Carotid intima-media thickness in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Objective: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is associated with increased cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Several large population-based cohort studies identified an association between reduced lung function and increased intima-media thickness (IMT). Nevertheless, a vast majority of subjects in these studies did not suffer from COPD and thus it remains unclear whether IMT differs among various stages of COPD severity.

Nutritional status in relation to respiratory impairment and systemic inflammation in patients with acute exacerbations of COPD.

Background: Knowledge of the effects of undernourishment on the severity of respiratory impairment, systemic inflammation and oxidative stress during acute exacerbations of COPD (AECOPD) is limited. In patients with AECOPD, we assessed the relationships between BMI, lung function, and markers of systemic inflammation and oxidative stress.

Material/methods: We measured pulmonary function, serum C-reactive protein (CRP), tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha, interleukin (IL)-6, IL-8, malondialdehyde (MDA), erythrocytic glutathione-peroxidase (GPx), superoxiddismutase (SOD), and catalase (CAT) in 113 patients admitted to the hospital due to an AECOPD (80 males, age 66.

Immunohistochemical markers of proliferation and vascularisation in preneoplastic bronchial lesions and invasive non-small cell lung cancer.

Autofluorescence bronchoscopy (AFB) has been shown to be sensitive to detect preneoplastic lesions in central lung airways system. In early stages of carcinogenesis, up-regulation of cyclooxygenase (COX)-2, Ki67 and/or increased angiogenesis may play a role by promoting the proliferation of tumoral cells and their resistance to apoptosis, as well as angiogenesis, tumor cell invasion and setting up of the metastatic process. The present study compared the expression of proliferative (COX-2, Ki67 and PCNA) and angiogenic markers (CD34 and NG2) between preneoplastic bronchial squamous dysplasia lesions and invasive squamous cell carcinoma.

Beta2-adrenergic receptor haplotype and bronchodilator response to salbutamol in patients with acute exacerbations of COPD.

Background: The role of the beta2-adrenergic receptor (ADRB2) genotype in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is unclear. In patients with acute exacerbations of COPD (AECOPD), we assessed the role of ADRB2 haplotypes in morning lung function and in the bronchodilator response to salbutamol.

Material/methods: In 107 patients with AECOPD, polymorphisms in the amino acid position 16 (Arg16/Gly16) and 27 (Gln27/Glu27) of the ADRB2 gene were assessed by allele-specific polymerase chain reaction, identifying 31 subjects with the Gly16/Glu27-negative and 76 with the Gly16/Glu27-positive ADRB2 haplotype.

Glutathione S-transferase and microsomal epoxide hydrolase gene polymorphisms and risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in Slovak population.

Aim: To determine the risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) associated with polymorphisms in the glutathione S-transferase (GST) M1, GST T1, and microsomal epoxide hydrolase (EPHX1) genes in a cohort of Slovak population.

Methods: Two hundred and seventeen patients with the diagnosis of COPD and 160 control subjects were enrolled in the study. Blood samples were collected from all subjects and the DNA from peripheral blood lymphocytes was used for subsequent genotyping assays, using polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment-length polymorphism methods.

Endobronchial actinomycosis presenting as haemoptysis.

Actinomycosis is an infrequent chronic progressive granulomatous and suppurative disease caused by Actinomyces israelii, a natural inhabitant of the gastrointestinal tract. We report a rare case of a 68-year-old man with primary endobronchial actinomycosis who presented in the emergency respiratory ward with massive hemoptysis and dyspnea. An urgent fiberoptic bronchoscopy revealed hypertrophic mucosa and a narrowed lingular bronchus with a pale extruding exophyt.

Systemic inflammation and systemic oxidative stress in patients with acute exacerbations of COPD.

Background: In patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), the inflammatory processes and oxidative stress are closely linked in the lung compartment. However, the relationships between systemic inflammation and parameters of oxidative stress in the systemic circulation during acute exacerbations of COPD remain to be explored.

Objective: To analyze relationships between erythrocytic glutathione peroxidase (GPx), a marker of systemic oxidative stress, and parameters reflecting systemic inflammation, such as circulating neutrophils, C-reactive protein (CRP), and interleukin (IL)-6, in patients with acute exacerbations of COPD.

The association between oxidative stress and obstructive lung impairment in patients with COPD.

An oxidant/antioxidant imbalance is thought to play an important role in the pathogenesis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). We hypothesized that antioxidant capacity reflected by erythrocyte glutathione peroxidase (GPx), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) activities, and serum levels of the lipid peroxidation product malondialdehyde (MDA), may be related to the severity of obstructive lung impairment in patients with COPD. Erythrocyte GPx, SOD and CAT activities, and serum levels of MDA were measured in 79 consecutive patients with stable COPD.