138 Clinical Trials for Various Conditions
The effects of high serum glucose on bone could be direct or could be indirect through its effects on the microvasculature. Previous studies by Rendell et al and Brugler et al have found significant differences in skin blood flow between diabetics and control. The investigators are proposing that blood flow measurements of the skin may be correlated with bone remodeling rates in iliac bone biopsies.
Registry program for volunteers who are willing to serve as control subjects in future research studies.
The purpose of this study will be to assess the attentional ability of patients with mild to moderate traumatic brain injury (TBI) using the functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) technique. Methodology for specific aim 1: sagittal pilot scan, 3-D anatomical MRI, Whole brain echo-planar imaging (EPI), and functional MRI techniques with traumatic brain injured subjects doing a Continuous Performance Test (CPT) attention task and compare the pattern of activation with those of normal controls to see if there is a failure to activate frontal lobes in the traumatic brain injured subjects.
This study is designed to collect lung washing samples and small pieces of tissue (biopsies) from the lungs of people who do not have any allergies or asthma. These samples will be used by researchers in the future as control samples to compare to samples from people with chronic lung diseases such as allergic asthma or emphysema. Control samples are samples are very important in laboratory experiments so that the researchers can tell what may be labeled as different or abnormal in samples from people with lung disease.
The Viral Epidemiology Branch (VEB) of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) conducts research on viral infections and their associations with various diseases including AIDS and cancer. For some research questions, specimens are available from "case" subjects as part of ongoing protocols but are not available from normal "control" subjects (i.e., those without the infection or disease under study) to whom the case subjects can be compared. This protocol is to obtain routine specimens (usually peripheral venous blood, occasionally other body fluid such as saliva, urine, or tears) from healthy volunteers.
The purpose of this study is to measure the amount of a protein in the brain known as tau using an imaging procedure called Positron Emission Tomography (PET/CT). 18F-AV-1451 is a specialized radioactive PET imaging agent that is able to detect the presence of tau in the brain. In this study, the investigator will use the 18F-AV-1451 to capture images of tau in the brain. Findings from this study will likely provide insight into the mechanisms and distinctions of age-related cognitive decline and that of very early Alzheimer's disease.
The objective of this study is to assess the effects of nutrient-fortified beverage on mental energy in healthy human subjects.
The objective of this study is to assess the effects of an herbal extract on mental energy in healthy human subjects.
This is a single-center study that aims to earn more about how two different compounds found in food, oxalate and citrate, may affect a person's chances of forming kidney stones.
The purpose of this research is to collect and compare electroencephalogram data from all stages of Alzheimer's disease from preclinical through severe dementia.
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.
A prospective observational study in infants with biliary atresia and controls to determine whether the composition of the intestinal microbiome is specific for biliary atresia will be conducted. The hypothesis of the study is "infants with biliary atresia have a unique microbiome signature at the time of diagnosis and changes in population dynamics occur during disease progression". The microbiome will be determined at diagnosis and at well-defined time points during the natural history of the disease.
Human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) have driven a paradigm shift in the modeling of human disease; the ability to reprogram patient-specific cells holds the promise of an enhanced understanding of disease mechanisms and phenotypic variability, with applications in personalized predictive pharmacology/toxicology, cell therapy and regenerative medicine. This research will collect blood or skin biopsies from patients and healthy controls for the purpose of generating cell and tissue models of Mendelian heritable forms of heart disease focusing on cardiomyopathies, channelopathies and neuromuscular diseases. Cardiomyocytes derived from hiPSCs will provide a ready source of disease specific cells to study pathogenesis and therapeutics.
The investigators hypothesize that a functional computational model that simulates the mechanical and aerodynamic behavior of the upper airway in children with Pierre Robin Sequence (PRS) and laryngeal lesions (e.g. subglottic stenosis or SGS) can be used as an effective diagnostic and treatment planning tool.
This is an exploratory pilot open-label study to identify the signal changes on fMRI of patients with tinnitus and with temporary suppression of the tinnitus with IV lidocaine. Patients will include those with hearing loss (both unilateral and bilateral) and tinnitus, subjects with normal hearing and tinnitus, and control subjects with normal hearing and no tinnitus. Eligible subjects will have functional and subjective data collected at baseline, receive an IV lidocaine infusion, and have functional and subjective data collected post-infusion for comparison and identification of involved neural networks.
The BioGene bank: Is a centralized collection of human blood samples along with de-identified (coded) health information, environmental factors, family disease histories and information from DNA. Limited to the NSLIJHS catchment area.
More than one site will participate in the collection of blood and urine samples from healthy adult subjects. These samples will be used for future testing to serve as aged-matched normal controls and to establish normal reference ranges in the development of new invitro diagnostic devices.
The purpose of this study is to determine if tumor cells can be detected in the blood of patients diagnosed with a brain tumor.
