[Is intrinsic or non-atopic asthma a particular disease?].

Intrinsic or non-atopic asthma is defined by the absence of positive skin test for specific aero-allergens, together with the absence of specific serum IgE. In the adult population, about one third of asthmatic patients are non-atopic. Non-atopic asthma begins generally later in life and is often more severe than atopic asthma.

Rapid eye movement-related disordered breathing: clinical and polysomnographic features.

Objective: The existence of a rapid eye movement (REM)-specific sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) has been suggested based on the finding of an association between sleepiness and respiratory disturbances confined primarily to REM sleep. The aim of the study was to define the frequency and the clinical and polysomnographic features of REM SDB in a large clinical population.

Methods: Anthropometric, clinical, and polysomnographic characteristics of 415 patients undergoing polysomnography for SDB were examined.

A new educational program for patients suffering from sleep apnea syndrome.

Objective: Patients' knowledge and beliefs about their chronic illnesses such as OSAS are known to influence a range of health related variables, including treatment compliance. It is for that reason that this interdisciplinary program centred on the therapeutic education of the patients was conceived by two medical teams with the aim of creating a new coverage of the patients affected of OSAS.

Methods: Thirty-five OSAS patients were consecutively collected among those regularly followed at the Service of pneumology outpatient facility.

Long-term cultures of polarized airway epithelial cells from patients with cystic fibrosis.

The poor ability of respiratory epithelial cells to proliferate and differentiate in vitro into a pseudostratified mucociliated epithelium limits the general use of primary airway epithelial cell (AEC) cultures generated from patients with rare diseases, such as cystic fibrosis (CF). Here, we describe a procedure to amplify AEC isolated from nasal polyps and generate long-term cultures of the respiratory epithelium. AEC were seeded onto microporous permeable supports that carried on their undersurface a preformed feeder layer of primary human airway fibroblasts.

Health-related quality of life following single or bilateral lung transplantation: a 7-year comparison to functional outcome.

Objectives: To compare long-term health-related quality of life (HRQL) in single and bilateral lung transplant recipients independent of the underlying disease, and in a subset of patients with native pulmonary emphysema.

Methods: Forty-four lung transplant recipients (mean [+/- SD] age, 44.8 +/- 11.

High-level resistance to oxidative stress in Lactococcus lactis conferred by Bacillus subtilis catalase KatE.

Lactococcus lactis, a lactic acid bacterium widely used for food fermentations, is often exposed to damaging stress conditions. In particular, oxidative stress leads to DNA, protein and membrane damages that can be lethal. As L.

High hepatotoxicity of pyrazinamide and ethambutol for treatment of latent tuberculosis.

Pyrazinamide (PZA) combined with either ethambutol (EMB) or a fluoroquinolone for 6-12 months is one of the treatments recommended for latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) in contacts exposed to multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB). The aim of the present study was to describe the side effects related to combined PZA and EMB treatment given for LTBI, in contacts previously exposed to MDR-TB. In total, 12 consecutive contacts, all of African origin and aged 38+/-5 yrs, were treated with daily PZA (23+/-4 mg.

Severe left ventricular dysfunction secondary to primary pulmonary hypertension: bridging therapy with bosentan before lung transplantation.

When right ventricular failure develops secondary to primary pulmonary hypertension, right-left ventricular interaction may lead to severe impairment of left ventricular function. In such cases, many experts favor combined heart-lung transplantation by fear that the left ventricle may not recover after transplantation of the lungs alone. We report a case of primary pulmonary hypertension with severely diminished right and left ventricular function.

Body composition in patients with chronic hypercapnic respiratory failure.

Study Objective: To evaluate the contribution of body composition measurements to clinical assessment in patients on home nasal positive-pressure ventilation for chronic hypercapnic respiratory failure (CHRF), and their relationship to respiratory impairment.

Methods: Patients with CHRF (restrictive lung disease (RLD), n=37; chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), n=19), during elective yearly evaluations underwent pulmonary function testing (forced expiratory volumes, arterial blood gases, maximal inspiratory and expiratory pressure (PI(max) or PE(max))), and bioelectrical impedance analysis to determine fat-free mass (FFM) index (kg/m(2)) and body fat mass index.

Results: When compared with age- and sex-matched healthy controls, RLD patients (OR 5.

Lactococcus lactis SpOx spontaneous mutants: a family of oxidative-stress-resistant dairy strains.

Numerous industrial bacteria generate hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2)), which may inhibit the growth of other bacteria in mixed ecosystems. We isolated spontaneous oxidative-stress-resistant (SpOx) Lactococcus lactis mutants by using a natural selection method with milk-adapted strains on dairy culture medium containing H(2)O(2). Three SpOx mutants displayed greater H(2)O(2) resistance.

Effects of amphotericin B on ion transport proteins in airway epithelial cells.

Topical intranasal application of the antifungal Amphotericin B (AmphoB) has been shown as an effective medical treatment of chronic rhinosinusitis. Because this antibiotic forms channels in lipid membranes, we considered the possibility that it affects the properties and/or cell surface expression of ion channels/pumps, and consequently transepithelial ion transport. Human nasal epithelial cells were exposed apically to AmphoB (50 microM) for 4 h, 5 days (4 h daily), and 4 weeks (4 h daily, 5 days weekly) and allowed to recover for 18-48 h.

