Serum decorin is a potential prognostic biomarker in patients with acute exacerbation of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

Background: Decorin is a small leucine-rich repeat proteoglycan that plays a critical role in collagen fibrillogenesis, and regulates inflammation, wound healing and angiogenesis. In idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), decorin is expressed in fibrotic lesions; furthermore, intratracheal gene transfer of decorin has been demonstrated to inhibit bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis. Although these results suggest the critical role of decorin in pulmonary fibrosis, the role of decorin in the acute exacerbation of idiopathic interstitial pneumonia (AE-IIP) has not been clarified in detail.

The association between risk of airflow limitation and serum uric acid measured at medical health check-ups.

The prevalence of COPD and asthma is increasing all over the world; however, their morbidities are thought to be greatly underestimated because of unawareness of patients' conditions and respiratory symptoms. Spirometry is useful for the early detection of COPD and asthma with airflow limitation (AL), although it is not yet widely used for screening in epidemiological and primary care settings. A simple predictive marker used in combination with spirometry for AL is expected to be established.

Association of asthma education with asthma control evaluated by asthma control test, FEV1, and fractional exhaled nitric oxide.

Background: Asthma education is an important adjunct for asthma control although the way asthma education affects asthma outcomes is poorly understood. The asthma control test (ACT), forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV(1)), and fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) have all been used as markers of asthma control. However, the use of FeNO as a surrogate marker remains controversial.

Four cases of Trousseau's syndrome associated with lung adenocarcinoma.

Cancer patients are at high risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE), and the combination of these two conditions is well known as Trousseau's syndrome. Here we present four cases of Trousseau's syndrome associated with advanced lung adenocarcinoma. In addition to fibrinogen degradation products (FDP) and D-dimer, the levels of mucin-producing markers, such as KL-6, were elevated.

Validation study of asthma screening criteria based on subjective symptoms and fractional exhaled nitric oxide.

Background: In the latest Global Initiative for Asthma guideline, neither sputum eosinophilia nor fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) have been evaluated prospectively as an aid in asthma diagnosis, but these measurements are being evaluated for potential use in determining optimal treatment.

Objective: To report criteria for screening asthma using subjective symptoms and FeNO levels and results of a prospective validation study using these criteria.

Methods: Sixty-one outpatients with recurrent cough, wheezing, or dyspnea underwent measurements of FeNO levels, pulmonary function, methacholine airway responsiveness, and inflammatory cells in induced sputum.

[Differences of fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) levels performed using two different analyzers].

The measurement of fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) is going to become more wide-spread as a noninvasive marker for diagnosing and controlling bronchial asthma. In Japan, both stationary and portable FeNO analyzers are now available. However, the difference between these analyzers has not been fully examined.

[Transesophageal endoscopic ultrasonography guided-fine needle aspiration for the diagnosis of sarcoidosis].

Sarcoidosis is a multi-organ disorder of unknown etiology characterized by noncaseating epithelioid cell granulomas. The specimen for histopathological diagnosis is usually obtained by transbronchial lung biopsy (TBLB), but the diagnostic accuracy rate of TBLB is not satisfactory, especially for stage I patients. Since hilar and mediastinal lymphadenopathy is a common finding in patients with sarcoidosis, an approach to lymph nodes is expected to have a good diagnosis yield.

Problematic behaviours of 3-year-old children in Japan: relationship with socioeconomic and family backgrounds.

Aim: The purpose of our study was to elucidate factors in socioeconomic and family backgrounds of 3-year-old children in Tokyo, Japan that were associated with problematic behaviours among the children.

Study Design: 670 eligible 3-year-old children underwent an evaluation of problematic behaviour by the Japanese Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL/2-3) and of socioeconomic and family backgrounds.

Results: Stepwise multi-logistic regression analyses using all 28 variables showed that longer hours watching TV, smoking during pregnancy, coffee drinking during and after pregnancy increased, whereas higher family income, a larger number of older brothers/sisters, higher educational level of father decreased problematic behaviours.