Systemic sarcoidosis associated with double cancers of the esophagus and stomach.

To discriminate between sarcoidosis and sarcoid reaction in the lymphadenopathy of malignancy is sometimes clinically important. We describe a case of sarcoidosis associated with double cancers of the esophagus and stomach. A patient who six months previously was found to have early gastric cancer, was then found to have esophagus cancer.

Mice with blunted hypoxic ventilatory response are susceptible to respiratory disturbance during hypoxia.

Hypoxia causes a life-threatening situation, and the ventilatory response to hypoxia plays an important role in preventing death. We have hypothesized that persons with a blunted hypoxic ventilatory response may have a weak defense response to hypoxic episodes and be susceptible to fatal respiratory disturbances. However, precise correlations between the hypoxic ventilatory response and respiratory disturbances are not well understood.

Hypoxemia and blunted hypoxic ventilatory responses in mice lacking heme oxygenase-2.

Heme oxygenase (HO) catalyzes physiological heme degradation and consists of two structurally related isozymes, HO-1 and HO-2. Here we show that HO-2-deficient (HO-2(-/-)) mice exhibit hypoxemia and hypertrophy of the pulmonary venous myocardium associated with increased expression of HO-1. The hypertrophied venous myocardium may reflect adaptation to persistent hypoxemia.

Quantitative assessment of protein-bound tyrosine nitration in airway secretions from patients with inflammatory airway disease.

Because reactive nitrogen species (RNS) have potent inflammatory activity, they may be involved in the inflammatory process in pulmonary diseases. We recently reported increased numbers of 3-nitrotyrosine immunopositive cells, which are evidences of RNS production, in the sputum of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and patients with asthma compared with healthy subjects. In the present study, we attempted to quantify this protein nitration in the airways by means of high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) used together with an electrochemical detection system that we developed.

Can nasal continuous positive airway pressure decrease clinic blood pressure in patients with obstructive sleep apnea?

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is commonly associated with systemic hypertension and now recognized as an independent risk factor for daytime hypertension. We aimed to study the short- and long-term effect of nasal continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) in hypertensive and normotensive patients with OSA. Forty-six patients with moderated to severe OSA were treated with nasal CPAP and followed after one year of treatment.