Airway cell composition at rest and after an all-out test in competitive rowers.

Purposes: This study was designed to assess: a) whether rowing affects airway cell composition, and b) the possible relationship between the degree of ventilation during exercise and airway cells.

Subjects And Methods: In nine young, nonasthmatic competitive rowers (mean age +/- SD: 16.2 +/- 1.

Increased prostaglandin E2 concentrations and cyclooxygenase-2 expression in asthmatic subjects with sputum eosinophilia.

Background: Prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) is known to be produced within human airways, but it is not clear whether in airway diseases it can play a deleterious or a beneficial role. Recently it has been reported that PGE2 can enhance eosinophil survival in vitro.

Objective: To evaluate whether the concentrations of PGE2 in asthmatic airways correlate with the number of eosinophils and can be responsible for eosinophil-enhanced survival and to identify the cyclooxygenase isoform contributing to the synthesis of PGE2 by cells present in asthmatic airways.

Airway cells after swimming outdoors or in the sea in nonasthmatic athletes.

Background: Marathon runners and elite swimmers showed increased inflammatory cells in the airways at baseline. Although airway neutrophils increase further after a marathon race, the airway response to swimming is unknown. The aim of this study was to assess the effects of swimming on airway cells.

Airway remodeling in asthma.

Chronic inflammation and remodeling may follow acute inflammation or may begin insidiously as a low-grade smoldering response, especially in the case of immune reactions. The histologic hallmarks of chronic inflammation and remodeling are as follows: (1) infiltration by macrophages and lymphocytes; (2) proliferation of fibroblasts that may take the form of myofibroblasts; (3) angiogenesis; (4) increased connective tissue (fibrosis); and (5) tissue destruction. It is clear that changes in the extracellular matrix, smooth muscle, and mucous glands have the capacity to influence airway function and reactivity in asthma patients.

Clinical and biological heterogeneity in children with moderate asthma.

To evaluate the relationship between inflammatory markers and severity of asthma in children, the amount of interleukin-8 (IL-8) and granulocyte/macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) released by peripheral blood mononuclear cells, exhaled nitric oxide (FE NO) levels, p65 nuclear factor-kappaB subunit, and phosphorylated IkBalpha expression by peripheral blood mononuclear cells were assessed in six control subjects, 12 steroid-naives subjects with intermittent asthma, and 17 children with moderate asthma. To investigate their predictive value, biomarker levels were correlated with the number of exacerbations during a 18-month follow-up period. We found that GM-CSF release was higher in moderate and intermittent asthmatics than in control subjects, whereas IL-8 release was higher in moderate than in intermittent asthmatics and control subjects.

Circulating hematopoietic progenitor cells in runners.

Because endurance exercise causes release of mediators and growth factors active on the bone marrow, we asked whether it might affect circulating hematopoietic progenitor cells (HPCs) in amateur runners [n = 16, age: 41.8 +/- 13.5 (SD) yr, training: 93.