Inflammation Clinical Trials

Background: 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. Read Less

This protocol is being established to cover the evaluation of patients with inflammatory and/or infectious diseases which are not covered under previously existing protocols. The purpose of such a protocol is that frequently patients are referred to us with either diagnosed or undiagnosed illnesses which would be of interest to our teaching program or which would serve as a source of patients to subsequently be entered into established, ongoing protocol studies. Such patients will be admitted to the protocol and handled according to accepted medical practice of diagnosis and treatment.... Read Less

This project aims to adapt, implement, and evaluate a Dialectical Behavior Therapy skills training group intervention for aging adult family caregivers of person with Alzheimer's Disease and Alzheimer's Disease Related Dementias (AD/ADRD) to reduce suicidality. By adapting this modality, the investigators will provide a scalable intervention tailored for this high-risk population, maximizing the public health impact and improving suicide prevention. Read Less

This study is a mechanistic randomized controlled trial that investigates whether inhibition of tumor necrosis factor signaling via intravenous infusion of infliximab improves psychomotor speed and executive functioning in depressed individuals who exhibit an inflammatory phenotype. Read Less

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn about the effects of inflammation-lowering therapy on mobility and disability in older adults. The main questions it aims to answer are: * Will therapy improve walking speed/pace? * Will therapy improve levels of blood inflammation markers and other indicators of physical, cognitive and immune function? Participants will be asked to receive injections of drug or placebo every 4 weeks for 24 weeks. They will also be asked to undergo testing that assesses physical function, thinking ability and brain health, breathing capacity, and blood vessel stiffness, and will have blood samples collected to measure immune function and to create a bank of samples for future testing. Comparisons will be made between those who receive drug and those who receive placebo. Read Less

This study will investigate the response of immune cells (neutrophils, monocytes) to various signals in the test tube to determine how they sense the signals in the body and what substances they produce in response to them. It will determine how the cells may, under certain circumstances, contribute to inflammation, and will measure substances in the blood plasma (the liquid, non-cellular part of the blood) that might stimulate white blood cells, in order to understand how the blood responds to possible disease-related conditions. Healthy normal volunteers 18 years of age and older who weigh at least 110 pounds may be eligible for this study. Participants give about 320 milliliters (mL) of blood (about 1 1/3 cups) or less at each donation. They donate no more than once every 8 weeks and no more than six times a year. On some occasions, less than 320 mL of blood may be drawn. The collected blood is separated into its components and specific cells are exposed to substances to examine their response.... Read Less

Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders (PMADs) encompass a range of mental health disorders that occur during pregnancy and up to one year postpartum. Approximately 13% of women experience PMADs. This rate doubles for those with adverse perinatal outcomes (APO) and triples in Black women. Recent research points to racism as one significant source of these health disparities. Cultural adaptations to improve communication with providers decrease rates of depression in minority patients as well as improve adherence to treatment, insight and alliance. Discrimination stress and worries about experiencing medical consequences are thought to increase systemic inflammation, a mechanism known to drive mental and physical symptoms. Inflammation has been implicated in both PMADs and APO, suggesting a shared underlying etiology. Evidence from our work suggests that inflammation contributes to the pathophysiology of PMADs. The proposed pilot randomized control trial will allow the investigators to build on promising preliminary results and identify whether our culturally relevant mobile Health (mHealth) intervention is effective in improving outcomes among Black pregnant women randomized to the intervention compared to a control group. The culturally relevant modules include building communication and self-advocacy skills and provide a support network. The primary objective of this research is to provide guidance for clinical care of Black women during the perinatal period, with the goal to improve mental health and physical health outcomes. A secondary goal is to examine novel inflammatory signatures that change as a function of the intervention to reduce PMADs in this population. As inflammation may be diagnostic of PMADs, identification of its role may shed light of potential intervention targets and provide critical knowledge to improve women's long-term health. PMAD symptoms will be assessed prospectively in 150 Black pregnant women, half of whom will be randomized to receive the culturally relevant mHealth intervention. The investigators hypothesize that women in the intervention group will have reduced rates of PMADs and APOs, an increase in adherence to mental health treatment and will report increased self-advocacy skills, increased communication with providers, and reduced levels of discrimination related stress. Participants will also have improved biological risk indicators including lower circulating C-reactive protein and a transcription profile of differentially expressed inflammatory genes, marked by a decreased activity of inflammatory transcription factors from blood spots. Given the high burden of both PMADs and APOs among Black mothers and the numerous consequences on maternal and child outcomes, it is imperative that investigators develop and implement effective interventions, and test the biological mechanisms that might drive these effects. This work is interdisciplinary, building on a network of community advocates to implement a novel mHealth intervention informed by real world experiences designed to enhance self-advocacy, reduce stress and prevent adverse outcomes Read Less

