Antifibrotic drug treatment of patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis in Sweden: A registry-based observational study.

Objectives: Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is characterized by progressive fibrosis of the lung parenchyma, resulting in respiratory failure. This study analysed differences in patient characteristics and antifibrotic treatment strategies during the first years after IPF diagnosis.

Methods: Data from patients with IPF was extracted from the Swedish IPF registry.

Restrictive Spirometric Pattern and Preserved Ratio Impaired Spirometry in a Population Aged 50-64 Years.

Knowledge regarding the prevalence and shared and unique characteristics of the restrictive spirometric pattern (RSP) and preserved ratio impaired spirometry (PRISm) is lacking for a general population investigated with post-bronchodilator spirometry and computed tomography of the lungs. To investigate shared and unique features for RSP and PRISm. In the Swedish CArdioPulmonary bioImage Study (SCAPIS), a general population sample of 28,555 people aged 50-64 years (including 14,558 never-smokers) was assessed.

Residual radiological opacities correlate with disease outcomes in ICU-treated COVID-19.

Background: Few studies consider both radiological and functional outcomes in COVID-19 survivors treated in the intensive care unit (ICU). We investigated clinical findings and pulmonary abnormalities on chest computed tomography (CT) and compared outcomes of severe versus mild-moderate acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) on long-term follow-up.

Methods: This longitudinal cohort study included 118 COVID-19 patients (median age, 58 years; 79% men).

Pulmonary volumes and signs of chronic airflow limitation in quantitative computed tomography.

Background: Computed tomography (CT) offers pulmonary volumetric quantification but is not commonly used in healthy individuals due to radiation concerns. Chronic airflow limitation (CAL) is one of the diagnostic criteria for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), where early diagnosis is important. Our aim was to present reference values for chest CT volumetric and radiodensity measurements and explore their potential in detecting early signs of CAL.

Factors most strongly associated with breathlessness in a population aged 50-64 years.

Background: Breathlessness is a troublesome and prevalent symptom in the population, but knowledge of related factors is scarce. The aim of this study was to identify the factors most strongly associated with breathlessness in the general population and to describe the shapes of the associations between the main factors and breathlessness.

Methods: A cross-sectional analysis was carried out of the multicentre population-based Swedish CArdioPulmonary bioImage Study (SCAPIS) of adults aged 50 to 64 years.

Large airway T cells in adults with former bronchopulmonary dysplasia.

Background: Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia (BPD) in infants born prematurely is a risk factor for chronic airway obstruction later in life. The distribution of T cell subtypes in the large airways is largely unknown.

Objective: To characterize cellular and T cell profiles in the large airways of young adults with a history of BPD.

Pulmonary function and atherosclerosis in the general population: causal associations and clinical implications.

Reduced lung function is associated with cardiovascular mortality, but the relationships with atherosclerosis are unclear. The population-based Swedish CArdioPulmonary BioImage study measured lung function, emphysema, coronary CT angiography, coronary calcium, carotid plaques and ankle-brachial index in 29,593 men and women aged 50-64 years. The results were confirmed using 2-sample Mendelian randomization.

Factors important for health-related quality of life in men and women: The population based SCAPIS study.

Introduction: Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is essential for human wellbeing, influenced by a complex interplay of factors, and is reported lower in women than men. We aimed to evaluate which factors were the most important for HRQoL in a middle-aged general population.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional, multi-centre study of 29,212 men (48%) and women (52%) aged 50-64 in the general population in Sweden.

Mucins 3A and 3B Are Expressed in the Epithelium of Human Large Airway.

Aberrant mucus secretion is a hallmark of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Expression of the membrane-tethered mucins 3A and 3B (MUC3A, MUC3B) in human lung is largely unknown. In this observational cross-sectional study, we recruited subjects 45-65 years old from the general population of Stockholm, Sweden, during the years 2007-2011.

Machine learning slice-wise whole-lung CT emphysema score correlates with airway obstruction.

Objectives: Quantitative CT imaging is an important emphysema biomarker, especially in smoking cohorts, but does not always correlate to radiologists' visual CT assessments. The objectives were to develop and validate a neural network-based slice-wise whole-lung emphysema score (SWES) for chest CT, to validate SWES on unseen CT data, and to compare SWES with a conventional quantitative CT method.

Materials And Methods: Separate cohorts were used for algorithm development and validation.

