View clinical trials related to Normal Control.
Filter by:The purpose of this prospective cohort study is to compare upper GI symptoms and endoscopy findings in Canada with Japan and Iran, and correlate this with the upper GI microbiome. The investigators plan to recruit 500 new patients referred for upper GI endoscopy in Canada (McMaster University) and 500 in Japan (Tohoku University Hospital) and 500 from Iran (Tehran University of Medical Sciences). Written consent will be obtained from all participants. Patients will complete three symptom questionnaires and a demographic one before endoscopy. Then saliva collection device will be applied for collecting saliva and microbiota from the oral cavity. Esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) will be performed thereafter and brushing of the esophagus, stomach, and the duodenum will be done using a sterile sheathed brush (one for each site) to sample collect gut microbiota and gastric biopsies will be done for assessing H.pylori status. In addition, a group of these patients will undergo measurement of nitrate reductase activity (NRA) in their oral cavity. This will be done on twenty erosive gastro-esophageal reflux disease (GERD) patients, twenty non-erosive GERD patients, and twenty patients without any endoscopic or clinical GERD. This latter part of the study will be done at the Canadian and Iranian sites only. Bacterial community profiling of the 16S rRNA gene will be carried out using paired end reads of the V3 region. Triplicate amplifications will be pooled for 150 or 250 nt paired-end Illumina sequencing in the McMaster Genome Center. For specific substudies analysis of the mycome will also be carried out.
The aim of this study is to establish and perfect the China Cognition and Aging Study (China COAST) cohort, to clarify the epidemiology, influencing factors, genetic characteristics, pathogenesis, disease characteristics and diagnosis and treatment status of dementia and its subtypes in China. It is of great significance to establish a relatively comprehensive national database of cognitive disorders, improve the clinical diagnosis and treatment level of cognitive disorders, and formulate prevention and treatment strategies for dementia. The primary aims of China COAST are as follows: 1. To use the prospective cohort to establish a large database research platform, so as to provide comprehensive epidemiological data, clinical and neuropsychological evaluation data, biological samples, and laboratory tests and imaging data. 2. To update the prevalence and incidence rate of dementia and its subtypes every 2-3 years, and clarify the conversion pattern from normal elderly to MCI and from MCI to dementia. 3. To explore the known or unknown protective and risk factors of dementia and its major subtypes (AD, VaD, other dementia). 4. To discover new pathogenic genes and susceptible genes of dementia and its major subtypes (AD and VaD), as well as new mutation sites of known pathogenic genes. To study the genetic variation, mutation and polymorphism of PSEN1, PSEN2, APP and APOE genes in dementia patients, and to understand their distribution and roles in the pathogenesis. 5. To study the biomarkers (body fluid, genetics, imaging) with diagnostic value of MCI, AD (sporadic and familial) and VaD, to define their cut-off values, and to establish prediction models. 6. To study the diagnostic criteria of cognitive normal, MCI, dementia and their subtypes (clinical and molecular subtypes) in the cohort, and to make psychological assessment scales with high sensitivity and specificity, and in line with the characteristics of Chinese people. 7. To find potentially modifiable risk factors for dementia and to study the prevention and intervention effect of non-pharmacological treatment on APOE ε4 carriers, MCI and AD or other dementia patients，which included improvements in education, nutrition, health care, and lifestyle changes. This needs a long time follow-up. 8. To explore the relationship between dementia as well as its major subtype AD and cerebral and systemetic circulatory disorders (for example, mixed dmentia), as well as potential therapeutic strategies. 9. To carry out investigation and researches about dementia related education, improve the awareness of dementia, and strengthen the management of dementia. 10. To investigate the level of stigma and discrimination and its influencing factors in patients with Alzheimer's disease and their caregivers.
The study is aimed to determine the potential of volatile marker testing for identification of gastrointestinal cancers (in particular - colorectal and gastric cancers), the related precancerous lesions in the stomach and colon. The study will be addressing the role of confounding factors, including lifestyle factors, diet, smoking as well as addressing the potential role of microbiota in the composition of exhaled volatile markers.
The occurrence of sepsis and its relevant multiple organ dysfunction remain a major problem in intensive care units with high morbidity and mortality. The differentiation between non-infectious and infectious etiologies, severity and organ function evaluation, and prognostic assessment are all challenging in routine clinical practice. Many biomarkers have been suggested for these purpose; however sensitivity and specificity even of high-ranking biomarkers still remain insufficient. Recently, metabolic profiling has attracted interest for biomarker discovery. In this study, LC-MS/MS will be perform to identify serum metabolic biomarkers for differentiation of SIRS/sepsis, severity and organ function evaluation, and prognostic assessment among 65 patients. The investigators enrolled 35 patients who were diagnosed with sepsis, 15 patients who were diagnosed with SIRS, and 15 normal patients. Moreover, the sepsis were further divided into sepsis, severe sepsis, and sepsis patients before death. Small metabolites that were present in patient serum samples were measured by LC-MS/MS techniques and analyzed using multivariate statistical methods, such as Principal Component Analysis (PCA), Partial Least Squares-Discriminant Analysis (PLS-DA), and Orthogonal Partial Least Squares Discriminant Analysis. Based on the multivariate statistical analysis above, the investigators could distinguish sepsis from normal and SIRS; distinguish the difference among sepsis, severe sepsis and death. We hypothesis that some metabolites as identified in this study are promising biomarker candidates in the field of sepsis diagnosis and treatment.