Del-1 Plays a Protective Role against COPD Development by Inhibiting Inflammation and Apoptosis.

Neutrophilic inflammation is a prominent feature of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Developmental endothelial locus-1 (Del-1) has been reported to limit excessive neutrophilic inflammation by inhibiting neutrophil adhesion to the vascular endothelial cells. However, the effects of Del-1 in COPD are not known.

Analysis of PM inorganic and organic constituents to resolve contributing sources in Seoul, South Korea and Beijing, China and their possible associations with cytokine IL-8.

China and South Korea are the most polluted countries in East Asia due to significant urbanization and extensive industrial activities. As neighboring countries, collaborative management plans to maximize public health in both countries can be helpful in reducing transboundary air pollution. To support such planning, PM inorganic and organic species were determined in simultaneously collected PM integrated filters.

Machine Learning-Based Proteomics Reveals Ferroptosis in COPD Patient-Derived Airway Epithelial Cells Upon Smoking Exposure.

Background: Proteomics and genomics studies have contributed to understanding the pathogenesis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), but previous studies have limitations. Here, using a machine learning (ML) algorithm, we attempted to identify pathways in cultured bronchial epithelial cells of COPD patients that were significantly affected when the cells were exposed to a cigarette smoke extract (CSE).

Methods: Small airway epithelial cells were collected from patients with COPD and those without COPD who underwent bronchoscopy.

Downregulation of Lysosome-Associated Membrane Protein-2A Contributes to the Pathogenesis of COPD.

Background: Macroautophagy plays an important role in the pathogenesis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), but the role of chaperone-mediated autophagy (CMA) has not been investigated. We investigated if and how CMA is involved in the pathogenesis of COPD.

Methods: We measured the level of lysosome-associated membrane protein-2A (LAMP-2A), which is a critical component of CMA that functions as a receptor for cytosolic substrate proteins, in total lung tissues and primary human bronchial epithelial cells (HBECs) from healthy never smokers, smokers, and COPD patients.

YPL-001 Shows Various Beneficial Effects against Cigarette Smoke Extract-Induced Emphysema Formation: Anti-Inflammatory, Anti-Oxidative, and Anti-Apoptotic Effects.

Inflammation, oxidative stress, and apoptosis are thought to be important causes of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). We investigated the effect of YPL-001 (under phase 2a study, ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT02272634), a drug derived from var.

Cereblon Deficiency Contributes to the Development of Elastase-Induced Emphysema by Enhancing NF-κB Activation.

Cereblon (CRBN) has been shown to play an essential role in regulating inflammatory response and endoplasmic reticulum stress, thus mediating the development of various diseases. However, little is known about the roles of CRBN in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) pathogenesis. We found that the protein levels of CRBN in lung homogenates from patients with COPD were lower than those from never smokers and smokers.

Prevalence and impact of airway diseases on clinical outcomes in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

Background/aims: The prevalence and effects of airway diseases, including asthma, eosinophilic bronchitis (EB), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and asthma-COPD overlap (ACO) have not been thoroughly studied in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of airway diseases in patients with IPF and to identify the differences in symptoms based on the presence of airway diseases.

Methods: This single-institution prospective cohort study was conducted from June 2017 to September 2018, at the Seoul National University Hospital.

Developmental endothelial locus-1 as a potential biomarker for the incidence of acute exacerbation in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Background: Despite the high disease burden of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and risk of acute COPD exacerbation, few COPD biomarkers are available. As developmental endothelial locus-1 (DEL-1) has been proposed to possess beneficial effects, including anti-inflammatory effects, we hypothesized that DEL-1 could be a blood biomarker for COPD.

Objective: To elucidate the role of plasma DEL-1 as a biomarker of COPD in terms of pathogenesis and for predicting acute exacerbation.

Mortality prediction in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and obstructive sleep apnea.

Background: We aimed to assess mortality in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), and overlap syndrome, and evaluate which polysomnographic indices-apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) or hypoxemic load measurements-better predict mortality within 10 years.

Methods: Adults with symptoms suggestive of sleep apnea and airway disease who underwent both polysomnography and spirometry plus bronchodilator response tests between 2000 and 2018 were included and divided into four groups according to presence of COPD and moderate-to-severe OSA (AHI ≥15/h). We estimated mortality using a Cox model adjusted for demographic/anthropometric covariates and comorbidities; this was called clinical model.

The impact of organic extracts of seasonal PM on primary human lung epithelial cells and their chemical characterization.

Lung epithelial cells serve as the first line of defense against various inhaled pollutant particles. To investigate the adverse health effects of organic components of fine particulate matter (PM) collected in Seoul, South Korea, we selected 12 PM samples from May 2016 to January 2017 and evaluated the effects of organic compounds of PM on inflammation, cellular aging, and macroautophagy in human lung epithelial cells isolated directly from healthy donors. Organic extracts of PM specifically induced neutrophilic chemokine and interleukin-8 expression via extracellular signal-regulated kinase activation.

LSD1-S112A exacerbates the pathogenesis of CSE/LPS-induced chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in mice.