Presence of anti-modified protein antibodies in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

Background And Objective: Studies of autoimmunity and anti-citrullinated protein antibodies (ACPA) in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) have been confined to investigations of anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide (anti-CCP) antibodies which utilize synthetic peptides as surrogate markers for in vivo citrullinated antigens. We studied immune activation by analysing the prevalence of in vivo anti-modified protein antibodies (AMPA) in IPF.

Methods: We included patients with incident and prevalent IPF (N = 120), sex and smoking-matched healthy controls (HC) (N = 120) and patients with RA (N = 104).

Consequences of Using Post- or Prebronchodilator Reference Values in Interpreting Spirometry.

Postbronchodilator spirometry is used for the diagnosis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. However, prebronchodilator reference values are used for spirometry interpretation. To compare the resulting prevalence rates of abnormal spirometry and study the consequences of using pre- or postbronchodilator reference values generated within SCAPIS (Swedish CArdioPulmonary bioImage Study) when interpreting postbronchodilator spirometry in a general population.

Rheumatoid Arthritis-Specific Autoimmunity in the Lung Before and at the Onset of Disease.

Objective: The lung is implicated as a site for breach of tolerance prior to onset of seropositive rheumatoid arthritis (RA). To substantiate this, we investigated lung-resident B cells in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) samples from untreated early RA patients and anti-citrullinated protein antibody (ACPA)-positive individuals at risk for developing RA.

Methods: Single B cells (n = 7,680) were phenotyped and isolated from BAL samples from individuals at risk of RA (n = 3) and at RA diagnosis (n = 9).

miRNA-mRNA-protein dysregulated network in COPD in women.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a complex disease caused by a multitude of underlying mechanisms, and molecular mechanistic modeling of COPD, especially at a multi-molecular level, is needed to facilitate the development of molecular diagnostic and prognostic tools and efficacious treatments. To investigate the miRNA-mRNA-protein dysregulated network to facilitate prediction of biomarkers and disease subnetwork in COPD in women. Three omics data blocks (mRNA, miRNA, and protein) collected from BAL cells from female current-smoker COPD patients, smokers with normal lung function, and healthy never-smokers were integrated with miRNA-mRNA-protein regulatory networks to construct a COPD-specific dysregulated network.

[Exercise training can improve dyspnea among persons with COPD and IPF].

This article presents updated data regarding exercise training among persons with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). Persons with stable COPD and IPF can improve quality of life, physical capacity and dyspnea after a period of exercise training. Persons with COPD exacerbation can improve quality of life and physical capacity, and decrease hospital re-admissions, if they start physical activity directly after the exacerbation.

[Myositis-related interstitial lung disease - a systemic autoimmune desease often overlooked].

Interstitial lung disease can be the first sign of systemic autoimmune disease. If associated with myositis, interstitial lung disease may be the only symptom, with no presence of muscular weakness or other extramuscular manifestations. ANA-testing performed with indirect immune fluorescence may be negative.

Lung perfusion disturbances in nonhospitalized post-COVID with dyspnea-A magnetic resonance imaging feasibility study.

Background: Dyspnea is common after COVID-19. Though the underlying mechanisms are largely unknown, lung perfusion abnormalities could contribute to lingering dyspnea.

Objectives: To detect pulmonary perfusion disturbances in nonhospitalized individuals with the post-COVID condition and persistent dyspnea 4-13 months after the disease onset.

Glucose Homeostasis in Relation to Neutrophil Mobilization in Smokers with COPD.

Purpose: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and metabolic syndrome (MetS) are common comorbidities in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), but the underlying pathogenic mechanisms are poorly understood. Given that these morbidities all display increased neutrophil mobilization, the current study aimed to address whether glucose homeostasis relates to signs of neutrophil mobilization in COPD.

Methods: The study population included healthy non-smokers (HNS) and long-term smokers without (LTS) and with COPD (LTS+COPD).

[Lung complications in adults due to premature birth: an increasint patient population that needs to be followed up].

Infants born prematurely are susceptible for respiratory disease later in life. In particular, children born before 32 gestational weeks, treated with oxygen or respiratory support and diagnosed with bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) have the highest risk.  Airways obstruction is the major lung function impairment, and it can be aggravated in adult life when age-related loss of lung function takes place.

Increased cytotoxic T-cells in the airways of adults with former bronchopulmonary dysplasia.

Rationale: Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) in preterm-born infants is a risk factor for chronic airway obstruction in adulthood. Cytotoxic T-cells are implicated in COPD, but their involvement in BPD is not known.

Objectives: To characterise the distribution of airway T-cell subsets in adults with a history of BPD.