Natural killer cells in peripheral blood and lung tissue are associated with chronic rejection after lung transplantation.

Background: Natural killer (NK) cells have the capacity to recognize and respond to alloantigen, yet their role in lung transplant rejection is not well defined. The aim of this study was to correlate NK cell numbers and immunophenotype in peripheral blood and tissue with graft function after lung transplantation.

Methods: NK cell subsets were immunophenotyped in peripheral blood (n = 41).

Extracorporeal membrane oxygenator as a bridge to successful surgical repair of bronchopleural fistula following bilateral sequential lung transplantation: a case report and review of literature.

Background: Lung transplantation (LTx) is widely accepted as a therapeutic option for end-stage respiratory failure in cystic fibrosis. However, airway complications remain a major cause of morbidity and mortality in these patients, serious airway complications like bronchopleural fistula (BPF) are rare, and their management is very difficult.

Case Presentation: A 47-year-old man with end-stage respiratory failure due to cystic fibrosis underwent bilateral sequential lung transplantation.

The MDR1/ABCB1 gene, a high-impact risk factor for cardiac transplant rejection.

Background: Variations in the expression and activity levels of the multidrug-resistance MDR1/ABCB1 encoded P- glycoprotein (P-gp) have an impact on the therapeutic efficacy of many drugs. C3435T and G2677 polymorphisms of the MDR1/ABCB1 gene correlate with cellular expression levels of P-gp, a membrane-bound efflux pump which removes a multitude of drugs, including chemotherapy drugs and immunosuppressants, from cells. We aimed to investigate whether the phenomenon of drug resistance, mediated by the MDR1/ABCB1 gene and seen in tumor cells to chemotherapeutic agents, is important in the field of transplantation, predisposing some patients to resistance to immunosuppressants.

Changes in induced sputum in the presence of bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome and correlation with spirometry in single and bilateral lung transplant recipients.

Bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome is a clinical diagnosis based on lung function parameters. Using induced sputum, taken from lung transplant recipients, this paper reports on the correlation between the neutrophil count and the percentage change from postoperative baseline for FEV(1), FEF(50), and FEF(25-75). In double lung transplant recipients the correlations were significant for FEV(1) (r = -0.

PG490-88, a derivative of triptolide, attenuates obliterative airway disease in a mouse heterotopic tracheal allograft model.

The current treatment of obliterative bronchiolitis in lung transplant recipients is sub-optimal. Triptolide is a novel immunosuppressant that has a mechanism of action distinct from currently available immunosuppressants, including induction of T-cell apoptosis, blockade of fibroblast proliferation/maturation and inhibition of transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) mRNA production. We hypothesized that triptolide may be helpful in blocking obliterative airway disease in lung transplant recipients.