Sleep Hypoventilation is Common in Diurnal Normocapnic COPD Patients with Severe or Very Severe Obstruction and is Not Associated with Body Mass Index.

Sleep hypoventilation (SH) is common in COPD patients with diurnal hypercapnia, however there are little data on the presence of SH in COPD patients with diurnal normocapnia. In this study the prevalence of SH in stable normocapnic COPD patients with severe or very severe obstruction (GOLD stages III and IV) was evaluated across body mass index (BMI) classes and associations between SH and body composition measures were explored. A total of 56 diurnal normocapnic COPD patients, of whom 17 normal-weight (COPD), 18 overweight (COPD) and 21 obese (COPD), underwent polysomnography to objectify SH and bioelectrical impedance analysis to assess body composition.

Identifying a nasal gene expression signature associated with hyperinflation and treatment response in severe COPD.

Hyperinflation contributes to dyspnea intensity in COPD. Little is known about the molecular mechanisms underlying hyperinflation and how inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) affect this important aspect of COPD pathophysiology. To investigate the effect of ICS/long-acting β-agonist (LABA) treatment on both lung function measures of hyperinflation, and the nasal epithelial gene-expression profile in severe COPD.

Obesity in COPD: Comorbidities with Practical Consequences?

COPD and obesity often coexist and there is a complex interaction between them. Our aim was to evaluate the prevalence of obesity in a secondary care COPD population. Furthermore, the presence of comorbidities in obese (COPD) and non-obese COPD (COPD) individuals was studied.

Nasal gene expression differentiates COPD from controls and overlaps bronchial gene expression.

Background: Nasal gene expression profiling is a promising method to characterize COPD non-invasively. We aimed to identify a nasal gene expression profile to distinguish COPD patients from healthy controls. We investigated whether this COPD-associated gene expression profile in nasal epithelium is comparable with the profile observed in bronchial epithelium.

Obesity in COPD: Revealed and Unrevealed Issues.

The interactions between obesity and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are being increasingly explored. In part, this is due to the globally increasing prevalence rates of obesity. The prevalence of obesity in COPD patients is variable, and it seems that obesity is more common in COPD patients compared with subjects who do not have COPD.