This study applies a hypothesis-driven approach to examine the effects of chronic marijuana use on HIV-associated inflammation and its subsequent impacts on central nervous system function, with the goal of identifying the mechanisms through which cannabinoids modulate neurological disorders and other comorbidities in persons with HIV. Read Less

The purpose of this research study is to determine the effectiveness of low dose colchicine (LoDoCo) on measures of exercise capacity, physical function, frailty, and quality of life, among patients with heart failure with chronic stable preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) and systemic inflammation. The use of LoDoCo in this study is considered investigational as it has not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of exercise capacity in patients with HFpEF. Participants will undergo a 1-day screening that includes a blood draw and physical examination. If deemed eligible for the study, participants will undergo a baseline visit within 2 weeks of screening visit that includes physical examination, exercise testing, echocardiography and completion of quality-of-life surveys. Participants will also be randomized at this visit (randomly assigned to a group) to receive either LoDoCo or placebo (inactive substance) for 3 months. Participants will be called back at 3 months for repeat physical examination, blood draws, echocardiography, exercise testing and completion of quality-of-life surveys. Each visit will take about 3 hours. Total study duration is about 3 months. Read Less

The goal of this clinical trial is to assess the impact of table grape consumption on gut microbiome, intestinal permeability, systemic inflammation, and vascular function in healthy overweight men and women aged 45-70 years. The main questions it aims to answer are: * Does daily grape intake alter intestinal microbiome composition and intestinal permeability? * Are changes in gut microbiota and intestinal permeability correlated with changes in cardiometabolic risk factors (inflammation, vascular function, lipid profiles)? * Does response to grape intake on gut microbiota, intestinal permeability, cardiometabolic and inflammatory markers differ between men and women? * Are metabolic pathways modified by grape consumption able to explain the link between gut health and cardiometabolic factors? Researchers will compare freeze-dried grape powder to placebo powder to see if grape powder improves cardiometabolic risk factors. Participants will * Consume the powder dissolved in water twice daily for 3 weeks * Follow their usual diet, modified to limit polyphenol-rich foods * Visit the clinic at the beginning and end of the intervention for vascular measurements and blood sample collection * Complete a 3-day 24-hour dietary recall and collect stool sample before each visit Read Less

The purpose of the study is to compare the effect of consuming full-fat (regular) and fat-free (skim) milk, as well as full-fat and fat-free yogurt (a fermented dairy product), on microorganisms in your gut as well as the products produced by the gut microbes. We will also determine whether consuming these dairy products affects risk factors for heart disease.The findings of the study will help us determine if heart disease risk factors are modified by the fat content and fermentation of milk. The results may facilitate refinement of public health dietary guidance for cardiovascular disease risk reduction. Read Less

Polyphenol-rich Haskap berries (Haskap) have untapped therapeutic potential to improve human health, and agricultural producers in northern U.S. states are poised to increase production if consumer demand increases. A critical knowledge gap is that little is known about the interactions between gut microbes and Haskap polyphenols to produce bioactive metabolites linked to downstream health impacts. Additionally, little is known about which Haskap varieties and harvest timing yield the greatest bioactive potential. This study aims to address these gaps by investigating the interaction of bioactive components in Haskap with gut microbiota and the resultant gut and serum metabolites, inflammation, and metabolic health, and then couple this with analysis of berries from different Haskap varieties and harvest times. Read Less