Compare the objective tear film dynamic measurements in three different populations (MGD \[Meibomium Gland Dysfunction\], ADDE \[Aqueous Deficient Dry Eye\] and normal/control \[non-dry eye\]) and the subjective experience before and after instilling a single drop of saline in each eye. Currently available office-based tests for dry eye do not reliably correlate with patients' subjective symptoms. This study is interested in assessing how individuals with these two different ocular surface diseases compare with the normal population when measured objectively using two different instruments.
Background: - The National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA) is interested in developing a pool of potential research participants who may be eligible for research studies on drug abuse and addiction, pharmacological and psychosocial therapies for substance addiction, drug abuse and co-occurring psychiatric disorders, and the long-term effects of drugs on the development, function, and structure of the brain and other organ systems. To develop this pool of potential participants, researchers intend to screen individuals who may be eligible for future research studies. Objectives: - To identify, recruit, and screen participants for NIDA collaborative research protocols. Eligibility: - Individuals 18 years of age and older who are able to provide informed consent. Design: * Eligible participants will undergo two screening interviews: a telephone interview and an in-person interview. The phone interview will determine eligibility for the in-person interview. * The in-person interview, which may require up to five visits to the clinical center, will involve any or all of the following procedures: (1) full physical examination and medical history; (2) psychiatric interview; (3) psychological testing; (4) electrocardiogram; (5) samples of blood, urine, and hair; and (6) other minimally invasive procedures as directed by the research staff. * Participants will provide a photograph for confirmation of identity for subsequent visits and protocols. * No clinical care will be provided under this protocol.
Study Objectives: * to identify neurophysiologic effects of venlafaxine treatment in normal controls using quantitative EEG (QEEG) cordance * to examine the effects of venlafaxine on different rating scales measuring mood and anxiety (e.g., Ham-D, BDI, SCL-90, POMS-BI, Visual Analog Mood Scale, SSRS, SASS, Q-LES-Q and SF-36) as well as on measures of cognitive and psychosocial function (i.e., Stroop, PASAT, RAVLT, Trailmaking A and B, Digit-Symbol, Grooved Pegboard, Multidimensional Health Locus of Control, Temperament and Character Inventory, Interpersonal Support Evaluation List, Godin Leisure-Time Questionnaire, and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index) in normal control subjects, and the association of changes in cordance with changes in thinking and memory. * to identify physiologic effects of venlafaxine treatment in normal controls using heart rate and immune function measures
The purpose of this research is to evaluate the methacholine challenge test as an accurate indicator of asthma in patients receiving treatment for asthma. Phase 1 on the study compares methacholine challenge test results from asthma patients to those from people who do not have asthma. In phase 2, test results for people with asthma on low dose inhaled corticosteroid will be compared to results on high dose inhaled corticosteroids. Both males and females with stable asthma (asthma participants) and without asthma (controls) enrolled. Participants will be between 12 and 69 years of age.
The purpose of this study is to test differences in RNA levels between Multiple Sclerosis (MS) patients and normal subjects. RNA provides a "message" from genes altered in diseases. We will also test DNA to determine if there are any small mutations called SNPs in any of the genes. The last tests are two separate tests for markers of inflammation called cytokines and eicosanoids. This research may lead to the discovery of biological markers for MS that are useful for diagnosis and treatment.
The purpose of this research is to understand how to apply cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) to women with small artery heart disease by looking at the CMRs of women without heart disease. The investigators will study 40 women with no heart disease to learn more about the usefulness of CMR. Women suffer more than men from this disorder of the small vessels compared to the large vessels. This results in delays in diagnosis, missed opportunities for treatment, and likely contributes to the increased death rate from heart disease in women compared to men. Current testing for small vessel disease is invasive and not performed routinely and women are often not initiated on appropriate lifesaving treatment. New imaging and noninvasive technology exists that may improve this situation. Imaging techniques such as cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) can now show the inner layers of the heart where the small vessel abnormality and myocardial ischemia exist. These techniques, while promising, have not been tested to determine if they can be used to diagnose and treat the small vessel coronary heart disease condition. They also have not been studied extensively in women without heart disease. Gadolinium, the contrast agent that will be given Intravenously to all study participants during the cardiac MRI procedure, is contraindicated to patients with renal impairment. Even though it will only be given once to each of our patients, the investigators still wanted to establish the fact that these study participants have "normal" or good renal functioning by doing BUN and Creatinine blood tests prior to the administration of this contrast agent to their system. By adding these lab tests, the investigators will be more cautious to the well-being and safety of the study participants. The investigators will be recruiting women aged 35-65 years with no known heart disease or heart disease risk factors like high blood pressure or high cholesterol. Participants will discuss the cardiac magnetic resonance procedure with a research doctor and if they agree, will fill out questionnaires related to their health, have blood draw and then undergo the CMR procedure. This can be completed in 1 or 2 visits. No follow up is needed.
