Phenotyping by persistent inflammation in systemic sclerosis associated interstitial lung disease: a EUSTAR database analysis.

Background: Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a heterogeneous disease with frequently associated interstitial lung disease (SSc-ILD). We aimed to determine the prognostic potential of phenotyping patients with SSc and SSc-ILD by inflammation and to describe disease trajectories stratified by inflammation and immunosuppressive treatment.

Methods: Patients from the European Scleroderma Trials and Research (EUSTAR) group cohort were allocated to persistent inflammatory, intermediate and non-inflammatory phenotypes if C-reactive protein (CRP) levels were ≥5 mg/L at ≥80%, at 20-80% and at <20% of visits, respectively.

Frailty assessment for COVID-19 follow-up: a prospective cohort study.

Background: The Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS) is increasingly used for clinical decision making in acute care but little is known about frailty after COVID-19.

Objectives: To investigate frailty and the CFS for post-COVID-19 follow-up.

Methods: This prospective multicentre cohort study included COVID-19 survivors aged ≥50 years presenting for a follow-up visit ≥3 months after the acute illness.

Serum calprotectin as new biomarker for disease severity in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis: a cross-sectional study in two independent cohorts.

Background: Non-invasive biomarkers for the assessment of disease severity in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) are urgently needed. Calprotectin belongs to the S-100 proteins produced by neutrophils, which likely contribute to IPF pathogenesis. Calprotectin is a well-established biomarker in inflammatory bowel diseases.

Pulmonary function and radiological features 4 months after COVID-19: first results from the national prospective observational Swiss COVID-19 lung study.

Background: The infectious coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is an ongoing global healthcare challenge. Up to one-third of hospitalised patients develop severe pulmonary complications and acute respiratory distress syndrome. Pulmonary outcomes following COVID-19 are unknown.

Correction to: Azithromycin has enhanced effects on lung fibroblasts from idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) patients compared to controls.

After publication of our article [1], we have been notified that an extra alpha symbol (α) was mistakenly added at the beginning of the title.

Azithromycin has enhanced effects on lung fibroblasts from idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) patients compared to controls [corrected].

Background: Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a chronic fatal lung disease without a cure and new drug strategies are urgently needed. Differences in behavior between diseased and healthy cells are well known and drug response can be different between cells isolated from IPF patients and controls. The macrolide Azithromycin (AZT) has anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory properties.

Multiple breath washout: A new and promising lung function test for patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

Background And Objective: Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a devastating progressive lung disease affecting the parenchyma. Nitrogen multiple-breath washout (N -MBW) is a lung function test that measures ventilation inhomogeneity, a biomarker of small airway disease. We assessed clinical properties of N -MBW in IPF.

Monocyte differentiation toward regulatory dendritic cells is not affected by respiratory syncytial virus-induced inflammatory mediators.

Airway epithelial cells were shown to drive the differentiation of monocytes into dendritic cells (DCs) with a suppressive phenotype. In this study, we investigated the impact of virus-induced inflammatory mediator production on the development of DCs. Monocyte differentiation into functional DCs, as reflected by the expression of CD11c, CD123, BDCA-4, and DC-SIGN and the capacity to activate T cells, was similar for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)-infected and mock-infected BEAS-2B and A549 cells.

Activity of pulmonary edema fluid interleukin-8 bound to alpha(2)-macroglobulin in patients with acute lung injury.

The formation of alpha(2)-macroglobulin (alpha(2)-M)/interleukin-8 (IL-8) complexes may influence the biological activity of IL-8 and the quantitative assessment of IL-8 activity. Therefore, in this study, concentrations of free IL-8 and IL-8 complexes with alpha(2)-M were measured in pulmonary edema fluid samples from patients with acute lung injury/acute respiratory distress syndrome (ALI/ARDS) and compared with control patients with hydrostatic pulmonary edema. Patients with ALI/ARDS had significantly higher concentrations of alpha(2)-M (P < 0.