Search results for "Respiratory medicine"

Host-directed therapies for COVID-19

2021

Purpose of review Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2-induced hyperinflammation is a major cause of death or end-organ dysfunction in COVID-19 patients. We review adjunct host-directed therapies (HDTs) for COVID-19 management. Recent findings The use of umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells as HDT for COVID-19 has been shown to be safe in phase 1 and 2 trials. Trials of anti-interleukin-6 receptor antibodies show promising mortality benefit in hospitalized COVID-19 patients. Repurposed drugs and monoclonal antibodies targeting specific cytokines acting on different aspects of the pro- and anti-inflammatory cascades are under evaluation. Summary A range of HDTs shows prom…

Exposure to cigarette smoke extract and lipopolysaccharide modifies cytoskeleton organization in bronchial epithelial cells

2017

The integrity of the respiratory epithelium is crucial for airway homeostasis. Tobacco smoke exposure and recurrent infections of the airways play a crucial role in the progression and in the decline of the respiratory function in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The aim of this study was to detect differentially expressed proteins in a bronchial epithelial cell line (16-HBE) stimulated with cigarette smoke extract (CSE) and lipopolysaccharide (LPS), a constituent of gram-negative bacteria, alone and/or in combination, by using two-dimensional electrophoresis (2DE) analysis coupled with matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Western blot a…

Cationic Proteins Inhibit l-Arginine Uptake in Rat Alveolar Macrophages and Tracheal Epithelial Cells

1999

Eosinophil-derived cationic proteins play an essential role in the pathogenesis of bronchial asthma. We tested whether cationic proteins interfere with the cationic amino-acid transport in alveolar macrophages (AMPhi) and tracheal epithelial cells, and whether L-arginine-dependent pathways were affected. The effect of cationic polypeptides on cellular uptake of [(3)H]-L-arginine, nitrite accumulation, and the turnover of [(3)H]-L-arginine by nitric oxide (NO) synthase and arginase (formation of [(3)H]-L-citrulline and [(3)H]-L-ornithine, respectively) were studied. Poly-L-arginine reduced [(3)H]-L-arginine uptake in rat AMPhi and tracheal epithelial cells in a concentration-dependent manner…

Telomere Length in Circulating Leukocytes is Associated with Lung Function and Disease

2014

Several clinical studies suggest the involvement of premature ageing processes in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Using an epidemiological approach, we studied whether accelerated ageing indicated by telomere length, a marker of biological age, is associated with COPD and asthma, and whether intrinsic age-related processes contribute to the interindividual variability of lung function. Our meta-analysis of 14 studies included 934 COPD cases with 15 846 controls defined according to the Global Lungs Initiative (GLI) criteria (or 1189 COPD cases according to the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) criteria), 2834 asthma cases with 28 195 controls, and s…

Congenital pulmonary lymphangiectasia

1991

Chest electrical impedance tomography examination, data analysis, terminology, clinical use and recommendations: consensus statement of the translati…

2017

Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) has undergone 30 years of development. Functional chest examinations with this technology are considered clinically relevant, especially for monitoring regional lung ventilation in mechanically ventilated patients and for regional pulmonary function testing in patients with chronic lung diseases. As EIT becomes an established medical technology, it requires consensus examination, nomenclature, data analysis and interpretation schemes. Such consensus is needed to compare, understand and reproduce study findings from and among different research groups, to enable large clinical trials and, ultimately, routine clinical use. Recommendations of how EIT findi…

Inhalation solutions — Which ones may be mixed? Physico-chemical compatibility of drug solutions in nebulizers — Update 2013

2014

AbstractMany patients suffering from chronic respiratory diseases rely on inhalation therapy with nebulizers. About 25% of patients who need to inhale several different drugs per day save time by mixing them for simultaneous inhalation. This review presents a comprehensive overview of the available data concerning physico-chemical compatibility of commonly mixed nebulizer solutions and suspensions. Information is based on our in vitro studies and a thorough literature search.Results indicate that many nebulizer solutions/suspensions are mixable without provoking incompatibilities. However, certain excipients contained in some of the tested drug products could be identified as a reason for i…

Iatrogenic lung disease

2004

Nrf2-interacting nutrients and COVID-19: time for research to develop adaptation strategies

2020

AbstractThere are large between- and within-country variations in COVID-19 death rates. Some very low death rate settings such as Eastern Asia, Central Europe, the Balkans and Africa have a common feature of eating large quantities of fermented foods whose intake is associated with the activation of the Nrf2 (Nuclear factor (erythroid-derived 2)-like 2) anti-oxidant transcription factor. There are many Nrf2-interacting nutrients (berberine, curcumin, epigallocatechin gallate, genistein, quercetin, resveratrol, sulforaphane) that all act similarly to reduce insulin resistance, endothelial damage, lung injury and cytokine storm. They also act on the same mechanisms (mTOR: Mammalian target of …

Early mitochondrial dysfunction, superoxide anion production, and DNA degradation are associated with non-apoptotic death of human airway epithelial …

2002

It has been shown that bacterial exoproducts may induce airway epithelium injury. During the epithelial repair process, the respiratory epithelial cells no more establish tight junctional intercellular complexes and may be particularly susceptible to bacterial virulence factors. In this study, we analyzed the effect of Pseudomonas aeruginosa exotoxin A (ETA) at different periods of time and concentrations on 16 HBE 14o(-) human bronchial epithelial cells in culture conditions inducing a phenotype of repairing cells. ETA treatment for 24 and 48 h led to the killing of 40.0 +/- 5.7% and 79.0 +/- 1.4% of the cells, respectively, as determined by the dimethylthiazole 2,5 diphenyl tetrazolium br…