56 Clinical Trials for Various Conditions
The purpose of the research is to find out the effect of commonly used topical antibiotics on the bacteria that live in the nose, throat and on the skin of older adults. In addition, the investigators want to determine if these topical antibiotics affect how bacteria are spread in Community Living Centers of the VA Maryland Health Care System.
Patients and partners undergoing an autologous IVF cycle will be recruited to participate in this prospective observational study investigating the microbiome and its association with IVF pregnancy outcomes. During the the controlled ovarian hyperstimulation cycle as well as the frozen embryo transfer cycle, a number of specimens will be collected for next generation sequencing of 16S rRNA to evaluate the microbiome profile of the reproductive and gastrointestinal tracts. Data on pregnancy outcomes will be collected prospectively and evaluated to identify associations with the microbiome.
The global aim of this study is to investigate how the human microbiome changes from baseline with commonly used topical medications such as topical antifungals, low to mid potency topical steroids and emollients. The specific aims are as follows: 1. Investigate whether ketoconazole cream, a commonly used topical antifungal, causes alterations in the human skin microbiome with short-term use. 2. Investigate whether desonide 0.05 % ointment, a commonly used low potency topical steroid, alters the human microbiome with short-term use.
This is a randomized, 2-period crossover study aimed at assessing the effect of taking a food supplement containing a blend of microbial accessible carbohydrates on the diversity of the gut microbiome. Impacts to the skin, scalp and oral microbiomes; blood inflammatory biomarkers; quality and quantity of sleep; gastrointestinal quality of life; bowel habits, and facial skin features will also be evaluated.
This study aims to compare biological communities in stool samples obtained from age, diet and BMI-matched subjects in five study groups: subjects with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) never treated with tumor necrosing factor (TNF) inhibitors, subjects with ankylosing spondylitis previously or currently treated with TNF inhibitors, subjects with non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis (nrSpA) never treated with tumor necrosing factor (TNF) inhibitors, subjects with non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis previously or currently treated with TNF inhibitors and healthy participants. The differences in fecal microbiota composition will be explored using shotgun metagenomic sequencing through the University of Washington. The investigators predict that this study will confirm a significant difference between the fecal microbiota composition (FMC) of both AS and nrSpA patients and controls.
The consumption of fermented soy foods can alter the human microbiome and may confer health benefits. Researchers propose a line of inquiry to assess the effects of Q-Can Plus ("QC") fermented soy beverage in humans, assessing immunological, microbiological, and clinical parameters.
The immune system is influenced by the commensal microbes that live in the gut and on the skin. This study aims to characterize the microbiota of subjects with autoimmune disease in order to determine whether certain microbial species may cause or worsen immune-mediated diseases
Background: - The intestines, mouth, and skin all contain billions of bacteria and some fungi. Every person s body contains microorganisms like these. They normally do not make people sick. Researchers are interested in how these microorganisms change when a person is hospitalized. They want to find out if changes take place because of the hospitalization (such as treatments used or changes in medical condition) or because of a person s biology (such as their immune system). Objectives: - To understand which microorganisms are most likely to spread through hospitals and what affects that spread. Eligibility: - People 2 years of age and older who are going to be inpatients at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center (NIHCC) for at least 48 hours. Design: * Clinicians will take samples from participants up to once a day for as long as they are hospitalized at NIHCC. * Samples will be taken with a swab, from the rectal area, groin, throat, and armpit, and possibly other areas. * Participants may give a stool sample or be asked to spit into a cup. * Clinicians will collect some information from participants medical records. They may request some samples of tissue that are left over from procedures already scheduled at NIHCC. * After participants leave the NIHCC, samples may be taken when they return for follow-up visits from their hospitalization, for up to 2 years. They will not have to return as a follow-up for this study only.
Isolation and characterization of fecal/oral/skin/nasal/throat microbial species from a diverse cohort of healthy adults.
The purpose of this study is to determine how probiotics affects circulating carotenoid levels.
The purpose of this study is to assess the use of oral Terminalia chebula fruit extract on the gut microbiome and skin biophysical properties. The fruit is commonly used for skin treatments in India. It is thought to have antioxidant properties, reduce inflammation and affect the microorganisms in the gut. The information the investigators will learn from this study may indicate how and if oral dosing can affect the skin and gut microbiome. This may lead to an improved understanding of the skin and determine whether these oral products are effective for improving the skin's appearance.