[Pneumology. Treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis: hopes and disappointment].

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is now recognized as a separate nosological entity. Despite the progresses in understanding the basic mechanisms of the disease, its prognosis remains poor. The classical treatment combines prednisone with a cytotoxic agent.

Validity and reliability of a French version of the MRF-28 health-related quality of life questionnaire.

Background: Evaluation of health-related quality of life (HRQL) in chronic respiratory failure (CRF) is an important issue for evaluating the impact of treatment.

Objectives: To elaborate a French version of the Maugeri Foundation Respiratory Failure Questionnaire (MRF-28) disease-specific HRQL questionnaire and determine its validity and reliability in patients with CRF treated by home mechanical ventilation (HMV).

Methods: Forward- and back-translation of the MRF-28 questionnaire; the final version was submitted to 81 patients treated with HMV for CRF, simultaneously with the St.

Lower respiratory viral illnesses: improved diagnosis by molecular methods and clinical impact.

We assessed the frequency and the potential role of respiratory viruses on disease outcomes in hospitalized patients and lung transplant recipients who underwent a bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) for an acute respiratory infection. BAL specimens (148) were analyzed by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction for the presence of 11 different viruses, as well as Mycoplasma pneumoniae, Chlamydophila pneumoniae, and Legionella pneumophila. Respiratory viruses were identified in 34 of 117 BAL specimens (29%) obtained in patients with a suspected respiratory infection and in only 2 of 31 control subjects (7%) (p < 0.

Performance vigilance task and sleepiness in patients with sleep-disordered breathing.

Altered vigilance performance has been documented in patients with sleep-related breathing disorders (SRBDs). Sleep fragmentation, sleepiness, respiratory disturbances and nocturnal hypoxaemia have been suggested as the pathogenesis of these deficits, yet it remains difficult to find a good correlation between performance deficits and the above factors. In the present study, which performance measure better characterised SRBD patients and the main factors implicated in these disturbances were examined.

Electrogastrography reveals post-prandial gastric dysmotility in children with cystic fibrosis.

Objectives: Cystic fibrosis patients have a wide spectrum of gastrointestinal disorders. The aim of this study was to investigate the function of gastroenteric neuromusculature and its response to a prokinetic.

Methods: 14 CF children aged 8.

N-acetylcysteine inhibits Na+ absorption across human nasal epithelial cells.

N-acetylcysteine (NAC) is a widely used mucolytic drug in patients with a variety of respiratory disorders. The mechanism of action is based on rupture of the disulfide bridges of the high molecular glycoproteins present in the mucus, resulting in smaller subunits of the glycoproteins and reduced viscosity of the mucus. Because Na(+) absorption regulates airway surface liquid volume and thus the efficiency of mucociliary clearance, we asked whether NAC affects the bioelectric properties of human nasal epithelial cells.

Oxidative stress in Lactococcus lactis.

Lactococcus lactis, the most extensively characterized lactic acid bacterium, is a mesophilic- and microaerophilic-fermenting microorganism widely used for the production of fermented food products. During industrial processes, L. lactis is often exposed to multiple environmental stresses (low and high temperature, low pH, high osmotic pressure, nutrient starvation and oxidation) that can cause loss or reduction of bacterial viability, reproducibility, as well as organoleptic and/or fermentative qualities.

Respiratory viruses and severe lower respiratory tract complications in hospitalized patients.

Background: Acute respiratory viral infections are generally self-limited in healthy subjects but can lead to severe complications in immunocompromised hosts. We report the clinical impact of acute lower respiratory tract viral infections in hospitalized patients.

Materials And Methods: Of 1,001 fiberoptic bronchoscopies performed during a period of 5 years, 33 BAL samples were positive for respiratory viruses by cell culture.

Nasal polyps and middle turbinates epithelial cells sensitivity to amphotericin B.

Hypothesis: Intranasal application of the antimycotic agent amphotericin B (AmphoB) has been proposed as an effective treatment of chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) with polyps. AmphoB is a sterol-binding agent known to modify cell membrane structure. The cytotoxic effects of AmphoB were studied on primary human nasal epithelial cells in vitro.

Src signaling links mediators of inflammation to Cx43 gap junction channels in primary and transformed CFTR-expressing airway cells.

Dysfunction of the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) is associated with recurrent pulmonary infections and inflammation. We previously reported that tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha decreases gap junction connectivity in cell lines derived from the airway epithelium of non-cystic fibrosis (non-CF) subjects, a mechanism that was defective in cells derived from CF patients, and identified the tyrosine kinase c-Src as a possible bridge between TNF-alpha and Cx43. To examine whether this modulation also takes place in primary epithelial cells, the functional expression of Cx43 was studied in non-CF and CF airway cells, obtained from surgical polypectomies and turbinectomies, which were grown either on culture dishes or permeable filters.

Personality, anxiety and mood traits in patients with sleep-related breathing disorders: effect of reduced daytime alertness.

Objective: The etiology of depression and personality disorders in patients with sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) is not well defined and it is still unclear if they are directly related to the severity of the disease. In this study we test the hypothesis as to whether daytime sleepiness largely contributes to appearance of mood disorders.

Methods: Sixty patients diagnosed as having snoring (n=16) or OSA (n=44) were examined.