Inhaled treatment of COPD: a Delphi consensus statement.

Background: Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) global strategy (2015) provides guidance for the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) with different first-choice options per GOLD category without specification.

Objectives: To evaluate the level of medical experts' consensus on their preferred first-choice treatment within different COPD categories.

Methods: A two-round Delphi Panel consisting of 15 questions was completed by Belgian pulmonologists (n=31) and European (n=10) COPD experts.

Vitamin D supplementation during rehabilitation in COPD: a secondary analysis of a randomized trial.

Rationale: Pulmonary rehabilitation is an important treatment for patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, who are often vitamin D deficient. As vitamin D status is linked to skeletal muscle function, we aimed to explore if high dose vitamin D supplementation can improve the outcomes of rehabilitation in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.

Material And Methods: This study is a post-hoc subgroup analysis of a larger randomized trial comparing a monthly dose of 100.

Antielastin B-cell and T-cell immunity in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Rationale: Antielastin autoimmunity has been hypothesised to drive disease progression in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The proposed mechanism is currently disputed by conflicting data. The authors aimed to explore antibody responses against elastin in a large and extensively characterised COPD population and to assess elastin-specific peripheral T-cell reactivity in a representative subgroup.

High doses of vitamin D to reduce exacerbations in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a randomized trial.

Background: Low serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25-[OH]D) levels have been associated with lower FEV(1), impaired immunologic control, and increased airway inflammation. Because many patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) have vitamin D deficiency, effects of vitamin D supplementation may extend beyond preventing osteoporosis.

Objective: To explore whether supplementation with high doses of vitamin D could reduce the incidence of COPD exacerbations.

COPD, bone metabolism, and osteoporosis.

COPD and osteoporosis are strongly associated because of common risk factors such as age, smoking, and inactivity. In addition, COPD-related systemic inflammation, vitamin D deficiency, and the use of systemic corticosteroids enhance ongoing bone destruction. Osteoporosis, in turn, may cause fragility fractures, which further impair mobility and increase morbidity and mortality.

Alveolar and bronchial exhaled nitric oxide in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Background: Fractional exhaled NO (Fe,NO) has yielded inconsistent results in COPD. Measuring exhaled NO at multiple flow rates however, allows to dissect exhaled NO in an alveolar (CAlv,NO) and bronchial (J'aw,NO) fraction, which are claimed to better reflect the bronchial and alveolar inflammation in COPD. We examined whether the use of Fe,NO, CAlv,NO and J'aw,NO may contribute to the clinical diagnosis of COPD.

Vitamin D deficiency is highly prevalent in COPD and correlates with variants in the vitamin D-binding gene.

Introduction: Vitamin D deficiency has been associated with many chronic illnesses, but little is known about its relationship with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Objectives: Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25-OHD) levels were measured in 414 (ex)-smokers older than 50 years and the link between vitamin D status and presence of COPD was assessed. The rs7041 and rs4588 variants in the vitamin D-binding gene (GC) were genotyped and their effects on 25-OHD levels were tested.

Vitamin D beyond bones in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: time to act.

The discovery that the vitamin D endocrine system regulates a very large number of genes and their associated biological processes improves our insight into the fundamental role of vitamin D and sun exposure for human health. Accumulating epidemiological data are linking a low vitamin D nutritional status to highly prevalent diseases such as cancer, autoimmune diseases, and chronic infections. Approximately half of the world's elderly, and to a lesser extent the adult population, have insufficient to deficient 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25-OHD) serum levels, and several intervention studies are being undertaken to study the impact of adequate vitamin D supplementation in chronic diseases.