Causative diseases of bloody sputum and hemoptysis in respiratory clinics in Japan.

Background: No previous studies have compared respiratory clinics and respiratory specialized facilities regarding causative diseases for bloody sputum and hemoptysis in Japan.

Methods: We retrospectively compared causative diseases for bloody sputum and hemoptysis between 3 respiratory clinics (clinic group) and 7 departments of respiratory medicine at hospitals (hospital group) in Japan.

Results: We collected data from 231 patients (median age, 51 years; age range, 24-96 years; 109 men (47.

Prevalence and causes of subacute cough in Japan.

Background: Subacute cough is subdivided and distinguished from chronic cough, because post-infectious cough is considered to be the main cause of subacute cough and differs from acute and chronic cough. However, the details of the spectrum and frequency of causes of subacute cough remain unclear because only two studies on subacute cough have been published.

Methods: Patients who presented with cough that lasted for 3-8 weeks and visited respiratory clinics or hospitals affiliated with the Japan Cough Society during 2 years were studied.

Japanese Patients with Severe Asthma Identified as Responders to Omalizumab Treatment at 2 Years Based on the GETE Score Continued Treatment for an Extended Period.

Purpose: Omalizumab, the anti-IgE monoclonal antibody used to treat severe asthma, reduces asthma exacerbations, hospitalizations, and corticosteroid use. Although allergic asthma is a therapeutic target of omalizumab, omalizumab is not effective in all patients with severe allergic asthma and is not always available for long-term use. We retrospectively investigated factors related to long-term (≥2 years) use of omalizumab for severe asthma.

Histological characteristics of matrix metalloproteinase-9 and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases-1 in asthmatic murine model during A(H1N1)pdm09 infection.

Pandemic influenza virus A(H1N1)pdm09 infection occurred in healthy children and young adults, but asthmatic patients presented more rapid progression of respiratory distress and plastic bronchitis. To investigate the pathogenesis of worsening respiratory symptoms after A(H1N1)pdm09 infection, we focused on matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases-1 (TIMP-1). MMP-9 and TIMP-1 levels in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid and serum from mice with and without asthma were evaluated after A(H1N1)pdm09 or seasonal A(H1N1) infection.

Effect of Japanese Cedar Pollen Sublingual Immunotherapy on Asthma Patients with Seasonal Allergic Rhinitis Caused by Japanese Cedar Pollen.

Allergen immunotherapy is a promising treatment for allergic diseases that induce immune tolerance through the administration of specific allergens. In this study, we investigate the efficacy of sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT) in asthmatic patients with SAR-JCP and the dynamics of the parameters before and after treatment in a real-world setting. This was a prospective single-center observational study.

Mepolizumab decreased the levels of serum galectin-10 and eosinophil cationic protein in asthma.

Background: Mepolizumab, a humanized antibody targeting interleukin-5, decreases the number of blood eosinophils and the frequency of exacerbation of severe asthma. Galectin-10 is a protein within the cytoplasm of eosinophils and constitutes Charcot-Leyden crystals, which promotes key features of asthma. However, the relationship between time kinetics and clinical response of eosinophil-derived molecules such as galectin-10 or eosinophil cationic protein (ECP) has not been precisely investigated.

Enhanced airway hyperresponsiveness in asthmatic children and mice with A(H1N1)pdm09 infection.

Background: Severe asthma exacerbation is an important comorbidity of the 2009 HIN1 pandemic (A(H1N1)pdm09) in asthmatic patients. However, the mechanisms underlying severe asthma exacerbation remain unknown. In this study, airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR) was measured in pediatric asthma patients infected with A(H1N1)pdm09.

Mobile Health App for Japanese Adult Patients With Asthma: Clinical Observational Study.

Background: Inappropriate asthma control reduces quality of life and causes increased exacerbations. Mobile health (mHealth) employs information and communication technology for surveying health-related issues.

Objective: This noninterventional, observational study assessed current real-world asthma control levels among Japanese patients with asthma and cough variant asthma (CVA) using the Zensoku-Log app.

Using fractional exhaled nitric oxide to guide step-down treatment decisions in patients with asthma: a systematic review and individual patient data meta-analysis.

Background: High exhaled nitric oxide fraction ( ) levels are associated with greater risk of asthma exacerbation. However, it is not clear how can be used to guide safe reductions in inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) doses in asthma patients. This study assesses the ability of to guide ICS reductions.

Combination of TWEAK and TGF-β1 induces the production of TSLP, RANTES, and TARC in BEAS-2B human bronchial epithelial cells during epithelial-mesenchymal transition.

Aim Of The Study: In patients with asthma, chronic inflammatory processes and the subsequent remodeling of the airways contribute to the symptoms and the pathophysiological changes. Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is thought to play an important role in tissue remodeling. Previous reports show that tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-like weak inducer of apoptosis (TWEAK) is a cytokine of the TNF superfamily, exerts pro-inflammatory effects, and enhances transforming growth factor (TGF)-β-induced EMT in bronchial epithelial cells.

