Publications by authors named "Jin-fu Xu"

Rationale: The Bronchiectasis Health Questionnaire (BHQ) is a concise, self-administered and disease-specific instrument for measuring health-related quality-of-life (HRQoL) in bronchiectasis.

Objectives: To investigate the psychometric properties of simplified Mandarin BHQ and determine the minimum clinically important difference (MCID) as a reliable clinical endpoint for assessing the efficacy of bronchiectasis treatments.

Methods: A longitudinal, randomized controlled trial cohort of 357 patients treated with tobramycin inhalation solution or saline inhalation for Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection, along with a cross-sectional observational cohort including 436 patients with bronchiectasis were analyzed.

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Background: Ambient pollution and non-optimal temperature are major risk factors for respiratory health. However, the relationships between short-term exposure to these factors and bronchiectasis mortality remain unknown.

Methods: A nationwide, time-stratified case-crossover study across Mainland China was conducted from 2013 to 2019.

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Article Synopsis
  • This study investigates the causal relationship between asthma and bronchiectasis, noting that while they are correlated, the exact connection hasn't been thoroughly examined before.
  • Using a two-sample Mendelian randomization approach with genome-wide data, the researchers found that asthma likely increases the risk of developing bronchiectasis.
  • They identified specific mediators such as nasal polyps and sinusitis that contribute to this relationship, and reinforced their findings with a retrospective study showing higher sinusitis and nasal polyp rates in asthma patients who also had bronchiectasis.
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, able to survive on the surfaces of medical devices, is a life-threatening pathogen that mainly leads to nosocomial infection especially in immunodeficient and cystic fibrosis (CF) patients. The antibiotic resistance in has become a world-concerning problem, which results in reduced and ineffective therapy efficacy. Besides intrinsic properties to decrease the intracellular content and activity of antibiotics, develops acquired resistance by gene mutation and acquisition, as well as adaptive resistance under specific situations.

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Persistent neutrophilic inflammation is a central feature in both the pathogenesis and progression of bronchiectasis. Neutrophils release neutrophil serine proteases (NSPs), such as neutrophil elastase (NE), cathepsin G and proteinase 3. When chronically high levels of free NSP activity exceed those of protective antiproteases, structural lung destruction, mucosal-related defects, further susceptibility to infection and worsening of clinical outcomes can occur.

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Recent bronchiectasis studies from large-scale multinational, multicentre registries have demonstrated that the characteristics of the disease vary according to geographic region. However, most perspectives on bronchiectasis are dominated by data from Western countries. This review intends to provide an Asian perspective on the disease, focusing on the established registries in India, Korea and China.

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The prevalence of patients with bronchiectasis (BE) has been rising in recent years, which increases the substantial burden on the family and society. Exploring a convenient, effective, and low-cost screening tool for the diagnosis of BE is urgent. We expect to identify the accuracy (ACC) of breath biomarkers (BBs) for the diagnosis of BE through breathomics testing and explore the association between BBs and clinical features of BE.

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  • Numerous studies suggest that ferroptosis, a type of cell death, is linked to the progression of atherosclerosis (AS), with ACSL4 playing a key role in promoting this process.
  • The research focused on human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) to examine how ACSL4 and ZFTA regulate ferroptosis, finding that knocking out ACSL4 decreased ferroptosis susceptibility while ZFTA appeared to enhance it.
  • The study concluded that ZFTA increases ACSL4 expression and influences ferroptosis in HUVECs, indicating that targeting these pathways may offer new therapeutic options for managing atherosclerosis.
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  • The vagus nerve and a special receptor (α7 nAChR) help control how our body reacts to infections, like inflammation.
  • Researchers found that the α7 nAChR has different roles in lung cells and immune cells when it comes to the influenza virus.
  • When they blocked this receptor in certain lung cells, it actually helped reduce flu infections and protected mice from getting seriously ill.
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Vagus nerve regulates viral infection and inflammation via the alpha 7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (α7 nAChR); however, the role of α7 nAChR in ZIKA virus (ZIKV) infection, which can cause severe neurological diseases such as microcephaly and Guillain-Barré syndrome, remains unknown. Here, we first examined the role of α7 nAChR in ZIKV infection in vitro. A broad effect of α7 nAChR activation was identified in limiting ZIKV infection in multiple cell lines.

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Background: Bronchiectasis has high rates of hemoptysis and recurrent hemoptysis, which is inconsistent among various etiologies. Idiopathic bronchiectasis and post-tuberculous bronchiectasis are two important etiologies in China, but the differences in clinical features and risk factors of recurrent hemoptysis have not been elucidated.