Pomegranate extract (Pomella) is well known for its antioxidant properties due to its phenolic compounds. It has also been shown to increase the amount of short chain fatty acid producing Lactobacillus and Bifidobacteria genera. Short chain fatty acids are thought to have an anti-inflammatory effect on the sebaceous glands. Previous studies have concluded that pomegranate extract may act as a prebiotic in the body and subsequently increasing the gastrointestinal microbial diversity and by producing short chain fatty acids that may have systemic beneficial effects especially on the skin. Therefore, the aim of this study is to assess how Pomella alters the gut microbiome and the blood level of short chain fatty acids in healthy subjects.
The investigators propose to study the microbiome of the nose, throat and three skin sites in a population without current exposure to the healthcare environment: 80 community dwelling adults. We will characterize the microbial communities in these body sites (nose, throat, perirectal and three skin sites) over time using culture-independent techniques. The investigators will then "decolonize" the subjects. Subjects will receive intranasal mupirocin and topical chlorhexidine. The investigators will then compare the microbial communities at baseline and after decolonization within individuals. Our overall hypothesis is that the microbial composition of these sites and the response to decolonization is influenced by the healthcare environment and that decolonization leads to re-colonization with an increasing proportion of Gram-negative bacilli.
Normal aging can lead to loss of gut microbial biodiversity which is linked to inflammaging and immunosenescence or the loss of immunocompetence. Probiotics, such as VSL#3®, and certain herbal supplements such as Triphala are associated with restoration of gut community architecture, increased gut barrier function and decreased inflammation. The present project will examine the potential benefits of a synbiotic (which denotes a prebiotic plus probiotic, and in this study, is an herbal prebiotic plus probiotic) intervention (8 weeks of supplementation) on gut microbiome profiles assessed via stool, inflammatory blood markers, and questionnaires about gastrointestinal health and mood. In this exploratory study, the investigators will examine psychological and physical functioning at baseline and after 8 weeks of supplementation with synbiotic, Triphala alone, or placebo.
Understanding the microbiome's important role in human health, the investigators wish to determine how the development of the infant microbiome is impacted by delivery mode, comparing natural vaginal birth to scheduled C-sections. Investigators will look at the oral, nasal, skin, vaginal and fecal bacteria of 78 mothers and their infants from birth to age 1.
Studies show that family members share as much or more of the composition of their microbiota (the trillions of micro-organisms in our guts) with their dogs as they do with each other (Song et. al. 2013). This shows that the introduction of dogs into home environments has a profound impact on the human microbiota. Additionally, many studies show that children raised with dogs are less likely than others to develop a range of immune-mediated disorders, including asthma and allergies (Ownby, Johnson, and Peterson 2002; Almqvist et al. 2003; Havstad et al. 2011). This suggests that dogs can serve as probiotics for children by appropriately training their immune systems not to produce inflammation in response to harmless stimuli. What is not known, however, is whether the same is true for elderly populations and dogs. Thus, this study seeks to explore whether dogs might also improve the physical and mental health of elderly adults by improving the structure and function of their microbiota. The investigators propose a pilot/proof of concept study to investigate whether dogs might improve the physical and mental health of elderly adults via changing (improving) the structure and function of their microbiota (gut flora). The investigators propose a pre-post study design that among 20 elderly individuals (aged 50 and older) to investigate the probiotic effect that dogs might have on these individuals. The investigators are particularly interested to know whether introducing a dog into a home where one has not lived in the recent past increases the "positive" microorganisms in the guts of the humans living with them. The investigators will also measure the changes in markers of inflammation (from blood samples) as well as the changes in self-reported scores of depression, frailty, physical activity, and general health and well-being mobility among human participants. In order to assess any effects in the animal study participants, the investigators will also collect and analyze fecal and blood samples as well as conduct home visits to observe canine and human interactions and bonding and conduct assessments of canine well-being using questionnaires/observational techniques that have been validated for these purposes in other studies. Additionally, the investigators will assess the interactions between of the participants with the dog and how having a dog in the home may influence an individual's relationship with the dog and his/her thoughts about the microbiota, human and canine health and human-animal interactions through monthly semi-structured interviews. The investigators have previously received IACUC approval for this study, approval number 14-537.
