Restrictive Spirometric Pattern and Preserved Ratio Impaired Spirometry in a Population Aged 50-64 Years.

Knowledge regarding the prevalence and shared and unique characteristics of the restrictive spirometric pattern (RSP) and preserved ratio impaired spirometry (PRISm) is lacking for a general population investigated with post-bronchodilator spirometry and computed tomography of the lungs. To investigate shared and unique features for RSP and PRISm. In the Swedish CArdioPulmonary bioImage Study (SCAPIS), a general population sample of 28,555 people aged 50-64 years (including 14,558 never-smokers) was assessed.

Impaired function in the lung periphery following COVID-19 is associated with lingering breathing difficulties.

Lingering breathing difficulties are common after COVID-19. However, the underlying causes remains unclear, with spirometry often being normal. We hypothesized that small airway dysfunction (SAD) can partly explain these symptoms.

Occupational exposure and health surveys at metal additive manufacturing facilities.

Introduction: Additive manufacturing is a novel state-of-the art technology with significant economic and practical advantages, including the ability to produce complex structures on demand while reducing the need of stocking materials and products. Additive manufacturing is a technology that is here to stay; however, new technologies bring new challenges, not only technical but also from an occupational health and safety perspective. Herein, leading Swedish companies using metal additive manufacturing were studied with the aim of investigating occupational exposure and the utility of chosen exposure- and clinical markers as predictors of potential exposure-related health risks.

Exhaled breath particles as a novel tool to study lipid composition of epithelial lining fluid from the distal lung.

Background: Surfactant phospholipid (PL) composition plays an important role in lung diseases. We compared the PL composition of non-invasively collected exhaled breath particles (PEx) with bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) and induced sputum (ISP) at baseline and following endotoxin (LPS) challenges.

Methods: PEx and BAL were collected from ten healthy nonsmoking participants before and after segmental LPS challenge.

Airway and systemic biomarkers of health effects after short-term exposure to indoor ultrafine particles from cooking and candles - A randomized controlled double-blind crossover study among mild asthmatic subjects.

Background: There is insufficient knowledge about the systemic health effects of exposure to fine (PM) and ultrafine particles emitted from typical indoor sources, including cooking and candlelight burning. We examined whether short-term exposure to emissions from cooking and burning candles cause inflammatory changes in young individuals with mild asthma. Thirty-six non-smoking asthmatics participated in a randomized controlled double-blind crossover study attending three exposure sessions (mean PM µg/m polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons ng/m): (a) air mixed with emissions from cooking (96.

Activation of the Complement and Coagulation Systems in the Small Airways in Asthma.

Background: Several studies have shown the importance of the complement and coagulation systems in the pathogenesis of asthma.

Objectives: We explored whether we could detect differentially abundant complement and coagulation proteins in the samples obtained from the small airway lining fluid by collection of exhaled particles in patients with asthma and whether these proteins are associated with small airway dysfunction and asthma control.

Method: Exhaled particles were obtained from 20 subjects with asthma and 10 healthy controls (HC) with the PExA method and analysed with the SOMAscan proteomics platform.

Consequences of Using Post- or Prebronchodilator Reference Values in Interpreting Spirometry.

Postbronchodilator spirometry is used for the diagnosis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. However, prebronchodilator reference values are used for spirometry interpretation. To compare the resulting prevalence rates of abnormal spirometry and study the consequences of using pre- or postbronchodilator reference values generated within SCAPIS (Swedish CArdioPulmonary bioImage Study) when interpreting postbronchodilator spirometry in a general population.

Exhaled biomarkers in adults with non-productive cough.

Background: Chronic cough is a common condition but disease mechanisms are not fully understood. Our aim was to study respiratory biomarkers from the small airways in individuals with non-productive cough.

Methods: A cohort of 107 participants answered detailed questionnaires, performed spirometry, exhaled NO measurement, impulse oscillometry, gave blood samples and particles in exhaled air (PEx) samples.

