Search results for " ASTHMA"
showing 10 items of 300 documents
The Arg/Arg polymorphism of the ADRB2 is associated with the severity of allergic asthma
2016
Minimal clinically important difference for asthma endpoints: an expert consensus report
2020
Minimal clinically important difference (MCID) can be defined as the smallest change or difference in an outcome measure that is perceived as beneficial and would lead to a change in the patient's medical management.The aim of the current expert consensus report is to provide a “state-of-the-art” review of the currently available literature evidence about MCID for end-points to monitor asthma control, in order to facilitate optimal disease management and identify unmet needs in the field to guide future research.A series of MCID cut-offs are currently available in literature and validated among populations of asthmatic patients, with most of the evidence focusing on outcomes as patient repo…
Is diet partly responsible for differences in COVID-19 death rates between and within countries?
2020
Abstract Reported COVID-19 deaths in Germany are relatively low as compared to many European countries. Among the several explanations proposed, an early and large testing of the population was put forward. Most current debates on COVID-19 focus on the differences among countries, but little attention has been given to regional differences and diet. The low-death rate European countries (e.g. Austria, Baltic States, Czech Republic, Finland, Norway, Poland, Slovakia) have used different quarantine and/or confinement times and methods and none have performed as many early tests as Germany. Among other factors that may be significant are the dietary habits. It seems that some foods largely use…
Effects in cigarette smoke stimulated bronchial epithelial cells of a corticosteroid entrapped into nanostructured lipid carriers
2014
Background Nanomedicine studies have showed a great potential for drug delivery into the lung. In this manuscript nanostructured lipid carriers (NLC) containing Fluticasone propionate (FP) were prepared and their biocompatibility and effects in a human bronchial epithelial cell line (16-HBE) stimulated with cigarette smoke extracts (CSE) were tested. Results Biocompatibility studies showed that the NLC did not induce cell necrosis or apoptosis. Moreover, it was confirmed that CSE increased intracellular ROS production and TLR4 expression in bronchial epithelial cells and that FP-loaded NLC were more effective than free drug in modulating these processes. Finally, the nanoparticles increased…
Effects of antioxidants on CSE-induced cell death in human asthmatic primary bronchial epithelial cells
2010
The link between cigarette smoke (CS) and lung inflammation is quite strong, however relatively little is still known on the effects of CS on human bronchial epithelial cells survival during asthma. In this study we focused our attention on the apoptotic effects of CS on healthy (HC) and asthmatic (AS) primary bronchial epithelial cells (PBEC) and on the role of antioxidants to protect epithelial cells from CSE-induced apoptosis. Twenty subjects (10 HC and 10 AS) were recruited for this study and PBEC were obtained by bronchoscopy. PBEC were treated with oxidants (H2O), anti-oxidants (GSH and AA) and cigarette smoke extracts (CSE). Early apoptosis (EA) and necrosis were measured by flow cyt…
Regular versus as-needed budesonide and formoterol combination treatment for moderate asthma: A non-inferiority, randomised, double-blind clinical tr…
2015
Summary Background Treatment guidelines for patients with moderate persistent asthma recommend regular therapy with a combination of an inhaled corticosteroid and a longacting β 2 agonist plus as-needed rapid-acting bronchodilators. We investigated whether symptom-driven budesonide and formoterol combination therapy administered as needed would be as effective as regular treatment with this combination plus as-needed symptom-driven terbutaline for patients with moderate asthma. Methods In this non-inferiority randomised clinical trial, we recruited adult patients (18–65 years of age) with stable moderate persistent asthma, according to 2006 Global Initiative for Asthma guidelines. Patients …
Th17 immunity in children with allergic asthma and rhinitis: a pharmacological approach
2013
Th17 cells and IL-17A play a role in the development and progression of allergic diseases. We analyzed the IL-17A levels in sputum supernatants (Ss), nasal wash (NW) and plasma (P) from Healthy Controls (HC) and children with Asthma/Rhinitis. We tested the expression of IL-17A, RORγ(t) and FOXP3 in peripheral blood T-lymphocytes from intermittent and mild-moderate asthma. The effect of Budesonide and Formoterol was tested "in vitro" on IL-17A, RORγ(t) and FOXP3 expression in cultured T-lymphocytes from mild-moderate asthma/persistent rhinitis patients, and on nasal and bronchial epithelial cells stimulated with NW and Ss from mild-moderate asthma/persistent rhinitis. Further, the effect of …
Mechanisms in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: comparisons with asthma
2009
The mechanisms underlying the pathogenesis and pathophysiology of COPD are complex and have been largely studied; however, the underlying factors are not completely understood. Chronic airway inflammation is a key characteristic of COPD and specific inflammatory abnormalities exist even in the airways of subjects with mild and asymptomatic clinical patterns. In addressing these mechanisms, a comparison with asthma becomes fundamental, since the latter shows clinical and functional aspects that overlap with those observed in COPD. The mechanisms of inflammation in COPD, and their similarities and differences with asthma are therefore discussed in this article. The diagnosis of chronic obstru…
Respiratory disease phenotypes in a general population sample: latent transition analysis
2018
Background: Few data are available on the temporal pattern of respiratory disease phenotypes in general population. Aim: To detect longitudinal patterns of disease phenotypes related to risk factors and physician visits. Methods: Pisan general population sample from 2 cross-sectional studies (PI1: 1991-93; PI2: 2009-11; n=1107), questionnaire-based data. Latent transition analysis (LTA) was performed to assess respiratory disease phenotypes at PI1 and PI2, labelled according to disease/symptom occurrence. Possible patterns were persistence, worsening and improvement of the phenotype. Multiple logistic regression models were estimated to assess the association among phenotype patterns, risk …