Measuring exhaled nitric oxide in COPD: from theoretical consideration to practical views.

Introduction: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is traditionally perceived as Th1-inflammation, but some patients have Th2-inflammation. A high fraction of exhaled nitric oxide (FE) is seen in asthma with Th2-inflammation, justifying FE as a point-of-care biomarker. The use of FE in COPD is much less frequent.

Persistent disabilities 28 months after COVID-19 hospitalisation, a prospective cohort study.

Background: Limited data are available on long-term respiratory disabilities in patients following acute COVID-19.

Patients And Methods: This prospective, monocentric, observational cohort study included patients admitted to our hospital with acute COVID-19 between 12 March and 24 April 2020. Clinical, functional and radiological data were collected up to 28 months after hospital discharge.

Deciphering Alveolo-Capillary Gas Transfer Disturbances in Patients Recovering from COVID-19 Lung Disease.

Impaired lung gas exchange is commonly seen in patients with pulmonary involvement related to SARS-CoV-2 acute infection or post-acute COVID-19 syndrome (PACS). The primary aim of our study was to assess lung gas transfer, measuring the pulmonary diffusion capacity for nitric oxide (D) and carbon monoxide (D) in all COVID-19 patients. Our secondary aim was to decipher the respective roles of perturbed lung membrane conductance (D) and reduced pulmonary capillary volume (V) in patients with impaired lung gas exchange.

Recovery of Endothelium-dependent vascular relaxation impairment in convalescent COVID-19 patients: Insight from a pilot study.

Background: Endothelial dysfunction is a key-feature in acute COVID-19. However, follow-up data regarding endothelial dysfunction and injury after COVID-19 infection are lacking. We aimed to investigate the changes in endothelium-dependent vasorelaxation at baseline and four months after hospital discharge in COVID-19 patients.

VEGF-A plasma levels are associated with impaired DLCO and radiological sequelae in long COVID patients.

Background: Long COVID, also known as post-acute sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC), is characterized by persistent clinical symptoms following COVID-19.

Objective: To correlate biomarkers of endothelial dysfunction with persistent clinical symptoms and pulmonary function defects at distance from COVID-19.

Methods: Consecutive patients with long COVID-19 suspicion were enrolled.

Distal Lung Inflammation Assessed by Alveolar Concentration of Nitric Oxide Is an Individualised Biomarker of Severe COVID-19 Pneumonia.

Pulmonary sequelae as assessed by pulmonary function tests (PFTs) are often reported in patients infected by SARS-CoV-2 during the post-COVID-19 period. Little is known, however, about the status of pulmonary inflammation during clinical recovery after patients' discharge from the hospitals. We prospectively measured PFTs coupled with the exhaled nitric oxide (NO) stemming from the proximal airways (FeNO) and the distal lung (CaNO) in 169 consecutive patients with varying degrees of the severity of COVID-19 six weeks to one year after acute infection by SARS-CoV-2.

Deep Learning-based Approach for Automated Assessment of Interstitial Lung Disease in Systemic Sclerosis on CT Images.

Purpose: To develop a deep learning algorithm for the automatic assessment of the extent of systemic sclerosis (SSc)-related interstitial lung disease (ILD) on chest CT images.

Materials And Methods: This retrospective study included 208 patients with SSc (median age, 57 years; 167 women) evaluated between January 2009 and October 2017. A multicomponent deep neural network (AtlasNet) was trained on 6888 fully annotated CT images (80% for training and 20% for validation) from 17 patients with no, mild, or severe lung disease.

Chronic Lung Allograft Dysfunction Post Lung Transplantation: A Review of Computed Tomography Quantitative Methods for Detection and Follow-Up.

Chronic lung allograft dysfunction (CLAD) remains the leading cause of morbidity and mortality after lung transplantation. The term encompasses both obstructive and restrictive phenotypes, as well as mixed and undefined phenotypes. Imaging, in addition to pulmonary function tests, plays a major role in identifying the CLAD phenotype and is essential for follow-up after lung transplantation.

Individual modeling of oxygen capture by the human lungs.

It has been proposed that oxygen capture by the human lungs depends on four determinants: ventilation, cardiac output, oxygen partial pressure in the inspired air and the venous blood. Indeed, the theoretical-numerical model proposed recently by Kang et al. was able to interpret the known empirical relation between the average of the determinants and the average oxygen capture called VO.

Macrophage Migration Inhibitory Factor (MIF) Inhibition in a Murine Model of Bleomycin-Induced Pulmonary Fibrosis.

Background: Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a common complication of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) that significantly contributes to morbidity and mortality. Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) is a critical factor in vascular remodeling of the pulmonary circulation.