Methods: Patients hospitalized for idiopathic bronchiectasis or post-tuberculosis bronchiectasis were included.

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Background: Allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis (ABPA) is characterized by enhanced T2 inflammatory response. Fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) measurement has been used as a valuable tool in predicting the development and management of asthma, another typical T2 inflammation. However, the clinical significance of FeNO in ABPA remains unclear.

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  • * Researchers found that certain VOC levels were significantly higher in patients experiencing hypoxia and those with infections, indicating a potential link to the severity of the disease.
  • * Specifically, 10-heptadecenoic acid was identified as a key predictive marker for hypoxia, suggesting it could help assess bronchiectasis patient conditions.
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Use of real-world data (RWD) is gaining wide attention. To bridge the gap between diverse healthcare stakeholders and to leverage the impact of Chinese real-world evidence (RWE) globally, a multi-stakeholder External Advisory Committee (EAC) and EAC meetings were initiated, aiming to elucidate the current and evolving RWD landscape in China, articulate the values of RWE in ensuring Chinese patients' equitable access to affordable medicines and solutions, and identify strategic opportunities and partnerships for expansion of RWE generation in China. Chinese and international experts who are clinicians and academic researchers were selected as EAC members based on their professional background and familiarity with RWD/RWE.

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Background: Benralizumab is indicated as add-on therapy in patients with uncontrolled, severe eosinophilic asthma; it has not yet been evaluated in a large Asian population with asthma in a clinical trial.

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of benralizumab in patients with severe asthma in Asia.

Methods: MIRACLE (NCT03186209) was a randomized, Phase 3 study in China, South Korea, and the Philippines.

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Article Synopsis
  • ABPA patients have increased levels of Th2 cells and elevated T-helper type cells linked to IgE production, with decreased Th1 and Th17 cells compared to healthy controls.
  • Flow cytometry and RNA sequencing revealed that Th2-skewed T-helper (Tph) cells significantly contribute to B-cell differentiation and IgE synthesis in ABPA patients.
  • This distinct Th2-skewed Tph cell population may serve as a potential biomarker and therapeutic target for allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis.
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Chronic (PA) infection significantly contributes to morbidity and mortality in bronchiectasis patients. Initiating antibiotics early may lead to the eradication of PA. Here we outline the design of a trial (ERASE; NCT06093191) assessing the efficacy and safety of inhaled tobramycin, alone or with oral ciprofloxacin, in bronchiectasis patients with a new isolation of PA.

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Introduction: Osteosarcoma is a common bone malignant tumor in adolescents with high mortality and poor prognosis. At present, the progress of osteosarcoma and effective treatment strategies are not clear. This study provides a new potential target for the progression and treatment of osteosarcoma.

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The relationship between symptoms, measured using a validated disease-specific questionnaire, and longitudinal exacerbation risk has not been demonstrated in bronchiectasis. The aim of this study is to investigate whether baseline symptoms, assessed using the Quality-of-Life Bronchiectasis Respiratory Symptom Scale (QoL-B-RSS) and its individual component scores, could predict future exacerbation risk in patients with bronchiectasis. The study included 436 adults with bronchiectasis from three tertiary hospitals.

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Article Synopsis
  • - This study highlights the significant role of the long non-coding RNA NRSN2-AS1, which is found to be over-expressed in ovarian cancer tissues and is linked to the progression of the disease in women.
  • - NRSN2-AS1 promotes the growth and spread of ovarian cancer cells by stabilizing the protein PTK2 and activating the β-catenin signaling pathway while inhibiting its degradation by MG-53.
  • - The findings suggest that targeting the NRSN2-AS1/PTK2/β-catenin signaling axis could have potential clinical applications for treating ovarian cancer, marking a novel discovery in understanding the disease's mechanisms.
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Bronchoscopic lung volume reduction (BLVR) is a feasible, safe, effective and minimally invasive technique to significantly improve the quality of life of advanced severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). In this study, three-dimensional computed tomography (3D-CT) automatic analysis software combined with pulmonary function test (PFT) was used to retrospectively evaluate the postoperative efficacy of BLVR patients. The purpose is to evaluate the improvement of lung function of local lung tissue after operation, maximize the benefits of patients, and facilitate BLVR in the treatment of patients with advanced COPD.

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Article Synopsis
  • AEC2 cells play a crucial role in lipid metabolism for surfactant production, which is vital for lung function.
  • Chronic exposure to cigarette smoke disrupts lipid synthesis in these cells and is connected to the development of COPD.
  • Mice lacking the FASN enzyme in AEC2 cells showed increased lung inflammation and altered surfactant composition, highlighting the enzyme's importance in how the lung responds to smoke exposure.
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