The goal of this study is to examine changes in the bacterial ecology and inflammatory markers of the female genital tract with levonorgestrel intrauterine device placement. The specific research objectives of this project include: 1. Characterization of vaginal, cervical and uterine bacterial species and communities prior to and after LNG IUD placement using bacterial DNA microarray analysis. Samples will be collected up to 1 week before and 2 months after IUD insertion. 2. Characterization of vaginal, cervical and uterine inflammatory cytokine milieu prior to and after LNG IUD placement using human RNA microarray analysis. Samples will be analyzed from up to one day before and three weeks after IUD insertion. 3. Establish a tissue bank of vaginal, cervical and uterine specimens for future research.
This study will explore the effects of skin-to-skin contact (SSC) between mothers and their babies on the infant intestinal microbiome, the maternal skin microbiome and the breast milk microbiome. This will be accomplished by administering an intervention education session to one group and a placebo education session to the second group in order to influence the magnitude of total SSC defined by the frequency and duration of contact time between the two groups.
In its original phase, this cohort study recruited subjects who were either HIV-positive or HIV-negative healthy controls, to analyze the community structure of the lung microbiome. Original recruitment was planned to occur both at the University of Michigan Medical Center and clinics, and at VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System. Enrollment for the original cohort is completed, and all current activity of this project is occurring at VA Ann Arbor, where both Veteran subjects and non-Veteran subjects are eligible to participate. This study is currently recruiting only healthy HIV-negative subjects. Participation, described below, involves a research bronchoscopy procedure.
This study aims to investigate the impact of various healthy diets, specifically a modified plant-based Mediterranean diet, on the gut microbiome and overall well-being post-colonoscopy. The investigators hypothesize that certain diets can positively influence gut bacteria, reducing inflammation and enhancing metabolic signals. To explore this, they will utilize metagenomic testing on stool samples to analyze the DNA of gut microorganisms. Additionally, they will conduct immune profiling on serum samples and perform metabolomic analysis to comprehensively evaluate the diet-induced changes in immune response and metabolic pathways. This multi-faceted approach will help them understand how dietary changes affect the composition and function of the gut microbiome, immune function, and overall metabolism.
The goal of the NANO trial is to study the longstanding clinical practice of empirically administering intravenous antibiotics to extremely low birthweight (ELBW) infants in the first days of life. In this 802-subject multicenter placebo-controlled randomized clinical trial, the hypothesis to be tested is that the incidence of adverse outcomes is higher in babies receiving empiric antibiotics (EA) in the first week of life compared to babies receiving placebo. The study targets a population of ELBW infants in whom the clinical decision to use or not use EA is currently most challenging -- infants that are clinically stable that did not have a known exposure to intraamniotic infection and were not born preterm for maternal indications. The primary outcome is the composite outcome of late-onset sepsis (LOS), necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), or death during the index hospitalization. Secondary safety outcomes will include total antibiotic days, days to full enteral feedings, and common morbidities in preterm infants that have previously been linked to EA, e.g. retinopathy of prematurity and bronchopulmonary dysplasia. Weight and length z-score, and head circumference, are standard measures to be collected weekly by clinical team per a standardized protocol.
This proposal will quantify dietary exposure of a nano- food additive in the U.S. food supply, and determine its impact on the human gut microbiome, gut inflammation, permeability and oxidative stress. Titanium dioxide (TiO2, or E171 food grade additive) is used in processed foods, with thousands of tons produced annually and an expected increase \>8.9% from 2016 to 2025. Preclinical models demonstrate \>99% of consumed TiO2 is retained within the intestinal lumen and excreted in the feces. In animal models, dietary TiO2 causes shifts in the gut microbiome, decreases acetate production, increases biofilm formation, and causes profound disruption of gut homeostasis and intestinal tight junctions, due to the production of reactive oxygen species and increased inflammation. However, the relation between chronic TiO2 intake and human gut homeostasis has yet to be elucidated. France issued an executive order to ban food grade TiO2 use after January 1st 2020, over serious safety concerns. Since then, multiple European civil societies have jointly called for an executive order to ban TiO2 across the EU. Typical TiO2 intake among U.S. adults remains to be documented, and there are no known studies that estimate dietary exposure of TiO2 using a whole foods approach. Therefore, the overarching goals of this project are to: 1) measure dietary TiO2 exposure in a sample of U.S. adults, using dietary recalls and fecal TiO2 content; 2) determine how fecal TiO2 content is related to gut dysbiosis, metatranscriptomics, intestinal inflammation, permeability and oxidative stress.
