Revised Korean Cough Guidelines, 2020: Recommendations and Summary Statements.

Cough is the most common respiratory symptom that can have various causes. It is a major clinical problem that can reduce a patient's quality of life. Thus, clinical guidelines for the treatment of cough were established in 2014 by the cough guideline committee under the Korean Academy of Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases.

Clinical Characteristics of Chronic Cough in Korea.

Background: Chronic cough is defined as a cough lasting more than 8 weeks and socio-economic burden of chronic cough is enormous. The characteristics of chronic cough in Korea are not well understood. The Korean Academy of Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases (KATRD) published guidelines on cough management in 2014.

Development and validation of the COugh Assessment Test (COAT).

Background And Objective: A cough-specific quality-of-life questionnaire is recommended to assess the impact of cough; however, a simple instrument to quantify cough is required for everyday clinical practice. This study was aimed to develop a short patient-completed questionnaire (COugh Assessment Test, COAT).

Methods: The COAT was developed and validated by comparison with the Korean version of Leicester Cough Questionnaire (K-LCQ) and cough numeric rating scale (NRS, 0-10, 11-point scale) for chronic cough patients.

Recent developments of nano-structured materials as the catalysts for oxygen reduction reaction.

Developments of high efficient materials for electrocatalyst are significant topics of numerous researches since a few decades. Recent global interests related with energy conversion and storage lead to the expansion of efforts to find cost-effective catalysts that can substitute conventional catalytic materials. Especially, in the field of fuel cell, novel materials for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) have been noticed to overcome disadvantages of conventional platinum-based catalysts.

Development of Prediction Equation of Diffusing Capacity of Lung for Koreans.

Background: The diffusing capacity of the lung is influenced by multiple factors such as age, sex, height, weight, ethnicity and smoking status. Although a prediction equation for the diffusing capacity of Korea was proposed in the mid-1980s, this equation is not used currently. The aim of this study was to develop a new prediction equation for the diffusing capacity for Koreans.

Prevalence of chronic cough and possible causes in the general population based on the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

Although chronic cough is very common, its prevalence and causes have been rarely reported in the large general population including smokers. This study aimed to identify the prevalence of possible causes of chronic cough and their clinical impact.From Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) data including 119,280 adults aged over 40 years, 302 individuals with chronic cough were recruited irrespective of smoking status.

The Korean Cough Guideline: Recommendation and Summary Statement.

Cough is one of the most common symptom of many respiratory diseases. The Korean Academy of Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases organized cough guideline committee and cough guideline was developed by this committee. The purpose of this guideline is to help clinicians to diagnose correctly and treat efficiently patients with cough.

Epidemiological aspects of pertussis among adults and adolescents in a Korean outpatient setting: a multicenter, PCR-based study.

Epidemiological data of Bordetella pertussis infection among adolescents and adults are limited in Korea. Patients (≥ 11 yr of age) with a bothersome cough for less than 30 days were enrolled during a 1-yr period at 22 hospitals in Korea. Nasopharyngeal swabs were collected for polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and for bacteriologic culture.

Vitamin D Inhibits Expression and Activity of Matrix Metalloproteinase in Human Lung Fibroblasts (HFL-1) Cells.

Background: Low levels of serum vitamin D is associated with several lung diseases. The production and activation of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) may play an important role in the pathogenesis of emphysema. The aim of the current study therefore is to investigate if vitamin D modulates the expression and activation of MMP-2 and MMP-9 in human lung fibroblasts (HFL-1) cells.

Matrix metalloproteinase-9 activates TGF-β and stimulates fibroblast contraction of collagen gels.

Matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) is a matrix-degrading enzyme implicated in many biological processes, including inflammation. It is produced by many cells, including fibroblasts. When cultured in three-dimensional (3D) collagen gels, fibroblasts contract the surrounding matrix, a function that is thought to model the contraction that characterizes both normal wound repair and fibrosis.

A Multicenter Study of Pertussis Infection in Adults with Coughing in Korea: PCR-Based Study.

Background: Limited data on the incidence and clinical characteristics of adult pertussis infections are available in Korea.

Methods: Thirty-one hospitals and the Korean Centers for Disease Control and Prevention collaborated to investigate the incidence and clinical characteristics of pertussis infections among adults with a bothersome cough in non-outbreak, ordinary outpatient settings. Nasopharyngeal aspirates or nasopharyngeal swabs were collected for polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and culture tests.

Dermatomyositis, complicated with pneumomediastinum, successfully treated with cyclosporine A: a case report and review of literature.

