profile. At present there are no approved medications taken by mouth to treat nonsegmental vitiligo. This study is seeking participants who: * Are 18 years of age or older. * are confirmed to have nonsegmental vitiligo for at least 3 months. * Are willing to stop all other treatments that they may be taking for vitiligo. In this study participants will be chosen by chance, like drawing names out of a hat to receive 1 of 3 treatments: •Part I where two different amounts of ritlecitinib (50 mg and 100 mg) are taken once daily. It will be compared to placebo. Placebo is a dummy capsule. It doesn't have any medicine used in the study. Participants receiving placebo who have not responded to treatment after 52 weeks will be given 100 milligrams or 50 milligrams of ritlecitinib for the remaining 52 weeks of the study. • In Part II, participants will only receive 100 milligrams of ritlecitinib. About 1000 participants will take part in Part I and around 450 in Part II globally. The study will compare the experiences of people receiving ritlecitinib to those of the people who do not. This will help see if ritlecitinib is safe and effective. People in Part I will be in this study for about 26 months and people in Part II will be in this study for about 14 months. During the study, participants in part I will need to visit the study site at least 17 times. In part II, participants will visit at least 11 times. Participants will undergo various tests and procedures such as: * vitiligo rating, * physical examinations, * hearing tests, * blood tests, * x-ray, * ECG, * photographs of areas with vitiligo. Participants will be asked to complete questionnaires about their vitiligo. Read Less

This pilot trial compares drug exposure levels using a new method for dosing vincristine in infants and young children compared to the standard dosing method based on body surface area (BSA) in older children. Vincristine is an anticancer drug used to a variety of childhood cancers. The doses anticancer drugs in children must be adjusted based on the size of the child because children vary significantly in size (height, weight, and BSA) and ability to metabolize drugs from infancy to adolescence. The dose of most anticancer drugs is adjusted to BSA, which is calculated from a patient's weight and height. However, infants and young children have more severe side effects if the BSA is used to calculate their dose, so new dosing models have to be made to safely give anticancer drugs to the youngest patients. This new method uses a BSA-banded approach to determine the dose. Collecting blood samples before and after a dose of the drug will help researchers determine whether this new vincristine dosing method results in equivalent drug levels in the blood over time in infants and young children compared to older children. Read Less

Osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) is a group of congenital and heritable bone disorders that currently affects at least 50,000 people in the United States. OI varies in severity from perinatally lethal to mild forms. The majority of cases is caused by a dominant mutation in type I collagen genes (COL1α1 and COL1α2), altering the quantity or quality of type I collagen. Although OI is typically characterized as a disease of the bone, it is perhaps more accurately described as a connective tissue disorder. Type I collagen is a major constituent of lung connective tissue. Respiratory insufficiency is the leading cause of death in patients with OI. Thus, it is important and necessary to understand the etiology of the restrictive pulmonary physiology in the OI population. Read Less

Misalignment of teeth and jaws (also called malocclusion) is a common life altering problem facing many individuals with Osteogenesis Imperfecta (OI). The presence of Dentinogenesis Imperfecta in teeth of OI individuals makes the use of conventional orthodontics in the form of braces very challenging. Clear aligners are newer form of orthodontic treatment and is less invasive than braces. Therefore, the aim of our study is to evaluate the efficiency and safety of using Invisalign clear aligners for orthodontic treatment in individuals with Osteogenesis Imperfecta. We seek individual with Osteogenesis Imperfecta, with mild to moderate malocclusion and no prior history of orthodontic treatment. This study will be held at three sites - McGill University, University of California Los Angeles and National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial research. This study will for the first time, help define guidelines for safe and efficient orthodontic treatment using clear aligners in individuals with Osteogenesis Imperfecta. If successful, this approach can rapidly be implemented into clinical practice, as the Invisalign system is readily available to orthodontists. Read Less

Osteogenesis Imperfecta (OI) is a rare disorder of increased bone fragility characterized by fractures with minimal or absent trauma, dentinogenesis imperfecta (DI), and, in adult years, hearing loss. It is seen in both genders and all races. The clinical features of OI represent a continuum varying from perinatal lethality to individuals with severe skeletal deformities, mobility impairments, and very short stature to nearly asymptomatic individuals with a mild predisposition to fractures, normal stature, and normal lifespan. Fractures can occur in any bone, but are most common in the extremities. These disorders can be devastating and progressive and result in deformity, chronic pain, impaired function and loss of quality of life. The overall goal of this study is to answer specific question about the natural history of brittle bone diseases as defined by molecular etiology and to develop the foundation for prospective clinical studies. Read Less

