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.

CRP, Fibrinogen, White Blood Cells, and Blood Cell Indices as Prognostic Biomarkers of Future COPD Exacerbation Frequency: The TIE Cohort Study.

: Systemic inflammation is common in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and evidence suggests that inflammatory biomarkers can predict acute exacerbations (AECOPDs). The aim of this study was to analyse whether C-reactive protein (CRP), fibrinogen, white blood cell count (WBC), or the blood cell indices PLR (platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio), SII (systemic immune inflammation index), SIRI (systemic inflammation response index), and AISI (aggregate index of systemic inflammation) can predict future AECOPDs. In the Tools Identifying Exacerbations (TIE) cohort study, participants with spirometry-confirmed COPD were recruited from primary and secondary care in three Swedish regions and assessed during a stable phase of COPD.

[Osler's disease - a disease with a wide variety of clinical manifestations deserving multidisciplinary competence].

Hereditary haemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT, Osler disease) is an autosomal dominant disease with a prevalence of about 1 in 5 000. The most common symptom is epistaxis in 90 percent of patients, with an average onset at the age of 12 years. Pulmonary arteriovenous malformations are present in 15-35 percent of patients and are associated with embolic complications, such as stroke and cerebral abscesses.

Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio, blood eosinophils and COPD exacerbations: a cohort study.

Background: Blood neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and blood eosinophils (B-Eos) are emerging biomarkers in COPD. This study examined whether they could predict acute exacerbations of COPD (AECOPDs), and determined their longitudinal stability.

Methods: In this closed cohort study, Swedish subjects with spirometry-verified COPD attended three yearly visits in a stable phase of the disease.

Impact of Comorbidities and Commonly Used Drugs on Mortality in COPD - Real-World Data from a Primary Care Setting.

Background: Life expectancy is significantly shorter for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) than the general population. Concurrent diseases are known to infer an increased mortality risk in those with COPD, but the effects of pharmacological treatments on survival are less established. This study aimed to examine any associations between commonly used drugs, comorbidities and mortality in Swedish real-world primary care COPD patients.

Platelet-derived growth factor production by B16 melanoma cells leads to increased pericyte abundance in tumors and an associated increase in tumor growth rate.

Platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) receptor signaling participates in different processes in solid tumors, including autocrine stimulation of tumor cell growth, recruitment of tumor stroma fibroblasts, and stimulation of tumor angiogenesis. In the present study, the B16 mouse melanoma tumor model was used to investigate the functional consequences of paracrine PDGF stimulation of host-derived cells. Production of PDGF-BB or PDGF-DD by tumor cells was associated with an increased tumor growth rate.