Association between anlotinib trough plasma concentration and treatment outcomes in advanced non-small-cell lung cancer.

Background: Efficacy and toxicities of anlotinib (ANL) show large inter-patient variation, which may partly be explained by differences in ANL exposure. Exposure-response/toxicities relationship have not been investigated for ANL. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to explore the association between the trough plasma concentration (C) of ANL and treatment outcomes in Chinese patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Survival benefit of combinatorial osimertinib rechallenge and entrectinib in an EGFR-mutant NSCLC patient with acquired LMNA-NTRK1 fusion following osimertinib resistance.

Acquired resistance to osimertinib is inevitable and heterogeneous despite its documented efficacy against EGFR-mutated non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Subsequent therapeutic options assume the dominant form of the resistance mechanism; however, the more rare oncogenic driver, NTRK1 fusion, has also reportedly conferred osimertinib resistance. Nevertheless, clear-cut options when NSCLCs are driven by EGFR mutation and the subsequent NTRK fusion are lacking.

The Role of Infection in Acute Exacerbation of Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis.

Background: Acute exacerbation of IPF (AE-IPF) is associated with high mortality. We studied changes in pathogen involvement during AE-IPF and explored a possible role of infection in AE-IPF.

Objectives: Our purpose is to investigate the role of infection in AE-IPF.

Effects of particulate matter from straw burning on lung fibrosis in mice.

Objective: To investigate the impacts of particulate matter 2.5 (PM2.5) from straw burning on the acute exacerbation of lung fibrosis in mice and the preventive effects of N-acetylcysteine (NAC).

Erratum: Identification of a nanobody specific to a human pulmonary surfactant protein A.

A correction to this article has been published and is linked from the HTML version of this paper. The error has been fixed in the paper.

Autophagy activated by duck enteritis virus infection positively affects its replication.

Duck enteritis virus (DEV) is an acute, septic, sexually transmitted disease that occurs in ducks, geese and other poultry. Autophagy is an evolutionarily ancient pathway that is important in many viral infections. Despite extensive study, the interplay between DEV and autophagy of host cells is not clearly understood.

N-acetylcysteine attenuates cigaret smoke-induced pulmonary exacerbation in a mouse model of emphysema.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of cigaret smoke (CS) on a mouse model of emphysema and examine the protective role of N-acetylcysteine (NAC) in the CS-induced exacerbation of pulmonary damage in the mice.

Method: Particulate matter (PM) in sidestream cigaret smoke aerosol was analyzed by a scanning mobility particle sizer spectrometer. A mouse model of emphysema was established by an injection of porcine pancreatic elastase (PPE) into the trachea.

Clinical Characteristics of Connective Tissue Disease-Associated Interstitial Lung Disease in 1,044 Chinese Patients.

Background: Because the prevalence of connective tissue disease (CTD)-associated interstitial lung disease (ILD; CTD-ILD) in China is unknown, we wanted to analyze the clinical characteristics of this disease in Chinese patients.

Methods: The medical records of patients who received a diagnosis of ILD and treated in Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital from January 1999 to January 2013 were reviewed. Based on the records, patients who also received a diagnosis of CTD were identified, and their records of follow-up examinations for a minimum of 12 months until the end of December 2013 were reviewed.

Screening for Differentially Expressed Proteins Relevant to the Differential Diagnosis of Sarcoidosis and Tuberculosis.

Background: In this study, we sought to identify differentially expressed proteins in the serum of patients with sarcoidosis or tuberculosis and to evaluate these proteins as markers for the differential diagnosis of sarcoidosis and sputum-negative tuberculosis.

Methods: Using protein microarrays, we identified 3 proteins exhibiting differential expression between patients with sarcoidosis and tuberculosis. Elevated expression of these proteins was verified using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and was further confirmed by immunohistochemistry.

Serum Krebs von den Lungen-6 level as a diagnostic biomarker for interstitial lung disease in Chinese patients.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to determine the diagnostic and prognostic values of serum KL-6 levels in Chinese patients with interstitial lung disease (ILDs).

