Inhaled fluticasone propionate impairs pulmonary clearance of Klebsiella pneumoniae in mice.

Background: Recent trials demonstrate increased pneumonia risk in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients treated with the inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) fluticasone propionate (FP). There is limited work describing FP effects on host defenses against bacterial pneumonia.

Methods: C57BL/6 mice received daily, nose-only exposure to nebulized FP or vehicle for 8 days, followed by pulmonary challenge with Klebsiella pneumoniae.

Exercise electrocardiography.

Treadmill exercise electrocardiography is a test commonly employed to diagnose coronary artery disease and has powerful prognostic value. It is most accurate when the resting ECG is normal, and because of significant limitations in sensitivity and specificity, the test is most useful when the pretest probability of disease is in the intermediate range. The usual criterion for diagnosing myocardial ischemia is horizontal or downsloping ST-segment depression that measures > or = 1 mm (0.