Lysine-specific demethylase 1 (LSD1) is an epigenetic regulator that modulates the chromatin status, contributing to gene activation or repression. The post-translational modification of LSD1 is critical for the regulation of many of its biological processes. Phosphorylation of serine 112 of LSD1 by protein kinase C alpha (PKCα) is crucial for regulating inflammation, but its physiological significance is not fully understood.

Cigarette smoke extract-induced downregulation of p300 is responsible for the impaired inflammatory cytokine response of macrophages.

Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are susceptible to infection owing to the impaired immune function of alveolar macrophages. This is presumed to be caused, at least partially, by cigarette smoke (CS), which is a major risk factor for COPD. Although CS has been reported to inhibit Toll-like receptor (TLR) function and phagocytosis in macrophages, the molecular mechanism of CS-mediated impairment of macrophage immune function has not been completely elucidated.

Sleep Duration and Its Associations with Mortality and Quality of Life in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: Results from the 2007-2015 KNAHNES.

Background: While extreme sleep duration negatively affects mortality and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in general populations, the relationship remains uncertain in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Objectives: To evaluate the association between sleep duration and mortality and HRQOL in patients with COPD.

Methods: We analyzed 3,349 participants with COPD enrolled in the 2007-2015 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES).

Synergistic cycles of protease activity and inflammation via PPARγ degradation in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Inflammation, oxidative stress, and protease-antiprotease imbalance have been suggested to be a pathogenic triad in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). However, it is not clear how proteases interact with components of inflammatory pathways. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the effect of neutrophil elastase (NE) on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced interleukin 8 (IL-8) production and determine the molecular mechanism in human bronchial epithelial cells (HBECs).

Cereblon contributes to the development of pulmonary fibrosis via inactivation of adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase α1.

Pulmonary fibrosis is a progressive and lethal lung disease characterized by the proliferation and differentiation of lung fibroblasts and the accumulation of extracellular matrices. Since pulmonary fibrosis was reported to be associated with adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK) activation, which is negatively regulated by cereblon (CRBN), we aimed to determine whether CRBN is involved in the development of pulmonary fibrosis. Therefore, we evaluated the role of CRBN in bleomycin (BLM)-induced pulmonary fibrosis in mice and in transforming growth factor-beta 1 (TGF-β1)-induced differentiation of human lung fibroblasts.

Impact of Sleep Duration on Mortality and Quality of Life in Chronic Kidney Disease: Results from the 2007-2015 KNHANES.

Introduction: In the general population, short and long sleep durations have been associated with adverse health outcomes. However, this association remains unclear in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). We examined the relationship of sleep duration to mortality and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in individuals with CKD.

Dexmedetomidine versus midazolam for sedation during endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration: A randomised controlled trial.

Background: Desaturation is a common complication of endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA). Dexmedetomidine (DEX), a commonly used sedative in intensive care, is associated with less respiratory depression compared with other sedatives.

Objective: We compared DEX with midazolam (MDZ) when used as a sedative during EBUS-TBNA.

Prognostic impact of malignant diseases in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

No studies on idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) have investigated the prognostic impact of extrapulmonary cancers in patients with IPF. We aimed to determine the prognostic impact of malignancies in patients with IPF. We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of patients diagnosed with IPF between 2001 and 2015.

Improved Oxygenation After Prone Positioning May Be a Predictor of Survival in Patients With Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome.

Objectives: Prone position ventilation improves oxygenation and reduces the mortality of patients with severe acute respiratory distress syndrome. However, there is limited evidence about which patients would gain most survival benefit from prone positioning. Herein, we investigated whether the improvement in oxygenation after prone positioning is associated with survival and aimed to identify patients who will gain most survival benefit from prone positioning in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome.

Clinical course of asymptomatic small enhancing brain nodules in patients with nonsmall cell lung cancer: do we have to follow them up?

Aims: Brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is recommended during the initial work-up for nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Although small enhancing brain nodules not radiologically confirmed as metastatic lesions have often been detected, their clinical course has not been well studied.

Methods: This nested case-control study included NSCLC patients who had small enhancing brain nodules detected by serial brain MRIs from January 2014 through December 2018 at a tertiary university hospital.

Prediction of cardiopulmonary events using the STOP-Bang questionnaire in patients undergoing bronchoscopy with moderate sedation.

The objective was to evaluate the prevalence of patients at a high risk of having OSA by using a screening questionnaire and to investigate whether the questionnaire can predict patients who are at risk of cardiopulmonary events occurring during a bronchoscopy under sedation. We prospectively enrolled consecutive adult patients who underwent flexible bronchoscopies under moderate sedation. The snoring, tiredness, observed apnea, high blood pressure-body mass index, age, neck circumference and gender (STOP-Bang) questionnaire was used to identify patients at a high (score ≥ 3 of 8) or low risk (score < 3 of 8) of having OSA.

Cigarette smoke extract decreased basal and lipopolysaccharide-induced expression of MARCO via degradation of p300.

Background And Objective: Alveolar macrophages of patients with COPD display impaired cytokine release and diminished phagocytosis. COPD exacerbations exhibit immune dysfunction towards the respiratory pathogens. CS and CSE were reported to aggravate bacterial infections in COPD patients.