The impact of sulfur mustard on quality of life and mental health in Kurdish survivors in Sweden, thirty years after exposure.

Background: The Iraqi state used chemical warfare agents (CWAs) like sulfur mustard (SM) in al-Anfal genocide in the present-day Kurdistan Region of Iraq. In addition to somatic injuries, exposure to CWAs causes biopsychosocial complications. We investigated the long-term impact of SM exposure on quality of life (QoL) and depression severity in Kurdish survivors resettled in Sweden.

Birch pollen, air pollution and their interactive effects on airway symptoms and peak expiratory flow in allergic asthma during pollen season - a panel study in Northern and Southern Sweden.

Background: Evidence of the role of interactions between air pollution and pollen exposure in subjects with allergic asthma is limited and need further exploration to promote adequate preventive measures. The objective of this study was to assess effects of exposure to ambient air pollution and birch pollen on exacerbation of respiratory symptoms in subjects with asthma and allergy to birch.

Methods: Thirty-seven subjects from two Swedish cities (Gothenburg and Umeå) with large variation in exposure to both birch-pollen and air pollutants, participated in the study.

Inflammatory cytokines can be monitored in exhaled breath particles following segmental and inhalation endotoxin challenge in healthy volunteers.

Particles in exhaled air (PEx) are generated when collapsed small airways reopen during breathing. PEx can be noninvasively collected by particle impaction, allowing the analysis of undiluted epithelial lining fluid (ELF). We used the endotoxin (LPS) challenge model to proof the concept that PEx can be used to monitor inflammatory changes in the lung.

Surfactant protein A in particles in exhaled air and plasma.

Respiratory tract lining fluid (RTLF) is an important component of the lung epithelial barrier. Pathological changes in RTLF may cause increased permeability of the epithelial barrier, but changes within RTLF are difficult to assess non-invasively. The aim of this study was to explore if the use of the non-invasive measurement technique, Particles in Exhaled Air (PEx) and blood test were useful in assessing epithelial barrier, and if cigarette smoking affects the relationship.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 can be detected in exhaled aerosol sampled during a few minutes of breathing or coughing.

Background: The knowledge on the concentration of viral particles in exhaled breath is limited. The aim of this study was to explore if severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) can be detected in aerosol from subjects with the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) during various types of breathing and coughing and how infection with SARS-CoV-2 may influence the number and size of exhaled aerosol particles.

Methods: We counted and collected endogenous particles in exhaled breath in subjects with COVID-19 disease by two different impaction-based methods, during 20 normal breaths, 10 airway opening breaths, and three coughs, respectively.

Personal exposure levels to O, NO and PM and the association to ambient levels in two Swedish cities.

Exposure to air pollution is of great concern for public health although studies on the associations between exposure estimates and personal exposure are limited and somewhat inconsistent. The aim of this study was to quantify the associations between personal nitrogen oxides (NO), ozone (O) and particulate matter (PM) exposure levels and ambient levels, and the impact of climate and time spent outdoors in two cities in Sweden. Subjects (n = 65) from two Swedish cities participated in the study.

Cross-sectional study on exhaled nitric oxide in relation to upper airway inflammatory disorders with regard to asthma and perennial sensitization.

Background: Fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) is a well-known marker of type-2 inflammation. FeNO is elevated in asthma and allergic rhinitis, with IgE sensitization as a major determinant.

Objective: We aimed to see whether there was an independent association between upper airway inflammatory disorders (UAID) and FeNO, after adjustment for asthma and sensitization, in a multi-centre population-based study.

Smoking induces sex-specific changes in the small airway proteome.

Introduction: Cigarette smoke triggers many cellular and signaling responses in the lung and the resulting inflammation plays a central role in smoke-related lung diseases, such as COPD. We explored the effects of smoking on the small airway proteome in samples obtained by collection of exhaled particles with the aim to identify specific proteins dysregulated by smoking.

Methods: Exhaled particles were obtained from 38 current smokers, 47 former smokers and 22 healthy controls with the PExA method.