Altered microRNA expression of nasal mucosa in long-term asthma and allergic rhinitis.

Background: Asthma and allergic rhinitis (AR) commonly coexist and can be taken as manifestations of one syndrome. Evidence exists that microRNAs (miRNAs) are important in controlling inflammatory processes and they are considered promising biomarkers. However, little is known about the differences in miRNA expression in patients with chronic allergic airway disease.

Middle-aged men with asthma since youth: the impact of work on asthma.

Objectives: To evaluate current occupational exposure and its associations with asthma control, exacerbations, and severity in middle-aged men with asthma from youth.

Methods: We used the Finnish Defence Force registers, 1986 to 1990, to select conscripts with asthma to represent mild or moderate asthmatic group (asthma group 1; N = 505), men who were exempted from military service to represent relatively severe asthmatic group (asthma group 2; N = 393), and a control group without asthma (N = 1500). A questionnaire was sent out in 2009.

Positive exercise test and obstructive spirometry in young male conscripts associated with persistent asthma 20 years later.

Background: Asthma often begins in childhood or early adulthood and is a common disease among conscripts. The identification of long-term predictive factors for persistent asthma may lead to improved treatment opportunities and better disease control.

Objective: Our aim was to study the prognostic factors of the severity of asthma among 40-year-old male conscripts whose asthma began in youth.

Reduced work ability in middle-aged men with asthma from youth--a 20-year follow-up.

We studied, whether asthma diagnosed in childhood or early adulthood affects work ability 20 years later. We used Finnish Defence Force registers, 1986-1990, to select: (1) conscripts with asthma to represent a mild/moderate asthma group (n=485), (2) asthmatics who were exempted from military service to represent a relatively severe asthma group (n=393) and (3) a control group (n 1500) without asthma. A questionnaire consisting of validated questions on asthma and work ability was sent out in 2009.

Repeatability of exhaled nitric oxide measurements in patients with COPD.

The assessment of the presence of eosinophilic airway inflammation may help in predicting the steroid response in subjects with respiratory symptoms. Unlike patients with asthma, only a subset of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) benefits from steroid treatment. Fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FENO) is a useful surrogate marker for eosinophilic airway inflammation, but data on the repeatability of FENO measurements in COPD needed for the assessment of significant change are insufficient.

Smoking attenuates increase in exhaled nitric oxide in atopic but not in nonatopic young adults with asthma.

Background: Measurement of fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FENO) is useful in assessing eosinophilic airway inflammation. Smoking may modify airway inflammation and reduce FENO levels, compromising the diagnostic value of FENO in smokers. How smoking influences FENO in atopic versus nonatopic asthmatics is unknown.

Electrocardiographic and other clinical correlates of walking ability in older women.

The purpose of this study was to examine how resting electrocardiographic (ECG) and other clinical variables, which can be included in a routine clinical examination, predict walking ability in older women. Three hundred and twenty women (63-75 years) without overt cardiac diseases and apparent mobility limitations were studied. Measurements performed were clinical examination (standard 12-lead resting ECG, assessment of physical activity level, presence of chronic diseases, use of beta-blockers, body mass index (BMI), ability to squat, resting blood pressure) and six-minute walking test.

Electrocardiographic indices of left ventricular hypertrophy and repolarization phase share the same genetic influences: a twin study.

Background: Both left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) and repolarization phase (RP) are known to be attributable to genetic influences, but less is known whether they share same genetic influences. The aim of this study was to investigate to what extent individual differences in electrocardiographic (ECG) LVH and RP are explained by genetic and environmental influences and whether these influences are shared between these two traits.

Methods: Resting ECG recordings were obtained from 186 monozygotic and 203 dizygotic female twin individuals, aged 63 to 76 years.

Genetic influences on resting electrocardiographic variables in older women: a twin study.

Background: Previous studies in young and middle-aged men and women have shown that resting electrocardiographic (ECG) variables are influenced by genetic factors. However, the extent to which resting ECG variables are influenced by genetic factors in older women is unknown. Thus, the aim of this study was to estimate the relative contribution of genetic and environmental influences to individual differences in resting ECG variables among older female twins without overt cardiac diseases.

Effects of long-term physical activity on cardiac structure and function: a twin study.

Previous studies have shown that athletic training or other physical activity causes structural and functional adaptations in the heart, but less is known how long-term physical activity affects heart when genetic liability and childhood environment are taken into account. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of long-term physical activity vs. inactivity on cardiac structure and function in twin pairs discordant for physical activity for 32 years.

Equally elevated concentrations of exhaled nitric oxide in nonatopic and low-sensitized atopic asthmatics.

Background: Some studies show concentrations of exhaled nitric oxide (FENO) in nonatopic asthma and in healthy subjects to be similar, but include asthmatics on inhaled steroids, which is likely to interfere with the results.

Aim: Comparison of FENO between nonatopic asthmatics, low-sensitized and high-sensitized atopic asthmatics, and healthy controls.

Methods: We studied 85 non-smoking, steroid-naive young men with recently diagnosed symptomatic asthma and 10 healthy controls.

Atopic sensitization to common allergens without symptoms or signs of airway disorders does not increase exhaled nitric oxide.

Background: Elevated fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FENO) associates positively with symptomatic atopy among asthmatics and in the general population. It is, however, unclear whether sensitization to common allergens per se- as verified with positive skin prick tests--affects FENO in healthy individuals.

Objective: The aim of this study was to examine the association between FENO and sensitization to common allergens in healthy nonsmoking adults with no signs or symptoms of airway disorders.

Effects of beta-blocker therapy on ventricular repolarization documented by 24-h electrocardiography in patients with type 1 long-QT syndrome.

Objectives: We tested the hypothesis that in long-QT syndrome (LQT) type 1 (LQT1), beta-blocker therapy may decrease both the diurnal maximal T-wave peak to T-wave end interval (TPE) and the maximal ratio between late and early T-wave peak amplitude (T2/T1 ratio), which are electrocardiographic counterparts of transmural dispersion of repolarization (TDR) and early afterdepolarizations (EA), respectively.

Background: Ventricular repolarization duration and increased TDR and EAs are the three electrophysiological components generating the high risk of ventricular arrhythmias and sudden death in the inherited LQT. In the most prevalent LQT1 form of LQT, treatment with beta-blockers reduces serious arrhythmia events dramatically without a known influence on QT interval duration.

Muscle fiber-type distribution predicts weight gain and unfavorable left ventricular geometry: a 19 year follow-up study.

Background: Skeletal muscle consists of type-I (slow-twitch) and type-II (fast-twitch) fibers, with proportions highly variable between individuals and mostly determined by genetic factors. Cross-sectional studies have associated low percentage of type-I fibers (type-I%) with many cardiovascular risk factors.

Methods: We investigated whether baseline type-I% predicts left ventricular (LV) structure and function at 19-year follow-up, and if so, which are the strongest mediating factors.

Muscle fiber-type distribution as a predictor of blood pressure: a 19-year follow-up study.

The known association between physical activity and low blood pressure may be influenced by inherited characteristics. Skeletal muscle consists of type I (slow-twitch) and type II (fast-twitch) muscle fibers, with proportions highly variable between individuals and mostly determined by genetic factors. A high percentage of type I fibers (type I%) has been associated with low blood pressure in cross-sectional studies.

Recurrent pericarditis in children and adolescents: report of 15 cases.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to analyze the clinical findings, course, and treatment of recurrent pericarditis (RP) in patients with onset in childhood and adolescence.

Background: Recurrent pericarditis is a chronic condition that has presented problems in management. Knowledge about this disease is based on observations in adults, and no series of children has previously been published.