Objectives: We tested the effects of two small molecules targeting MIF on bleomycin (BLM)-induced collagen deposition, PH, and vascular remodeling in mouse lungs.

Automated computed tomographic scoring of lung disease in adults with primary ciliary dyskinesia.

Background: The present study aimed to develop an automated computed tomography (CT) score based on the CT quantification of high-attenuating lung structures, in order to provide a quantitative assessment of lung structural abnormalities in patients with Primary Ciliary Dyskinesia (PCD).

Methods: Adult (≥18 years) PCD patients who underwent both chest CT and spirometry within a 6-month period were retrospectively included. Commercially available lung segmentation software was used to isolate the lungs from the mediastinum and chest wall and obtain histograms of lung density.

[Study about the prevalence of the obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome in Vietnam].

Introduction: Epidemiological studies on obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome (OSAS) in Asia, South East Asia in particular, are few. The EPSASIE study aimed to determine the prevalence of OSAS in an adult Vietnamese population and to describe its characteristics.

Methods: This is a prospective, observational, multicenter study.

High Baseline Serum Clara Cell 16 kDa Predicts Subsequent Lung Disease Worsening in Systemic Sclerosis.

Objective: Clara cell secretory protein (CC16) is a sensitive marker of bronchial epithelial cell damage. The CC16 serum level is elevated in patients with pulmonary fibrosis, but its predictive value on lung disease progression has not yet been studied. We aimed to assess the value of serum CC16 concentration in predicting lung disease deterioration in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc).

Combined measurement of carbon monoxide and nitric oxide lung transfer does not improve the identification of pulmonary hypertension in systemic sclerosis.

Screening is important to determine whether patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc) have pulmonary hypertension because earlier pulmonary hypertension treatment can improve survival in these patients. Although decreased transfer factor of the lung for carbon monoxide () is currently considered the best pulmonary function test for screening for pulmonary hypertension in SSc, small series have suggested that partitioning into membrane conductance (diffusing capacity) for carbon monoxide () and alveolar capillary blood volume () through combined measurement of and transfer factor of the lung for nitric oxide () is more effective to identify pulmonary hypertension in SSc patients compared with alone. Here, the objective was to determine whether combined - partitioned with recently refined equations could more accurately detect pulmonary hypertension than alone in SSc.

Effects of growth and aging on the reference values of pulmonary nitric oxide dynamics in healthy subjects.

The lung just like all other organs is affected by age. The lung matures by the age of 20 and age-related changes start around middle age, at 40-50 years. Exhaled nitric oxide (FNO) has been shown to be age, height and gender dependent.

Study of nasal exhaled nitric oxide levels in diagnosis of allergic rhinitis in subjects with and without asthma.

Background: The measure of fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FENO) in the airways is a useful tool to guide the diagnosis and titration of inhaled corticosteroids in patients with asthma. However, its role in diagnosis of allergic rhinitis (AR), especially in subjects with asthma, is not well established.

Objective: To study the cutoff of nasal FENO in the diagnosis of subjects with AR and AR-asthma compared to age-matched subjects without AR or asthma and its correlations with the clinical and functional characteristics.

Inhaled nitric oxide decreases pulmonary endothelial nitric oxide synthase expression and activity in normal newborn rat lungs.

Inhaled nitric oxide (iNO) is commonly used in the treatment of very ill pre-term newborns. Previous studies showed that exogenous NO could affect endothelial NO synthase (eNOS) activity and expression in vascular endothelial cell cultures or adult rat models, but this has never been fully described in newborn rat lungs. We therefore aimed to assess the effects of iNO on eNOS expression and activity in newborn rats.

Study of Exhaled Nitric Oxide in Subjects with Suspected Obstructive Sleep Apnea: A Pilot Study in Vietnam.

Background And Objective: The concentration of exhaled nitric oxide (eNO), reflecting the activity of inducible NO synthase in airway epithelium, has been found to increase in patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). This study aimed to measure eNO concentration in patients with suspected OSA and to correlate different eNO parameters with clinical and sleep apnea characteristics.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study, all patients underwent in-lab overnight polysomnography (PSG) and eNO measurement using a method of multiple flow rates before and after PSG (pre- and post-PSG).

RhoA/Rho-kinase activation promotes lung fibrosis in an animal model of systemic sclerosis.

Background: Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a connective-tissue disease characterized by vascular injury, immune-system disorders, and excessive fibrosis of the skin and multiple internal organs. Recent reports found that RhoA/Rho-kinase (ROCK) pathway is implicated in various fibrogenic diseases. Intradermal injection of hypochlorous acid (HOCl)-generating solution induced inflammation, autoimmune activation, and fibrosis, mimicking the cutaneous diffuse form of SSc in humans.