Smoking-related idiopathic interstitial pneumonia.

Cigarette smoking is a key factor in the development of numerous pulmonary diseases. An international group of clinicians, radiologists and pathologists evaluated patients with previously identified idiopathic interstitial pneumonia (IIP) to determine unique features of cigarette smoking. Phase 1 (derivation group) identified smoking-related features in patients with a history of smoking (n=41).

Sildenafil preserves exercise capacity in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and right-sided ventricular dysfunction.

Background: Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a progressive lung disease with pulmonary vasculopathy.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine whether sildenafil improves 6-min walk distance (6MWD) in subjects with IPF and right ventricular dysfunction.

Methods: The IPFnet, a network of IPF research centers in the United States, conducted a randomized trial examining the effect of sildenafil on 6MWD in patients with advanced IPF, defined by carbon monoxide diffusing capacity < 35% predicted.

Early induction of CCL7 downstream of TLR9 signaling promotes the development of robust immunity to cryptococcal infection.

We investigated mechanisms by which TLR9 signaling promoted the development of the protective response to Cryptococcus neoformans in mice with cryptococcal pneumonia. The afferent (week 1) and efferent (week 3) phase immune parameters were analyzed in the infected wild-type (TLR9(+/+)) and TLR-deficient (TLR9(-/-)) mice. TLR9 deletion diminished 1) accumulation and activation of CD11b(+) dendritic cells (DCs), 2) the induction of IFN-γ and CCR2 chemokines CCL7, CCL12, but not CCL2, at week 1, and 3) pulmonary accumulation and activation of the major effector cells CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cells, CD11b(+) lung DCs, and exudate macrophages at week 3.

Significance of the microbiome in obstructive lung disease.

The composition of the lung microbiome contributes to both health and disease, including obstructive lung disease. Because it has been estimated that over 70% of the bacterial species on body surfaces cannot be cultured by currently available techniques, traditional culture techniques are no longer the gold standard for microbial investigation. Advanced techniques that identify bacterial sequences, including the 16S ribosomal RNA gene, have provided new insights into the depth and breadth of microbiota present both in the diseased and normal lung.

Ecological succession of bacterial communities during conventionalization of germ-free mice.

Little is known about the dynamics of early ecological succession during experimental conventionalization of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract; thus, we measured changes in bacterial communities over time, at two different mucosal sites (cecum and jejunum), with germfree C57BL/6 mice as the recipients of cecal contents (input community) from a C57BL/6 donor mouse. Bacterial communities were monitored using pyrosequencing of 16S rRNA gene amplicon libraries from the cecum and jejunum and analyzed by a variety of ecological metrics. Bacterial communities, at day 1 postconventionalization, in the cecum and jejunum had lower diversity and were distinct from the input community (dominated by either Escherichia or Bacteroides).