[Case of allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis complicated with lung abscess which developed into a bronchopleural fistula].

We report a case of bronchopleural fistula in a patient with allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis. A 25-year-old man was admitted with high fever and chest pain. Although his chest CT in a previous hospital showed pulmonary infiltrate suggesting the existence of a mucous plug, a mass shadow in the right upper lobe was recognized on admission to our hospital.

[Characteristics of shrimp allergy from childhood to adulthood in Japan].

Objective: We examined profiles and clinical symptoms of shrimp allergy patients and investigated the correlation of shrimp-specific IgE to crustaceans-specific IgE, mollusks-specific IgE and shellfish-specific IgE. In addition, symptoms when eating crustaceans other than shrimp, mollusks and shellfish were examined, because they shared tropomyosin as a major allergen.

Methods: We examined 99 definitive shrimp allergy cases with questionnaire.

Polymorphisms in the prostaglandin E2 receptor subtype 2 gene confer susceptibility to aspirin-intolerant asthma: a candidate gene approach.

Aspirin-intolerant asthma (AIA) is a subtype of bronchial asthma characterized by development of bronchoconstriction evoked by non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). NSAIDs inhibit the cyclooxygenase pathway, leading to enhancement of the lipoxygenase pathway. We evaluated allelic association of 370 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of 63 candidate genes, mostly from the arachidonic acid metabolic cascade, with AIA.

Influence of inhaled corticosteroids on community-acquired pneumonia in patients with bronchial asthma.

Objective: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the influence of inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) on community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) in patients with asthma.

Patients And Methods: All asthmatic patients who required hospitalization for CAP from the beginning of 1989 through December 2001 were enrolled in this retrospective study. Patients who used oral corticosteroids daily were excluded.

[A case of eosinophilic gastroenteritis: observation of serum IL-5 and sIL-2R levels before and after remission].

56 years-old man was admitted to our hospital because of severe diarrhea and hypereosinophilia. There was tenderness in the middle part of his abdomen. Laboratory examination revealed elevation of serum IL-5 and serum IL-2R value.

Lipopolysaccharide-induced c-Jun NH2-terminal kinase activation in human neutrophils: role of phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinase and Syk-mediated pathways.

Polymorphonuclear leukocytes (neutrophils) respond to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) through the up-regulation of several pro-inflammatory mediators. We have recently shown that LPS-stimulated neutrophils express monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 (MCP-1), an AP-1-dependent gene, suggesting that LPS activates the c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) pathway in neutrophils. Previously, we have shown the activation of p38 MAPK, but not JNK, in suspended neutrophils stimulated with LPS but have recently shown activation of JNK by TNF-alpha in an adherent neutrophil system.

Effects of suplatast tosilate on allergic eosinophilic airway inflammation in patients with mild asthma.

Background: Bronchial asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease characterized mainly by infiltration of the airway mucosa by various inflammatory cells, notably eosinophils. T(H)2-type cytokines are suggested to be deeply involved in the pathogenesis of asthma.

Objective: We sought to determine the suppressive effects of suplatast tosilate, an inhibitor of T(H)2-type cytokines, on eosinophilic inflammation of the bronchial mucosa in patients with mild asthma.

[Clinical properties of community-acquired pneumonia in patients with asthma].

Purpose: Many reports were found on the clinical properties of community-acquired pneumonia. The clinical properties of community-acquired pneumonia in patients with asthma have not been elucidated, and we therefore investigated such properties.

Materials And Methods: Asthmatic patients who required hospitalization for community-acquired pneumonia from the beginning of 1989 through the end of 2001 were enrolled in this study.

[Management of patients with bronchial asthma received general anesthesia and surgical intervention].

Stimulation to bronchial mucosa is one of the major risk factor of asthma attack. When patients receive surgical intervention and general anesthesia, they are always exposed to stimulation to bronchial mucosa. Prevention method of bronchial asthma attack during surgical intervention is not established yet.