Methods: A total of 1084 subjects including 373 cases of ILDs, 584 cases of non-ILD pulmonary diseases, and 127 healthy individuals were recruited from three clinical centers in China between January 2011 and December 2013. A total of 106 patients undergoing treatments for ILDs in Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital between January 2011 and December 2013 were enrolled.

A novel nanobody specific for respiratory surfactant protein A has potential for lung targeting.

Lung-targeting drugs are thought to be potential therapies of refractory lung diseases by maximizing local drug concentrations in the lung to avoid systemic circulation. However, a major limitation in developing lung-targeted drugs is the acquirement of lung-specific ligands. Pulmonary surfactant protein A (SPA) is predominantly synthesized by type II alveolar epithelial cells, and may serve as a potential lung-targeting ligand.

Protection of chickens against infectious bronchitis by a recombinant fowlpox virus co-expressing IBV-S1 and chicken IFNgamma.

A fowlpox virus expressing the chicken infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) S1 gene of the LX4 strain (rFPV-IBVS1) and a fowlpox virus co-expressing the S1 gene and the chicken type II interferon gene (rFPV-IBVS1-ChIFNgamma) were constructed. These viruses were assessed for their immunological efficacy on specific-pathogen-free (SPF) chickens challenged with a virulent IBV. Although the antibody levels in the rFPV-IBVS1-ChIFNgamma-vaccinated group were lower than those in the attenuated live IB vaccine H120 group and the rFPV-IBVS1 group, the rFPV-IBVS1-ChIFNgamma provided the strongest protection against an IBV LX4 virus challenge (15 out of 16 chickens immunized with rFPV-IBVS1-ChIFNgamma were protected), followed by the attenuated live IB vaccine (13/16 protected) and the rFPV-IBVS1 (12/16 protected).

[Isolation and identification of A reovirus from masked civet cats (Paguma Larvata)].

192 samples of Masked Palm Civet (Paguma Larvata) from Guangdong Province were inoculated in Vero-E6 cells. One sample which came from masked palm Civet didn't cause cytopathic effects (CPE) until fourth-passage on Vero-E6 cells. Infected cells emerged granulating, shrinking, rounding and falling off.

[Evaluation of the protection conferred by several avian infectious bronchitis attenuated vaccines against the field strain CK/CH/LDL/97 I in China].

The entire S1 protein gene of five infectious bronchitis (IB) vaccine strains (JAAS, IBN, Jilin, J9, H120) used in China were compared with that of the IB field isolate CK/CH/LDL/97 I present in China. The nucleotide and deduced amino acid similarities between the five IB vaccine strains and the field strain, CK/CH/LDL/97 I, were not more than 76.4% and 78.

Expression and characterization of recombinant gallinacin-9 and gallinacin-8 in Escherichia coli.

Gallinacins (Gal) are antimicrobial peptides that play significant roles in innate immunity in chickens. Two Gal genes--Gal-8 and Gal-9--were cloned and sequenced from chicken liver and tongue, respectively, by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). In addition, the mRNA expression of these genes has been demonstrated across a panel of chicken tissues.

Molecular characterization and phylogenetic analysis of membrane protein genes of porcine epidemic diarrhea virus isolates in China.

Six porcine epidemic diarrhea viruses (PEDVs) were isolated from the fecal samples of piglets infected with PEDV in 2006 in China. The membrane (M) protein genes of six PEDV isolates were amplified by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), then cloned, sequenced, and compared with each other as well as those ten PEDV reference strains. The M protein genes of six Chinese PEDV isolates consisted of 692 nucleotides containing a single open reading frame (ORF) of 681 nucleotides, which encoded a 226aa-long peptide.

[Genetic variations of membrane gene of infectious bronchitis virus strains isolated in China between 1995 and 2004].

Membrane (M) protein genes of 20 infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) strains isolated in China between 1995 and 2004 were sequenced and analyzed. The M genes of twenty isolates were composed of 672 to 681 nucleotides, encoding polypeptides of 223 to 226 amino acid residues. Variations of the deduced amino acids of M gene mainly occurred at positions 2 to 17 and 221 to 233, comparing with that of the IBV strain LX4.