ACE2 Expression in Organotypic Human Airway Epithelial Cultures and Airway Biopsies.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by infection with the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is an acute respiratory disease with systemic complications. Therapeutic strategies for COVID-19, including repurposing (partially) developed drugs are urgently needed, regardless of the increasingly successful vaccination outcomes. We characterized two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional models (3D) to establish a physiologically relevant airway epithelial model with potential for investigating SARS-CoV-2 therapeutics.

Phagocyte extracellular traps in children with neutrophilic airway inflammation.

Childhood lung infection is often associated with prominent neutrophilic airway inflammation and excess production of proteases such as neutrophil elastase (NE). The mechanisms responsible for this inflammation are not well understood. One potentially relevant pathway is the production of extracellular traps by neutrophils (NETs) and macrophages (METs).

Association of Antibiotics, Airway Microbiome, and Inflammation in Infants with Cystic Fibrosis.

Rationale: The underlying defect in the cystic fibrosis (CF) airway leads to defective mucociliary clearance and impaired bacterial killing, resulting in endobronchial infection and inflammation that contributes to progressive lung disease. Little is known about the respiratory microbiota in the early CF airway and its relationship to inflammation.

Objectives: To examine the bacterial microbiota and inflammatory profiles in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid and oropharyngeal secretions in infants with CF.

Trends in eczema, rhinitis, and rye grass sensitization in a longitudinal asthma cohort.

Background: Atopic conditions are prevalent in the Western world, with limited long-term data on atopic trends in patients with asthma.

Objective: To describe the trends in eczema, rhinitis, and allergic sensitization in a longitudinal childhood asthma cohort.

Methods: Four hundred eighty-four patients were recruited at 7 years of age and followed regularly to 50 years of age.

The association between childhood asthma and adult chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Introduction: There is epidemiological evidence to suggest that events in childhood influence lung growth and constitute a significant risk for adult COPD. The aim of the study is to evaluate for an association between childhood asthma and adult COPD.

Methods: This longitudinal, prospective study of 6-7-year-old children with asthma has been regularly reviewed every 7 years to the current analysis at 50 years of age.

Outcomes of childhood asthma to the age of 50 years.

Background: In 1964, The Melbourne Asthma Study was established to describe the spectrum and natural history of childhood asthma.

Objective: To describe the clinical and lung function outcome of childhood asthma to the age of 50 years.

Method: Subjects were invited to complete an interviewer-administered questionnaire, skin prick testing, and measurement of lung function from the age of 7 years to the age of 50 years at 7-year intervals.

Pathotyping of Australian isolates of Marek's disease virus and association of pathogenicity with meq gene polymorphism.

We report the pathotyping of six Australian isolates of Marek's disease virus-1 (MDV1) isolated between 1992 and 2004 and association of virulence with meq gene polymorphism. Unvaccinated and herpesvirus of turkeys (HVT)-vaccinated specific pathogen free chickens were challenged at day 5 with 500 plaque forming units of Marek's disease virus. The isolates induced gross Marek's disease lesions in 53 to 94% of unvaccinated chickens, and HVT induced a protective index ranging from 38 to 100% by 56 days post challenge.

Optimization of methods for the isolation of Marek's disease viruses in primary chicken cell cultures.

A real-time PCR was used to measure increases in viral DNA in Marek's disease virus (MDV)-infected primary chicken cell cultures in order to optimize methods for viral isolation. Serotype-1 and -3 vaccine and serotype-1 challenge strains exhibited similar growth characteristics, with increases in viral DNA being proportional to inoculum size. Studies of viral growth revealed a linear relationship between increase in MDV copy number and infectious titre, although the rate of increase for copy number was greater.

Molecular evaluation of responses to vaccination and challenge by Marek's disease viruses.

A real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction was utilized to study the in vivo replication of Marek's disease vaccine viruses and of virulent oncogenic strains. In the first of four experiments, the growth of the herpes virus of turkeys (HVT) vaccine was detectable in various organs of infected chicken embryos, with the highest viral loads being present in the spleen. No evidence was obtained for replication of serotype-1 Marek's disease viruses in embryos.