Investigation of bronchiectasis in severe uncontrolled asthma.

Introduction: The presence of bronchiectasis in patients with asthma varies in different reports, while a clear aetiological relation has not been precisely established.

Objectives: To investigate the presence of bronchiectasis in patients with severe uncontrolled asthma and examine whether they contribute to the severity of asthma.

Methods: Patients with severe asthma were prospectively recruited.

Oxidative DNA damage and somatic mutations: a link to the molecular pathogenesis of chronic inflammatory airway diseases.

Background: Acquired somatic mutations induced by oxidative stress may contribute to the molecular pathogenesis of chronic inflammatory airway diseases. The objective of this study was to assess the intensity of oxidative DNA damage and the presence of microsatellite DNA instability (MSI), a marker of acquired somatic mutations, in patients with COPD, patients with noncystic fibrosis bronchiectasis, and control subjects.

Methods: Induced sputum and peripheral blood from 97 subjects were analyzed; 36 patients with COPD, 36 patients with bronchiectasis, 15 smokers without COPD, and 10 healthy control subjects.