Performance and Clinical Utility of Various Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Case-Finding Tools.

Background And Aim: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is frequently underdiagnosed because of the unavailability of spirometers, especially in resource-limited outpatient settings. This study provides real-world evidence to identify optimal approaches for COPD case finding in outpatient settings.

Methods: This retrospective study enrolled individuals who were at risk of COPD (age ≥40 years, ≥10 pack-years, and ≥1 respiratory symptom).

Novel App-Based Portable Spirometer for the Early Detection of COPD.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is preventable and treatable. However, many patients remain undiagnosed and untreated due to the underutilization or unavailability of spirometers. Accordingly, we used Spirobank Smart, an app-based spirometer, for facilitating the early detection of COPD in outpatient clinics.

Allogeneic human umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells reduce lipopolysaccharide-induced inflammation and acute lung injury.

Acute lung injury (ALI) is the clinical disorder of acute hypoxemic respiratory deficiency and it is associated with a high mortality rate. Increased lung permeability, infiltration of inflammatory cells, secretion of inflammatory cytokines, and pulmonary edema are hallmarks of ALI. Currently, there is no effective pharmacological agent approved for ALI, and the treatment regimens available are mostly supportive.

Beauvericin-induced cell apoptosis through the mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway in human nonsmall cell lung cancer A549 cells.

Beauvericin (BEA) is a cyclic hexadepsipeptide that derives from Codyceps cicadae. Our previous study results indicated that the cytotoxic effects of BEA on human A549 lung cancer cells BEA occur through an apoptotic pathway, which involves the up-regulation of cytochrome c release from mitochondria, upregulation of caspase 3 activity, and cellular and morphological changes. In this study, we identified that the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) inhibitor U0126 inhibits the cytotoxic effects of BEA on A549 cells.

β-Elemonic acid inhibits the cell proliferation of human lung adenocarcinoma A549 cells: The role of MAPK, ROS activation and glutathione depletion.

β-elemonic acid, a known triterpene, exhibits anti-inflammatory effects, yet research on the pharmacological effects of β-elemonic acid is rare. We investigated the anticancer effects and the related molecular mechanisms of β-elemonic acid on human non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) A549 cells. The effects of β-elemonic acid on the growth of A549 cells were studied using a 3-(4,5)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay.

TD-19, an erlotinib derivative, induces epidermal growth factor receptor wild-type nonsmall-cell lung cancer apoptosis through CIP2A-mediated pathway.

Some patients with nonsmall-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) without epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations still respond to gefitinib and erlotinib, suggesting that there may be a mechanism(s) other than the EGFR pathway that mediates the tumoricidal effects. In the current study, we tested the efficacy of TD-19, a novel compound chemically modified from erlotinib, which has more potent apoptotic effects than erlotinib in EGFR wild-type NSCLC cell lines. TD-19 induced significant cell death and apoptosis in H358, H441, H460, and A549 cells, as evidenced by increased caspase-3 activity and cleavage of procaspase-9 and poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase.

CIP2A mediates erlotinib-induced apoptosis in non-small cell lung cancer cells without EGFR mutation.

Background: Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) inhibitors show favorable clinical response in some patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who have no EGFR mutation, indicating alternative mechanisms for their tumoricidal effects. We previously showed erlotinib, a selective EGFR antagonist, inhibited the growth of sensitive hepatocellular carcinoma cells by inhibiting the cancerous inhibitor of protein phosphatase 2A (CIP2A) pathway. The aim of this study was to determine if erlotinib can also inhibit the growth of NSCLC cells by inactivating the CIP2A-dependent signaling pathway.

Risk of colorectal cancer in type 2 diabetic patients: a population-based cohort study.

Objective: Most of the existing findings on the association between diabetes mellitus and colorectal cancer were generated from studies in Western societies. However, significant differences in cancer incidence and cancer-prone lifestyles are apparent between Asian and Western countries. This study aims to estimate the risks of colorectal cancer in the diabetic population in Taiwan by conducting a large-scale, controlled cohort study.

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis in Taiwan - a population-based study.

Background: This study took advantage of a large population-based database of the Taiwan National Health Insurance (NHI) to investigate the epidemiology of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) in Taiwan.

Methods: This is a retrospective cohort study based on secondary analysis of prospectively collected data in the NHI system and governmental data on death registry in Taiwan during 1997-2007. By using the broad and narrow definitions for IPF, we estimated incidence and prevalence rates of IPF, and its associated clinical outcomes.

Preventive use of noninvasive ventilation after extubation: a prospective, multicenter randomized controlled trial.

Background: The effectiveness of noninvasive ventilation (NIV) after extubation in preventing post-extubation respiratory failure is still controversial.

Methods: We conducted a prospective, multicenter randomized controlled study involving patients on mechanical ventilation for > 48 hours who tolerated a 2-hour spontaneous breathing trial and were subsequently extubated. The patients were randomized to NIV or standard medical therapy.

Diagnostic value of an enzyme-linked immunospot assay for interferon-γ in genitourinary tuberculosis.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic performance of an enzyme-linked immunospot (ELISPOT) assay for interferon-γ in patients with suspected genitourinary tuberculosis (TB). A total of 30 patients with suspected genitourinary TB at the National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, were prospectively enrolled from January 2007 to December 2009, and 12 of whom had positive urine culture for Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Frequency and dysuria were the most common symptoms noted in 6 (50.

