Chronic cough due to occupational factors.

Within the large variety of subtypes of chronic cough, either defined by their clinical or pathogenetic causes, occupational chronic cough may be regarded as one of the most preventable forms of the disease. Next to obstructive airway diseases such as asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, which are sometimes concomitant with chronic cough, this chronic airway disease gains importance in the field of occupational medicine since classic fiber-related occupational airway diseases will decrease in the future. Apart from acute accidents and incidental exposures which may lead to an acute form of cough, there are numerous sources for the development of chronic cough within the workplace.

Neuronal plasticity in persistent perennial allergic rhinitis.

Objective: Persistent perennial allergic rhinitis belongs to the most frequent diseases in occupational and environmental medicine. Because the innervation may play a role in the pathogenesis of the disease, the present study analyzed nasal mucosal nerve profiles.

Methods: Neuropeptide-containing nerve fibers were examined using immunohistochemistry and related to eosinophil and mast cell numbers.

Hepatotoxic effects of polidocanol in a model of autologously perfused porcine livers.

Polidocanol is an effective sclerosing agent that consists of 95% hydroxypolyethoxydodecane and 5% ethyl alcohol and is known to have a low risk of complications. However, since the compound has been proposed for the local treatment of liver diseases, the potential for topical hepatic side effects should be examined. Therefore, the new model of normothermic-hemoperfused isolated porcine slaughterhouse livers was used to examine polidocanol-hepatotoxicity encompassing the advantages of slaughterhouse organs to reduce animal experiments and autologous blood as an optimal perfusate.

Hemoperfused isolated porcine slaughterhouse kidneys as a valid model for pharmacological studies.

Mammalian models of isolated perfused kidneys provide an important tool to study pharmacological, toxicological, and physiological properties of drugs, hormones, and vasoactive substances. As organs from small laboratory animals are difficult to compare to human conditions, porcine and bovine kidneys permit better approaches to simulate human conditions. We developed an alternative model for pharmacological studies using isolated hemoperfused porcine kidneys from slaughterhouse animals to reduce laboratory animal experiments.

Toxic rhinitis-induced changes of human nasal mucosa innervation.

Irritative toxic rhinitis is a nasal disorder induced by chemical compounds like ozone, formaldehyde, nickel, chrome, solvents and tobacco smoke. These noxious stimuli may have effects on the nasal innervation leading to a cascade of neuro-immune interactions and an augmentation of the symptoms. Here we examined changes in the neuropeptide content of mucosal parasympathetic, sympathetic and sensory nerves of patients with toxic rhinitis caused by chronic cigarette smoke exposure.