Publications by authors named "Joaquim Gea"

Article Synopsis
  • * An analysis of plasma samples from 40 COPD patients revealed 363 proteins, with 31 showing significant differences in levels between those who survived and those who did not after four years.
  • * The study found that predictive models based on proteomic data achieved high accuracy for mortality prediction (90%) and suggested that specific protein groups related to immune response, hemostasis, and inflammation could enhance prognostic capabilities for managing COPD.
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The respiratory microbiome may influence the development and progression of COPD by modulating local immune and inflammatory events. We aimed to investigate whether relative changes in respiratory bacterial abundance are also associated with systemic inflammation, and explore their relationship with the main clinical COPD phenotypes. Multiplex analysis of inflammatory markers and transcript eosinophil-related markers were analyzed on peripheral blood in a cohort of stable COPD patients (n = 72).

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Although Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is highly prevalent, it is often underdiagnosed. One of the main characteristics of this heterogeneous disease is the presence of periods of acute clinical impairment (exacerbations). Obtaining blood biomarkers for either COPD as a chronic entity or its exacerbations (AECOPD) will be particularly useful for the clinical management of patients.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study aimed to compare the systemic proteomic profiles of frequent exacerbators (FE) and non-frequent exacerbators (NFE) among COPD patients, alongside a reference group of healthy controls (HC) and patients during an exacerbation (AE).
  • Analysis included 40 stable COPD patients (20 FE and 20 NFE), and results showed 40 different proteins in FE, 10 in NFE, and 63 in AE compared to HC.
  • Results indicated that FE patients had specific inflammatory dysregulations, with some proteomic changes shared with AE, while others were unique to exacerbation episodes.
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COPD is a heterogeneous disorder that shows diverse clinical presentations (phenotypes and "treatable traits") and biological mechanisms (endotypes). This heterogeneity implies that to carry out a more personalised clinical management, it is necessary to classify each patient accurately. With this objective, and in addition to clinical features, it would be very useful to have well-defined biological markers.

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Background: The post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 (PASC) infection have caused a significant impact on our health system, but there is limited evidence of approved drugs focused on its prevention. Our objective was to identify risk factors that can determine the presence of PASC, with special attention to the treatment received in the acute phase, and to describe the profile of persistent symptoms in a multidisciplinary Post-Coronavirus Disease-19 (COVID-19) Unit.

Methods: This one-year prospective observational study included patients following an acute COVID-19 infection, irrespective of whether they required hospital admission.

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Objectives: To identify prognostic models which estimate the risk of critical COVID-19 in hospitalized patients and to assess their validation properties.

Study Design And Setting: We conducted a systematic review in Medline (up to January 2021) of studies developing or updating a model that estimated the risk of critical COVID-19, defined as death, admission to intensive care unit, and/or use of mechanical ventilation during admission. Models were validated in two datasets with different backgrounds (HM [private Spanish hospital network], n = 1,753, and ICS [public Catalan health system], n = 1,104), by assessing discrimination (area under the curve [AUC]) and calibration (plots).

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Background: Acute respiratory syndrome due to coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is characterised by heterogeneous levels of disease severity. It is not necessarily apparent whether a patient will develop severe disease or not. This cross-sectional study explores whether acoustic properties of the cough sound of patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), the illness caused by SARS-CoV-2, correlate with their disease and pneumonia severity, with the aim of identifying patients with severe disease.

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The clinical presentation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is highly heterogeneous. Attempts have been made to define subpopulations of patients who share clinical characteristics (phenotypes and treatable traits) and/or biological characteristics (endotypes), in order to offer more personalized care. Assigning a patient to any of these groups requires the identification of both clinical and biological markers.

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Introduction: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is strongly associated with the development of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). Limited data are available on risk factors for difficult to manage bacteria such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa in COPD patients with CAP. Our objective was to assess the microbiological patterns associated with risk factors that determine empiric antibiotic therapy in hospitalized COPD patients with CAP.