Diagnostic usefulness of enzyme-linked immunospot assay for interferon-gamma for tuberculosis in cancer patients.

The interferon-γ enzyme-linked immunospot assay (ELISPOT) has been demonstrated to be useful in the diagnosis of active tuberculosis (TB). In this study we aimed to evaluate the diagnostic performance of the ELISPOT assay in cancer patients with suspected pulmonary TB. Eighty-one cancer patients with suspected pulmonary TB were prospectively enrolled from April 2007 to December 2008, to investigate the diagnostic sensitivity and specificity of the ELISPOT assay.

Bacteremia caused by non-faecalis and non-faecium enterococcus species at a Medical center in Taiwan, 2000 to 2008.

Summary Objectives: Human infections due to non-faecalis and non-faecium Enterococcus species are emerging but data on the characteristics of these infections are limited.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the computerized database of the bacteriology laboratory at National Taiwan University Hospital from January 2000 through December 2008 to identify patients with non-faecalis and non-faecium enterococcal bacteremia.

Results: Enterococcal bacteremia was diagnosed in 1887 patients during the study period and was caused by non-faecalis and non-faecium enterococci in 182 (9.

The role of mild hypothermia in air embolism-induced acute lung injury.

Background: Mild hypothermia has become an important treatment for ischemic brain injury. However, the role of mild hypothermia in air embolism-induced lung injury has not been explored. In this study, we investigated whether treatment with mild hypothermia before and synchronous with air infusion can attenuate acute lung injury induced by air embolism.

Correlation between the %MinVol setting and work of breathing during adaptive support ventilation in patients with respiratory failure.

Background: Adaptive support ventilation (ASV) is a new mode of mechanical ventilation that seeks an optimal breathing pattern based on the minimum work of breathing (WOB) principle. The operator's manual for the ventilators that provide ASV recommends that the %MinVol setting be started at 100% (the 100%MinVol setting), but it is unclear whether that setting reduces WOB in patients with respiratory failure.

Methods: We studied 22 hemodynamically stable patients with respiratory failure who were on pressure-support ventilation.

Diagnostic value of procalcitonin for bacterial infection in elderly patients in the emergency department.

Objectives: To evaluate the diagnostic performance of procalcitonin (PCT) in elderly patients with bacterial infection in the emergency department (ED).

Design: Prospective.

Setting: ED of a tertiary care hospital.

Enhancement effects of hypercapnia on the acute lung injury caused by acid aspiration.

Acid aspiration or intrapulmonary instillation of gastric particles causes lung inflammation leading to acute lung injury (ALI). Hypercapnia exerts different effects on ALI caused by various insults. The effects of hypercapnia on lung inflammation and injury due to acid aspiration are yet to be determined.

Positive end-expiratory pressure alters the severity and spatial heterogeneity of ventilator-induced lung injury: an argument for cyclical airway collapse.

Purpose: Ventilator-induced lung injury (VILI) is a recognized complication of mechanical ventilation. Although the specific mechanism by which mechanical ventilation causes lung injury remains an active area of study, both alveolar overdistension and cyclical airway collapse and recruitment have been suggested as contributing causes. We hypothesized that mechanical ventilation in the absence of positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) causes VILI to be more severe and regionally variable as compared with PEEP = 8 cm H(2)O.

Hyperbaric oxygen attenuates cell growth in skin fibroblasts cultured in a high-glucose medium.

Hyperglycemia and hypoxia synergistically retard diabetic wound healing. We investigated the direct effect of hyperbaric and normobaric hyperoxia on skin fibroblasts cultured in a high-glucose medium. Detroit 551 human dermal fibroblasts cultured in Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium containing d-glucose had reduced cell survival compared with cells grown in normal glucose medium; survival was 27.

Antimicrobial resistance of bacterial isolates from respiratory care wards in Taiwan: a horizontal surveillance study.

A horizontal surveillance study was conducted to identify common bacteria and mycobacteria from 611 respiratory aspirates and 165 urinary samples from 611 patients hospitalised at 17 respiratory care wards (RCWs) in Taiwan. Some major resistance phenotypes, including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL)-producing Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Proteus mirabilis, and multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa (MDR-PA) and Acinetobacter baumannii (MDR-AB), were identified. Pulsotypes of ESBL-producing P.

A pilot study of a case management program for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

The purpose of this study was to develop a case management program for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and to test the effects of the developed program on patient length of stay in the hospital, medical costs, disease knowledge and level of satisfaction with nursing care received. This quasi-experimental study focused on a group of 50 COPD patients (24 in the control group and 26 in the experimental one), all treated in one hospital medical ward in northern Taiwan. The control group received routine care, while those in the experimental group received a COPD case management protocol.

N-acetylcysteine abrogates acute lung injury induced by endotoxin.

1. Acute lung injury (ALI) or acute respiratory distress syndrome is a serious clinical problem with high mortality. N-Acetylcysteine (NAC) is an anti-oxidant and a free radical scavenger.