Influence of age on the diagnostic accuracy of soluble biomarkers for tuberculous pleural effusion: a post hoc analysis.

Background: Accurately diagnosing pleural effusion is a frequent and significant problem in clinical practice. Combining pleural biomarkers with patients' age may be a valuable method for diagnosing TPE. We sought to evaluate the influence of age on diagnostic values of pleural adenosine deaminase (ADA), interferon-gamma (IFN-γ), and interleukin 27 (IL-27) for tuberculous pleural effusion (TPE).

Prognosis of combined pulmonary fibrosis and emphysema: comparison with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis alone.

Background: Combined pulmonary fibrosis and emphysema (CPFE) is a syndrome characterized by the coexistence of upper lobe emphysema and lower lobe fibrosis. However, whether CPFE has a higher or lower mortality than idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) alone is still not clear. In this study we conducted a meta-analysis to assess the survival rate (SR) of CPFE IPF alone in clinical trials.

Activation of cannabinoid receptor type 2 by JWH133 alleviates bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis in mice.

Activation of cannabinoid receptor type 2 has been shown to have anti-fibrosis function in skin and heart. However, whether activating cannabinoid receptor type 2 inhibits pulmonary fibrosis remains elusive. Lung fibroblasts and TGF-β1 are key players in the pathogenesis of pulmonary fibrosis.

[Therapeutic effects and the underlying mechanism of umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells for bleomycin induced lung injury in rats].

Objective: To study the efficacy of umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells (UC-MSCs) for bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis in mice.

Methods: UC-MSCs were isolated from the umbilical cord after parental consent. One hundred C57BL/6 mice were randomly divided into 4 groups (12 of these for preliminary experiment).

A retrospective study of microscopic polyangiitis patients presenting with pulmonary fibrosis in China.

Background: Pulmonary involvement is a common feature of MPA. Although alveolar hemorrhage is the most common pulmonary manifestation of MPA, a few recent studies have described instances of MPA patients with pulmonary fibrosis. Pulmonary fibrosis was seen to predate, be concomitant with, or occur after the diagnosis of MPA.

[The phenotype of Th17 cells in sarcoidosis and its correlation with glucocorticoid therapy].

Objective: To describe the characteristic of Th17 cells in peripheral blood (PB) and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) from patients with sarcoidosis, and to investigate the effect of glucocorticoid therapy on the expression of RORγt mRNA, and therefore to explore the role of Th17 cells in the immunopathogenesis of pulmonary sarcoidosis.

Methods: Ten patients with active pulmonary sarcoidosis who were prescribed with prednisone according to the guidelines were defined as the study group. All of them had positive pathological results and had definite response to corticosteroids.

Newly synthesized bis-benzimidazole derivatives exerting anti-tumor activity through induction of apoptosis and autophagy.

In this study, a new series of bis-benzimidazole derivatives were designed and synthesized. Most of these new compounds showed significant anti-tumor activity in vitro compared to Hoechst 33258. Among them, the most potent compound 8 had the IC(50) values of 0.

Clinical and prognostic characteristics of pulmonary mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma: a retrospective analysis of 23 cases in a Chinese population.

Background: Pulmonary mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma is the most frequent type of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) that primarily involves the lungs. It represents a rare entity accounting for less than 1% of all NHLs and the clinical features have yet to be clearly elucidated.

Methods: The clinicopathological features and radiological data of 23 patients with pulmonary MALT lymphoma confirmed by biopsy in Peking Union Medical College Hospital from January 2001 to December 2010 were retrospectively analyzed.