The purpose of this study is to identify the human intestinal microbiota (microbes that live inside and on human bodies) in healthy adults over a 6-month period and to study the effect of an antibiotic on the intestinal microbiota. Participants will include up to 60 healthy adult subjects, ages 18-45 years, from the Baltimore and University of Maryland communities. Study procedures will include providing multiple stool samples throughout the study. Participants will take a licensed antibiotic, Ciprofloxacin, for 3 days. Participants may be involved in study related procedures for up to 7 months.
Numerous organisms live on and in healthy human skin. This study seeks to survey the diversity of this complex ecosystem by collecting samples from approximately 1000 individuals in order to determine the type of organisms living on their skin.
The main goal of this project is to identify the microbiome components change in abundance in response to food ingested including provided foods.
The MiLC trial is a randomized control trial of two different breast pump set-ups: mother's own and sterile. The objective of this trial is to investigate the bacterial composition of human milk pumped and stored in "real-life" conditions. To meet this objective, lactating mothers will fully express breast milk from one breast on two consecutive pumping sessions at home, once with the participant's own pumps and collection kits (own pump set-up) and once with a hospital-grade pump and disposable, sterile collection kits (sterile pump set-up). Randomization will be used to determine which pump participants use first. From the total volume of milk pumped during each pumping session, the researchers will collect 1 oz. Milk from both pumps will be stored at home and sampled on days 0, 2, 4, and 30 after expression for analysis of its bacterial composition.
Early nutrition critically influences growth, neurodevelopment and morbidity among infants born of very low birth weight (VLBW), but current one-size-fits-all feeding regimes do not optimally support these vulnerable infants. There is increasing interest in "precision nutrition" approaches, but it is unclear which Human Milk (HM) components require personalized adjustment of doses. Previous efforts have focused on macronutrients, but HM also contains essential micronutrients as well as non-nutrient bioactive components that shape the gut microbiome. Further, it is unclear if or how parental factors (e.g. body mass index, diet) and infant factors (e.g. genetics, gut microbiota, sex, acuity) influence relationships between early nutrition and growth, neurodevelopment and morbidity. Understanding these complex relationships is paramount to developing effective personalized HM feeding strategies for VLBW infants. This is the overarching goal of the proposed Optimizing Nutrition and Milk (Opti-NuM) Project. The Opti-NuM Project brings together two established research platforms with complementary expertise and resources: 1) the MaxiMoM Program\* with its clinically embedded translational neonatal feeding trial network in Toronto (Dr. Deborah O'Connor, Dr. Sharon Unger) and 2) the International Milk Composition (IMiC) Consortium, a world-renowned multidisciplinary network of HM researchers and data scientists collaborating to understand how the myriad of HM components contribute "as a whole" to infant growth and development, using systems biology and machine learning approaches. Members of the IMiC Corsortium that will work with on this study are located at the University of Manitoba (Dr. Meghan Azad), University of California (Dr. Lars Bode) and Stanford (Dr. Nima Aghaeepour).
Determine in the context of a controlled crossover diet-intervention trial the role of taurocholic acid metabolism by gut bacteria in African American subjects at elevated risk for colorectal cancer (CRC). Two isocaloric diets, an animal-based diet high in taurine and saturated fat (HT-HSAT) and a plant-based, low in taurine and low saturated fat (LT-LSAT) will be used to determine the extent to which the relationship between diet (independent variable) and mucosal markers of CRC risk including epithelial proliferation, oxidative stress, DNA damage, and primary and secondary bile acid pools and biomarkers of inflammation (dependent variables) is explained by the abundance of sulfidogenic bacteria and hydrogen sulfide (H2S) concentrations \&/or deoxycholic acid (DCA) and DCA-producing bacteria clostridium scindens (mediator variables).
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.
This study explores how microorganisms in the gut can affect the growth and progression of brain tumors.