This study seeks to compare patients with vasomotor rhinitis ("perennial nonallergic rhinitis," "idiopathic rhinitis") with normal controls with respect to their nasal physiologic reactivity to cold air challenge. Ten vasomotor rhinitis (VMR) patients with nasal symptoms triggered predominantly by cold air, four VMR patients with symptoms triggered predominantly by chemicals, and ten nonallergic, non-rhinitic control subjects will be studied.
This study will characterize the gene response of the body's immune and inflammatory cells to stroke. There is a wide variation in stroke risk, stroke outcome, and response to clot-busting therapy for stroke. This variation may be due to differences in people's response to injury or infection, or to differences in genetic make-up between individuals. Genes store the biological information that determines the body's response to injury or infection. This study will analyze the activity of a large number of genes to try to learn which genes might be related to patient outcome. This, in turn, may lead to an understanding of which gene profiles are related to increased stroke risk and increased disability or death. Healthy volunteers over age 21 and stroke patients over age 21 who are admitted to the NIH Stroke Program at Suburban Hospital in Bethesda, Md., may be eligible for this study. Volunteers will be screened with a medical history, blood pressure and pulse measurements, electrocardiogram, and neurological examination. Participants will have 20 to 35 milliliters (about an ounce) of blood drawn for genetic studies. The genetic material will be extracted from the white blood cells and analyzed for normal and abnormal gene activity related to stroke. ...
This study will examine the role of different brain regions in tactile (touch) ability after application of a tourniquet (inflated blood pressure cuff). When the forearm is deprived of blood for a short period of time, tactile ability in the other hand improves. This study will try to learn what causes this improvement. Healthy normal volunteers are eligible for this study. Candidates will have a brief medical history and physical examination. Volunteers will undergo two experiments, described below, that involve the following procedures: * Ischemic nerve block - A blood pressure cuff is inflated for 35-40 minutes around the elbow area (also around the calf for Experiment 2 - see below). The resulting numbness, tingling, loss of muscle strength, and discoloration of the forearm and hand disappear within minutes after the cuff is deflated. * Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) - This test uses a magnetic field and radio waves instead of X-rays to produce images of brain structure and function. The volunteer lies on a stretcher that is moved into the scanner (a cylinder containing a strong magnet), wearing earplugs to protect the ears from loud thumping noises that occur with electrical switching of radio frequency circuits. The subject can communicate with an investigator by intercom at all times during the scan. * Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) - An insulated wire coil is placed on the patient's scalp. A brief electrical current passes through the coil, creating a magnetic pulse that travels through the scalp and skull and causes small electrical currents in the outer part of the brain. The stimulation may cause muscle hand or arm twitching or transient tingling in the forearm, head or face muscles. * Tactile spatial acuity testing - The subject's left arm is placed in a cast and the left index finger is immobilized for this test which involves identifying the direction of grooves applied to the finger. Experiment 1 This experiment measures changes in tactile acuity and brain activation following cuff inflation. The subject lies in the MRI scanner, with the left arm immobilized. Tactile acuity is measured repetitively at the left index finger during placement and inflation of a pressure cuff around the right forearm. The experiment consists of two sessions with the cuff around the forearm and one with the cuff around the calf and lasts from 90 minutes to 2 hours. Experiment 2 This experiment measures changes in tactile acuity linked to TMS stimulation. The subject sits in an armchair with the left arm immobilized. Tactile acuity is measured repetitively at the left index finger during placement and inflation of a pressure cuff around the right forearm. In addition, TMS pulses (about one pulse per second) are delivered at different locations over the right side of the head for up to 30 minutes. The experiment consists of 10 separate sessions on different days, each lasting about 1 hour.
