Publications by authors named "K K Malakauskas"

Asthma is a chronic inflammatory process that leads to airway narrowing, causing breath loss followed by spasms, wheezing, and shortness of breath. Within the asthmatic lungs, interaction among various immune cells and structural cells plays a significant role in orchestrating an inflammatory response in which eosinophils hold central importance. In these settings, allergens or other environmental exposures commonly drive the immune response to recruit eosinophils to the airways.

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Anti-interleukin (IL) 5 is an effective treatment modality for inhibiting eosinophilic inflammation in patients with T2-high severe asthma. The aim of this study was to determine the clinical efficacy and serum levels of type 2 inflammatory mediators during 24 weeks of mepolizumab treatment in patients with T2-high severe asthma. Eighteen patients with T2-high severe asthma were enrolled in this study.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study explores the potential of serum biomarkers to differentiate the allergic asthma (AA) phenotype among patients, identifying specific substances that could indicate the condition.
  • Twenty steroid-free AA patients and sixteen healthy subjects were analyzed for ten biologically active substances in their blood before and after bronchial allergen challenges.
  • Significant findings included increased levels of sIL-5Rα and TRX1, and decreased levels of MET, PTX3, and ICTP in AA patients, suggesting these markers may help in diagnosing and understanding allergic asthma.
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Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a condition with a high prevalence, linked to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease as well as increased morbidity and death. CPAP is currently considered the "gold standard" treatment for OSA, but more thorough research and testing are required to assess its efficacy on cardiopulmonary function. To evaluate pulmonary function of OSA patients, cardiopulmonary exercise tolerance test (CPET) performance, cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) parameters, and polysomnographic changes before and after 3 months of CPAP therapy.

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Article Synopsis
  • Airway remodeling in asthma involves increased airway smooth muscle mass and altered extracellular matrix homeostasis, influenced by eosinophil subtypes.
  • Blood eosinophils from allergic and severe eosinophilic asthma patients were studied for their effects on airway smooth muscle (ASM) cell behavior, including proliferation and migration.
  • Results indicated that eosinophil subtypes enhanced the expression of genes related to muscle contraction and ECM components in ASM cells, with a stronger impact observed from lung resident-like eosinophils in severe cases.
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