Per-oral endoscopic myotomy (POEM) has emerged as the endoscopic treatment of choice for achalasia, offering comparable symptom relief with laparoscopic Heller's cardiomyotomy. The main concern with POEM is the higher incidence of post-procedure gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), occurring in up to 50-60% of patients. In order to reduce the risk of GERD, endoscopic fundoplication has been developed as a novel procedure mimicking surgical anterior partial fundoplication that can be performed in the same session as POEM (POEM-F). Case series of POEM-F in patients with achalasia reported encouraging outcomes of low GERD rate of \~12% at 1 year. Prospective comparative data between POEM-F and conventional POEM on post-procedure GERD is current lacking. The investigators therefore designed an international multicenter prospective randomized study to investigate the efficacy of POEM-F. The investigators postulate that POEM-F could reduce the incidence of post-procedure GERD when compared with conventional POEM. This is an international multicenter randomized controlled trial conducted between high volume expert centers from Hong Kong SAR, China, India and United States of America. Adult patients with manometry confirmed achalasia would be randomised to undergo POEM-F or POEM. The procedure would be performed by experts with vast experience in POEM. The primary outcome is the incidence of post-procedure GERD at 1 year, defined by the updated Lyon consensus. Secondary outcomes include technical and clinical success rates, adverse events, post-POEM endoscopic and manometry findings as well as patients' symptom scores. Sample size calculation Based on existing pilot comparative data on POEM-F and POEM, it is estimated that 84 patients would be required to demonstrate a difference in post-procedure GERD of 47.6% to 18.2%, with 80% power and false positive rate of 0.05, accounting for 10% loss to follow-up. Purpose and potential The current study proposal could demonstrate the superiority of POEM-F over POEM in reducing post-procedural GERD. It would also demonstrate the safety and reproducibility of the technique in expert centers across the globe. It could potentially replace conventional POEM as the preferred minimally invasive endoscopic treatment for achalasia. Read Less

Study Description: Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) occurs predominantly in women and is driven by type I interferon dysregulation and neutrophil hyperresponsiveness. Neutrophils in females have reduced mitochondrial bioenergetic capacity which affects immunometabolism. Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD)+ boosting with nicotinamide riboside blunts type 1 IFN activation in-vivo in monocytes of healthy subjects and ex-vivo in SLE subjects. These findings support the proposal of the hypothesis that NAD+ boosting by NR supplementation will modulate metabolic pathways in lupus and blunt type 1 interferon signaling. Moreover, as type 1 interferon drives endothelial dysfunction, linked to increased cardiovascular risk, the effect of NR on endothelial function will be examined. Objectives: Primary Objective: Evaluate the effect of NR vs. placebo on immunometabolic and inflammatory remodeling in female SLE subjects: Exploratory Objective: Compare and characterize myeloid cell bioenergetic and immunometabolic profiles in healthy control and SLE female subjects Endpoints: Primary Endpoint: The primary end point will be to assess the effect of NR on blunting type I IFN signaling by measuring monocytic secretion of IFN-beta secretion compared to baseline in response to placebo vs. NR supplemented in SLE study subjects. Exploratory Endpoints: Healthy control vs. SLE subjects: * Compare type I IFN transcript profiles in monocytes and neutrophils at baseline and in response to activation. * Assess cell bioenergetics including: 1) monocyte and neutrophil metabolic flux mass spectroscopy of 13C-glucose and 13Cglutamine analysis to investigate their metabolic fates; (iii) Mitochondrial oxygen consumption (using glucose, amino acid, and fatty acid substrates) and glycolysis rates. SLE baseline vs. NR/placebo supplementation: Baseline vs. 6 weeks of NR/placebo: -Assess effect of NR on bioenergetics by measuring steady-state metabolite levels comparing changes in placebo vs. NR groups in monocytes and neutrophils. Baseline vs. 12 weeks of NR/placebo: * Whole blood NAD+ levels (batched and measured at the end of study enrollment period) * Explore effects of NR on gene regulation using monocyte and neutrophils by RNA-seq and chromatin remodeling analysis. * Determine the effect of NR vs placebo on endothelial dysfunction in SLE subjects Read Less

This study is referred to as the "umbrella master protocol" for pembrolizumab (MK-3475) in the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). This pembrolizumab NSCLC umbrella master protocol uses a platform design and consists of this master screening study and seven substudies. Each substudy will enroll a different population of NSCLC participants. The goal of this umbrella master protocol is to screen potential participants with NSCLC for enrollment into 1 of 7 substudies. Participants must first enroll in this pembrolizumab master protocol study and undergo screening for NSCLC that will be used to assign them to participation in 1 of 7 pembrolizumab substudies. Read Less

This is a study of AMT-260 in Adults with Unilateral Refractory Mesial Temporal Lobe Epilepsy (MTLE). It is designed to investigate the Safety, Tolerability, and Efficacy of AMT-260 in Adults with MTLE Administered via Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)-guided Convection-enhanced Delivery (CED). Read Less

To understand the acute subjective, physiological, and cognitive effects of commercial kratom extract products among US adults who consume these products regularly, and to understand how these products are metabolized by the human body. Read Less

The prevalence of dementia will double in the next three decades in the U.S.; effective treatment or prevention for dementia is urgently needed. The current exploratory project aims to evaluate and understand how the brain and cognition may improve after a 12-week intervention that combines brain training and aerobic exercise training to improve brain function, both in those with mild cognitive impairment (some with possible prodromal Alzheimer's disease) and with healthy aging. Findings from this pilot project will guide and refine the development of a future larger clinical trial that aligns with the goals of the National Alzheimer's Plan of Action (NAPA), especially regarding "Prevent and Effectively Treat Alzheimer's Disease (AD) by 2025. Read Less