This study will evaluate whether the drug D-cycloserine (DCS) can improve a type of learning called classical conditioning, in which the brain learns to associate neutral stimuli with stimuli that elicit emotional or physiological responses. DCS is an antibiotic that was initially approved to treat tuberculosis and has been tested in clinical trials over the last decade for enhancing cognitive function. This protocol includes both a pilot study and a main study. The main study will begin after the pilot study ends. Healthy normal volunteers between 18 and 45 years of age may be eligible for these studies. Candidates will be screened with a medical and psychiatric history and a physical examination that includes blood and urine samples, an electrocardiogram (EKG), hearing test and startle test. The startle test involves recording eyeblink responses to loud noises. After the screening visit, those enrolled will participate in the pilot or main study, in which their reactions to two types of stimuli-an unpleasant, but harmless, shock to the arm and a mild puff of air to the eye-will be measured and recorded. - Pilot Study Session 1 - Participants will receive very brief electric shocks delivered through two electrodes attached to the forearm or fingers and will hear brief loud sounds that may startle. Geometric shapes will be presented on a computer monitor. Sessions 2 and 3 - The procedure is the same as in session 1, except participants will also be subjected to brief low-intensity tones and airpuffs to the eye. - Main Study Participants will undergo the same procedures described in the pilot study, with the following additions: * They will have an intravenous tube placed in a vein for collecting blood during the test. * They will take a pill each test day that contains either 100 mg DCS, 500 mg DCS, or a placebo (inactive substance). Subjects assigned to receive DCS will get the active drug on only one of the three test sessions and will be given placebo the other two sessions. The placebo group will receive placebo all three sessions. In both the pilot and main study, subjects' physiological responses to the stimuli will be recorded. Electrodes will be placed on two fingers (to measure sweat, or electrodermal activity), on the ribcage midway between the waist and armpit (to measure heart rate), and under one eye (to measure eye blink). Pulse will be recorded with a device attached to a finger, and breathing rate will be recorded with a special belt placed around the chest. At various times during the sessions, subjects will fill out questionnaires about their experience. Participants may withdraw from the study at any point.
This study will look for links between corn farming practices and short-term changes in immune function in farmers throughout the growing season. It will examine biologic effects associated with specific pesticide exposures and general planting activities, such as tillage. Farmers have an increased risk of non-Hodgkin s lymphoma and certain other blood cancers such as multiple myeloma and leukemia, but the reasons for this increase have not been identified. Findings of this study may contribute to learning the causes of cancers such as non-Hodgkin s lymphoma. Farmers enrolled in the Agricultural Health Study (a study of pesticide applicators and their spouses in Iowa and North Carolina) and a group of control subjects selected from agricultural extension workers in Iowa may participate in this study. The study involves six home visits to farmers and four visits to farmers to individuals in the control group. All participants will complete the following tests and procedures: * Questionnaires and diaries During the first visit, all participants will have a medical history review, including questions about smoking and other health habits. Farmers will be asked about their farming practices, and controls will be asked about their occupations. Farmers will fill out daily diaries during short time periods of interest around certain pesticide applications to describe farming activities that day. At other times during the growing season before harvest, farmers will fill out weekly diaries describing farming activities; controls, meanwhile, will fill out weekly diaries describing their health and work activities. At home visits during the farmers growing season, all participants will fill out questionnaires about their health. Finally, farmers and controls will complete a more extensive questionnaire in the off-season, during the last home visit, to learn about their activities and exposures in the final part of the year (post-harvest for farmers). * Urine samples: At the time of each home visit, controls will provide a urine sample that the interviewer will take that day. Farmers, too, will provide urine samples at the time of home visits, but they will also collect urine samples for a period of 4 days each during short time periods of interest after certain pesticide applications. The interviewer will collect these samples immediately at the end of these periods. * Blood samples: At the time of each home visit, the interviewer will draw 50 ml (3.5 tablespoons) of blood. * Telephone calls: Farmers will be called frequently from once every 2 weeks to every other day to schedule visits at the times of interest. Control subjects will also be called frequently to schedule their visits closely to those of the farmers.
The importance of the proposed research project derives from a steady accumulation of research findings on the relationship between respiration and anxiety. The relationship between panic disorder and abnormalities in respiration has been recognized for more than 10 years. Increased sensitivity to CO2 exposure in panic disorder represents the most consistent finding supporting this relationship. The current proposal follows naturally from three sets of recent research findings in the area of panic disorder. First, our group has recently shown that children with anxiety disorders, like adults with panic disorder, exhibit increased sensitivity to CO2. Second, other researchers have shown that psychiatrically healthy relatives of patients with panic disorder also exhibit increased sensitvity to CO2. Finally, our group has also recently shown that children of adults with panic disorder exhibit high rates of anxiety disorders, particularly separation anxiety disorder, the childhood anxiety disorder which exhibits the highest degree of CO2 sensitivity. These three findings suggest that children of parents with panic disorder may exhibit a latent vulnerability to panic disorder, manifested as increased sensitivity to CO2. A secondary feature of the proposed research project derives from a steady accumulation of research findings in basic science literature outlining the parts of the brain that mediate fear and anxiety in animals. It may be possible to use insights from research on the brain basis of fear in animals to develop methods for assessing the brain basis of fear in humans. Moreover, work in animals notes changes in brain systems that mediate fear and anxiety across development. If development. If developmentally sensitive methods could be used to study fear in children, it may also be possible to greatly enhance our understanding of the manner in which the relationship between brain function and fear changes as children age. If similarities could be demonstrated across animals and humans in these areas, new insights on potential treatments for anxiety could be more readily transferred from the laboratory to the clinic. A second goal of the current proposal is to refine two neuropsychological probes that are thought to assess functional aspects of brain systems implicated in fear and anxiety across various species, from rodents to humans.