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Background: Loss of muscle mass and function are well-recognized systemic manifestations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Acute exacerbations, in turn, significantly contribute to upgrade these systemic comorbidities. Involvement of myogenic precursors in muscle mass maintenance and recovery is poorly understood.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study investigates how various factors, including muscle strength and symptoms of anxiety and depression, influence physical activity (PA) in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and their progression over 12 months.
  • It was found that lower muscle strength, fewer steps taken, and higher depression levels are linked to reduced daily physical activity.
  • Additionally, patients who decreased their activity over the year had a significantly lower survival rate compared to those who maintained or increased their activity levels.
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Background: Frequently used reference values for clinical exercise testing have been derived from non-random samples and some with poorly defined maximal criteria. Our objective was to obtain population based reference values for peak oxygen uptake (V?O) and work rate (WR) for cardiopulmonary exercise testing in a representative sample of Caucasian Spanish men and women.

Methods: 182 men and women, 20-85 years old, were included and exercised on cycle-ergometer to exhaustion.

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Introduction: Iron deficiency affects exercise capacity because of the critical role iron plays in the optimal functioning of skeletal muscle metabolism. We hypothesized that intravenous iron may improve exercise tolerance, quality of life (QoL), and daily physical activity (DPA) in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Methods: This was a placebo-controlled, single-blind, parallel-group, randomized clinical trial.

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Accelerated ageing is implicated in the pathogenesis of respiratory diseases as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), but recent evidence indicates that the COPD can have roots early in life. Here we hypothesise that the accelerated ageing markers might have a role in the pathobiology of young COPD. The objective of this study was to compare two hallmarks of ageing, telomere length (TL), and mitochondrial DNA copy number (mtDNA-CN, as a surrogate marker of mitochondrial dysfunction) in young (≤ 50 years) and old (>50 years) smokers, with and without COPD.

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Background: Supplemental oxygen delivered with standard oxygen therapy (SOT) improves exercise capacity in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). Although high-flow nasal cannula oxygen therapy (HFNC) improves oxygenation in other respiratory diseases, its impact on exercise performance has never been evaluated in IPF patients. We hypothesized that HFNC may improve exercise capacity in IPF subjects compared to SOT.

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Unlabelled: Pulmonary involvement in COVID-19 is frequently associated with alterations in oxygenation. The arterial partial pressure of oxygen (PaO) is the most clinically used variable to assess such oxygenation, since it decisively influences the oxygen transported by hemoglobin (expressed by its percentage of saturation, SaO). However, two recent studies conducted respectively and using omic techniques in red blood cells of COVID-19 patients have suggested that SARS-CoV-2 could decrease the affinity of oxygen for the hemoglobin (which would imply that PaO would overestimate SaO), and also reduce the amount of this carrier molecule.

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Background: Bronchoaspiration of content that accumulates in the supraglottic area (eg, saliva, gastroesophageal reflux) is a risk factor for ventilator-associated pneumonia. A continuous supraglottic suction system may decrease the risk of bronchoaspiration in these patients.

Objective: (1) Constructing a conceptual model and functional prototype of a continuous supraglottic suction device for use in humans; (2) defining functional characteristics in ex vivo swine head models; and (3) evaluating its efficacy and safety in mechanically ventilated patients.

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We hypothesized that the phenolic compound resveratrol mitigates muscle protein degradation and loss and improves muscle fiber cross-sectional area (CSA) in gastrocnemius of mice exposed to unloading (7dI). In gastrocnemius of mice (female C57BL/6J, 10 weeks) exposed to a seven-day period of hindlimb immobilization with/without resveratrol treatment, markers of muscle proteolysis (tyrosine release, systemic troponin-I), atrophy signaling pathways, and muscle phenotypic features and function were analyzed. In gastrocnemius of unloaded mice treated with resveratrol, body and muscle weight and function were attenuated, whereas muscle proteolysis (tyrosine release), proteolytic and apoptotic markers, atrophy signaling pathways, and myofiber CSA significantly improved.

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The acquisition of driver mutations in non-tumoral cells appears to be very important during the carcinogenesis of adenocarcinoma (ADC). Recent studies suggest that cancer-related mutations may not necessarily be present only in malignant cells, but also in histologically "healthy cells". to demonstrate the presence of or mutations in non-tumoral lung cells in subjects with ADC and negative mutational status.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study investigated how COVID-19 affects oxygen transport in the blood, specifically looking at if SARS-CoV-2 alters the relationship between oxygen and hemoglobin.
  • It analyzed blood samples from COVID-19 patients and compared them to control groups, measuring oxygen saturation levels using different equations.
  • The results showed that COVID-19 does not significantly change the binding of oxygen to hemoglobin or the levels of hemoglobin itself, confirming that arterial oxygen pressure is still a reliable indicator of blood oxygenation in these patients.
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