The ERN-LUNG Population Registry: Aims, Software-Implementation and First Results.

The ERN-LUNG Population Registry is a new European-wide collection of patients with rare lung diseases, allowing patients to register online in the registry. Medical experts can recruit patients in the registry for disease-specific registries and care options. The Population Registry was implemented on the basis of the open source software OSSE and extended by functions for the self-registration of patients.

Expression of human beta defensin (HBD-1 and HBD-2) mRNA in nasal epithelia of adult cystic fibrosis patients, healthy individuals, and individuals with acute cold.

Background: Lack or inactivation of defensins may facilitate chronic bacterial colonization in the cystic fibrosis (CF) lung. CF nasal epithelium exhibits typical biochemical abnormalities and can be used to study defensin expression in CF.

Objectives: To evaluate the expression of beta defensin (HBD-1 and HBD-2) mRNA and the presence of inflammatory markers (percentage of neutrophils and IL-8 mRNA expression) in CF and non-CF nasal mucosa.