The Relationship of the Fibrinogen Cleavage Biomarker Aα-Val360 With Disease Severity and Activity in α1-Antitrypsin Deficiency.

Background: New markers of COPD and emphysema disease activity are urgently required since current measures of disease severity do not reflect the total disease burden nor predict disease progression. A recently described in vivo marker of neutrophil elastase activity (Aα-Val360) may be an effective marker of COPD and emphysema disease activity, and the current study explores its use in patients with α1-antitrypsin deficiency (AATD) across the disease severity spectrum with particular interest in whether it can be used as an early predictor of the need for intervention.

Methods: Cross-sectional and longitudinal relationships between Aα-Val360 and full lung-function tests, CT scan densitometry, and other biomarkers were explored in this study of a registry of untreated patients with PiZZ AATD.

Progranulin is a substrate for neutrophil-elastase and proteinase-3 in the airway and its concentration correlates with mediators of airway inflammation in COPD.

Progranulin (PGRN) is an anti-inflammatory protein, yet its digestion by neutrophil-derived proteinases generates products that can stimulate epithelial cell lines to secrete the neutrophil chemoattractant interleukin (IL)-8. Because dysregulated neutrophilic inflammation is implicated in the pathophysiology of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), the possible influence of PGRN and digestion products may be of relevance to understanding and treating inflammation in the disease. PGRN was measured in sputum sol-phase samples from patients with a clinical diagnosis of COPD and chronic sputum production in a clinically stable state; PGRN correlated negatively with bacterial load (colony-forming units/ml) (r = -0.

Aα-Val360: a marker of neutrophil elastase and COPD disease activity.

Forced expiratory volume in 1 s is currently the most widely used marker of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) severity; however, it is a poor surrogate of the emphysematous component and the underlying pathophysiological mechanism, and therefore new markers are urgently needed. Neutrophil elastase (NE) is likely to play a key pathophysiological role in COPD and the current study explores a marker of NE activity as a potential indicator of COPD disease activity. Aα-Val(360) was measured in 81 subjects with a clinical diagnosis of COPD, both in the stable state and at presentation with an acute exacerbation, and comparisons were made using lung function tests and computed tomography imaging.

The effectiveness of sodium dichloroisocyanurate treatments against Clostridium difficile spores contaminating stainless steel.

Background: Clostridium difficile is a major cause of hospital-associated infective diarrhea, and its spore form can persist for months in the hospital environment. Chlorine-based cleaning agents are recommended for eliminating this reservoir of potential infection.

Objectives: To investigate the individual contributions of active chlorine, detergent and mechanical action on decontamination of a C difficile contaminated surface.

Quantitative measurement of the efficacy of protein removal by cleaning formulations; comparative evaluation of prion-directed cleaning chemistries.

The stability of the infectious agent causing variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) has highlighted the importance of cleaning surgical instruments for controlling potential spread of iatrogenic CJD. In this study, thermostable adenylate kinases (tAKs) in test soil were coated on to stainless steel and these surrogate agents used to evaluate the efficacy of a range of cleaning chemistries in a bench-top washer disinfector (btWD), or as a pre-soak either with or without subsequent treatment by btWD. Two tAKs were tested initially for ease of removal, the most persistent being Sulfolobus acidocaldarius-derived tAK which was used for evaluating the cleaning chemistries.