Up-regulation of the MicroRNA miR-30c Induced by High Mobility Group Box 1 in A549 Cells Used as an Alveolar Epithelial Model.

Background: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have been reported to be involved in multiple diseases, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a progressive disease in which alveolar apoptosis may play a role. We hypothesized that miRNAs are associated with the response to injury. induced by high mobility group box 1 (HMGB1), a cytokine crucial for the development of COPD, and studied the potential link between HMGB1 and miRNAs.

Pentraxin-3 as a Biomarker for Febrile Neutropenia in Patients with Lung Cancer.

Background: Pentraxin-3 (PTX3) is a newly discovered biomarker for various inflammatory conditions. We measured plasma PTX3 levels in patients with febrile neutropenic lung cancer and examined the utility of PTX3 levels as a biomarker for febrile neutropenia.

Methods: Fourteen patients with febrile neutropenic lung cancer were enrolled in the study.

Effects of tiotropium or combined therapy with salmeterol on hyperinflation in COPD.

Background: Hyperinflation is widely accepted as an abnormal state affecting clinical symptoms, activities of daily living and exercise tolerance in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Reducing hyperinflation is an essential theme in COPD treatment. In this study, we let patients with COPD hyperventilate to evoke hyperinflation, and evaluated the effects of tiotropium alone or in combination with salmeterol on hyperventilation-evoked hyperinflation.

Induced sputum analysis in asymptomatic young adults with bronchial hyperresponsiveness to methacholine.

Background And Objectives: BHR is a clinical feature of asthma and factors crucial to the development of BHR remain to be elucidated. Asymptomatic BHR also occurs in the general population. This study examined the prevalence of asymptomatic BHR in a population of young Japanese atopic individuals to identify whether airway inflammation is present in asthmatic patients but not in asymptomatic subjects with BHR.

[Clinical efficacy of inhaled corticosteroids in COPD].

The use of inhaled corticosteroids in asthma is regarded as first-line therapy. But the efficacy of inhaled corticosteroids in the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) remains controversial. However data from some large studies provide the evidence that regular treatment with inhaled glucocorticosteroids is appropriate for symptomatic COPD patients with an FEVi<50% predicted and repeated exacerbations.

A phase I/II study comparing regimen schedules of gemcitabine and docetaxel in Japanese patients with stage IIIB/IV non-small cell lung cancer.

Objective: Gemcitabine and docetaxel are non-platinum agents with activity in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). This study was conducted to determine and evaluate the recommended regimen of gemcitabine-docetaxel and evaluated its efficacy and safety in chemonaive Japanese NSCLC patients.

Methods: In phase I, patients with stage IIIB/IV NSCLC were randomized and received either gemcitabine on days 1 and 8 plus docetaxel on day 1 or gemcitabine on days 1 and 8 plus docetaxel on day 8.

[A case of interstitial pneumonia in the upper lung field histologically diagnosed as nonspecific interstitial pneumonia complicated by bilateral pneumothorax].

A 55-year-old man was admitted to our hospital because of progressive dyspnea. Chest radiography showed interstitial shadows in the upper lobe. The pathological diagnosis of lung biopsy specimens obtained from upper and middle lobes by video-assisted thoracoscopy was non-specific interstitial pneumonia, group 2.