We report a rare case of patient with dermatomyositis (DM) who developed spontaneous pneumomediastinum (PnM) and subcutaneous emphysema. She was successfully treated with oral prednisolone and cyclosporine A (CsA). We reviewed the cases of PnM in patients with DM treated with CsA.

Sphingosine 1-phosphate potentiates human lung fibroblast chemotaxis through the S1P2 receptor.

Migration of fibroblasts plays an essential role in tissue repair after injury. Sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P) is a multifunctional mediator released by many cells that can be released in inflammation and after injury. This study evaluated the effect of S1P on fibroblast chemotaxis toward fibronectin.

TGF-beta1 and serum both stimulate contraction but differentially affect apoptosis in 3D collagen gels.

Apoptosis of fibroblasts may be key for the removal of cells following repair processes. Contraction of three-dimensional collagen gels is a model of wound healing and remodeling. Here two potent inducers of contraction, TGF-beta1 and fetal calf serum (FCS) were evaluated for their effect on fibroblast apoptosis in contracting collagen gels.

Smad3 mediates TGF-beta1 induction of VEGF production in lung fibroblasts.

Transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-beta1) is a key factor in a variety of physiological and pathological processes. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a key angiogenic factor, and vascular change is one of the features of airway remodeling. We examined the effect of TGF-beta1 on VEGF production by fibroblasts from mice lacking expression of Smad2 or Smad3 as well as human lung fibroblasts treated with or without Smad2 or Smad3 siRNA.

Cigarette smoke extract inhibits chemotaxis and collagen gel contraction mediated by human bone marrow osteoprogenitor cells and osteoblast-like cells.

Cell migration and matrix remodeling are key events in tissue repair and restructuring. Osteoblasts are responsible for the production of new bone matrix during bone remodeling. The activity of these cells can be modulated by a number of factors.

Effect of cigarette smoke on fibroblast-mediated gel contraction is dependent on cell density.

Cigarette smoke exposure has been associated with a variety of diseases, including emphysema. The current study evaluated the interaction of cell density and cigarette smoke extract (CSE) on fibroblast contraction of collagen gels. Protein levels of transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta1, fibronectin, PGE(2), and TGF-beta1 mRNA were quantified.

PGD(2) modulates fibroblast-mediated native collagen gel contraction.

Repair of tissues is a necessary step in restoring tissue function following injury consequent to inflammation. Many inflammatory mediators are capable of modulating not only the activity of "inflammatory cells" but also of modulating functions of parenchymal cells that may contribute to repair. Disordered repair is believed to contribute to tissue dysfunction in many inflammatory diseases, including bronchial asthma.

Prostacyclin analogs inhibit fibroblast migration.

The controlled accumulation of fibroblasts to sites of inflammation is crucial to effective tissue repair after injury. Either inadequate or excessive accumulation of fibroblasts could result in abnormal tissue function. Prostacyclin (PGI(2)) is a potent mediator in the coagulation and inflammatory processes.

Glutathione prevents inhibition of fibroblast-mediated collagen gel contraction by cigarette smoke.

Cigarette smoke, the major risk factor for the development of emphysema, contains over 4,700 chemical compounds, including free radicals and other oxidants (10(14)/puff). An imbalance between oxidants and antioxidants has been proposed in the pathogenesis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Inhibition of repair processes has been suggested to be one pathway contributing to the development of emphysema.

PDE4 inhibitors attenuate fibroblast chemotaxis and contraction of native collagen gels.

Therapies that mitigate the fibrotic process may be able to slow progressive loss of function in many lung diseases. Because cyclic adenosine monophosphate is known to regulate fibroblasts, the current study was designed to evaluate the activity of selective phosphodiesterase (PDE) inhibitors on two in vitro fibroblast responses: chemotaxis and contraction of three-dimensional collagen gels. Selective PDE4 inhibitors, rolipram and cilomilast, each inhibited the chemotaxis of human fetal lung fibroblasts (HFL-1) toward fibronectin in the blindwell assay system (control: 100% versus cilomilast [10 microM]: 40.

Th2 cytokine regulation of type I collagen gel contraction mediated by human lung mesenchymal cells.

Asthma is characterized by chronic inflammation of the airway wall with the presence of activated T helper 2 (Th2) lymphocytes. The current study assessed the ability of Th2 cytokines to modulate fibroblast-mediated contraction of collagen gels to determine if Th2 cytokines could contribute to tissue remodeling by altering mesenchymal cell contraction. Human fetal lung fibroblasts, human adult bronchial fibroblasts and human airway smooth muscle cells were cast into native type I collagen gels and allowed to contract in the presence or absence of IL (interleukin)-4, IL-5, IL-10, or IL-13.