Patients with Asthma Prescribed Once-Daily Fluticasone Furoate/Vilanterol or Twice-Daily Fluticasone Propionate/Salmeterol as Maintenance Treatment: Analysis from a Claims Database.

Introduction: There is a paucity of data describing prescribing patterns and adherence to therapy of inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) in combination with long-acting β-agonists (LABA) in the Japanese population in clinical practice.

Methods: This was a non-interventional, retrospective, cohort study of patients who were prescribed medication for asthma, using data from the Japan Medical Data Center Claims Database. Data from patients aged ≥ 15 years with a prescription of asthma drugs between December 2014 and October 2015 (Day 0, the index date when asthma medication was initiated) were analysed in 12-month pre-index and post-index periods.

Difference between two exhaled nitric oxide analyzers, NIOX VERO electrochemical hand-held analyzer and NOA280i chemiluminescence stationary analyzer.

Background: Fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FE) is useful for the evaluation of eosinophilic airway inflammation, including that seen in asthma. Although a new electrochemical hand-held FE analyzer, the NIOX VERO (Aerocrine AB, Solna, Sweden), is clinically convenient to use, it has not been fully compared with the chemiluminescence stationary electrochemical analyzer NOA280i (Sievers Instruments, Boulder, CO, USA) in terms of the level of measured FE. The aim of this study was to determine whether there is a difference between the two analyzers.

Pulmonary inflammation and cytokine dynamics of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid from a mouse model of bronchial asthma during A(H1N1)pdm09 influenza infection.

Asthmatic patients present more rapid progression of respiratory distress after A(H1N1)pdm09 influenza infection than after seasonal infection. Here, we sought to clarify the pathophysiology of early deterioration in asthmatic patients after A(H1N1)pdm09 infection. Cytokine levels and virus titres in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid from mice with and without asthma after A(H1N1)pdm09 or seasonal H1N1 infection were examined.

Assessing usability of the "Adherence Starts with Knowledge 20" (ASK-20) questionnaire for Japanese adults with bronchial asthma receiving inhaled corticosteroids long term.

Background: Maintaining high treatment adherence levels is critical for effective management of chronic diseases. The Adherence Starts with Knowledge 20 (ASK-20) questionnaire is the only linguistically validated patient-reported treatment adherence tool available in Japan. We conducted additional analyses on ASK-20 data from Japanese adults with asthma.

Circulating activated innate lymphoid cells and mucosal-associated invariant T cells are associated with airflow limitation in patients with asthma.

Background: A variety of innate subsets of lymphoid cells such as natural killer (NK) cells, several populations of innate lymphoid cells (ILCs), and mucosal-associated invariant T (MAIT) cells as innate-like T lymphocytes are involved in asthma and may have important effector functions in asthmatic immune responses. In the present study, we investigated whether NK cells, ILCs, and MAIT cells in the peripheral blood of patients with asthma would be associated with clinical asthma parameters.

Methods: We recruited 75 adult patients with mild to severe asthma.

Antioxidant nutrients in plasma of Japanese patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma-COPD overlap syndrome and bronchial asthma.

Background: Few studies to date have investigated the antioxidant nutrients such as vitamin C (ascorbic acid), vitamin E (α-tocopherol), retinol and carotenoids in plasma from patients with pulmonary disease in Japan. To clarify the role of antioxidant nutrients such as vitamin C, vitamin E, retinol and various carotenoids in plasma of Japanese patients with chronic obstructive lung diseases (COPD), asthma-COPD overlap syndrome (ACOS) and/or bronchial asthma (BA), we compared to healthy elderly controls.

Methods: Ascorbic acid (AA), carotenoids (lutein, zeaxanthin, β-cryptoxanthin, α-carotene, β-carotene and lycopene), retinol and α-tocopherol levels in plasma were determined by using a high performance liquid chromatography.

Evaluation of switching low-dose inhaled corticosteroid to pranlukast for step-down therapy in well-controlled patients with mild persistent asthma.

Objective: Treatment guidelines for asthma recommend step-down therapy for well-controlled asthma patients. However, the precise strategy for step-down therapy has not been well defined. We investigated whether well-controlled patients with mild persistent asthma can tolerate a step-down therapy of either a reduced dose of inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) or a switch to a leukotriene receptor antagonist (LTRA), pranlukast hydrate.

Characteristics of alveolar macrophages from murine models of OVA-induced allergic airway inflammation and LPS-induced acute airway inflammation.

Background:  Macrophages include the classically activated pro-inflammatory M1 macrophages (M1s) and alternatively activated anti-inflammatory M2 macrophages (M2s). The M1s are activated by both interferon-γ and Toll-like receptor ligands, including lipopolysaccharide (LPS), and have potent pro-inflammatory activity. In contrast, Th2 cytokines activate the M2s, which are involved in the immune response to parasites, promotion of tissue remodeling, and immune regulatory functions.