Nontuberculous Mycobacterial Infections in a French Hospital: A 12-Year Retrospective Study.

Background: Nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) are environmental organisms associated with a range of infections. Reports of NTM epidemiology are mainly focused on pulmonary infections and isolations, and extrapulmonary infections are less frequently described.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective study of NTM infections at the Bordeaux University Hospital, France, between January 2002 and December 2013.

Role of YKL-40 in bronchial smooth muscle remodeling in asthma.

Rationale: Bronchial remodeling, including increased bronchial smooth muscle (BSM) mass, contributes to bronchial obstruction in asthma. However, its mechanisms are complex and remain controversial. Recently, a role of the chitinase 3-like 1 protein (YKL-40) has been evoked in asthma.

Airway remodeling in asthma: new mechanisms and potential for pharmacological intervention.

The chronic inflammatory response within the airways of asthmatics is associated with structural changes termed airway remodeling. This remodeling process is a key feature of severe asthma. The 5-10% of patients with a severe form of the disease account for the higher morbidity and health costs related to asthma.

Control maintenance can be predicted by exhaled NO monitoring in asthmatic patients.

Background: Fractional exhaled nitric oxide (F(E)NO) is a marker of airway inflammation in asthma. Monitoring of such inflammation is currently not included in asthma guidelines and remains controversial. The hypothesis underlying the present study was that, F(E)NO could help assessing asthma control and, therefore, improve its management, by predicting loss of control in asthmatics.

Pathophysiology of bronchial smooth muscle remodelling in asthma.

Whereas the role of bronchial smooth muscle remains controversial in healthy subjects its role is well established in asthmatics. Bronchial smooth muscle contraction induces airway narrowing. The smooth muscle also contributes to bronchial inflammation by secreting a range of inflammatory mediators, recruiting and activating inflammatory cells, such as mast cells or T-lymphocytes.

Mast cell adhesion to bronchial smooth muscle in asthma specifically depends on CD51 and CD44 variant 6.

Background: Mast cells infiltrate the bronchial smooth muscle (BSM) in asthmatic patients, but the mechanism of mast cell adhesion is still unknown. The adhesion molecules CD44 (i.e.

Bronchial measurements in patients with asthma: comparison of quantitative thin-section CT findings with those in healthy subjects and correlation with pathologic findings.

Purpose: To analyze and compare computed tomographic (CT) bronchial measurements in patients with asthma and healthy subjects and to correlate bronchial morphometric parameters with functional data and immunohistologic markers of airway remodeling and inflammation.

Materials And Methods: This retrospective study was approved by the institutional review board; patient informed consent was not required. CT and pulmonary function tests were performed in 27 patients separated into two groups: 15 patients with asthma (three men; mean age, 43.

Masitinib, a c-kit/PDGF receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor, improves disease control in severe corticosteroid-dependent asthmatics.

Background: Masitinib is a tyrosine kinase inhibitor targeting stem cell factor receptor (c-kit) and platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) receptor, which are expressed on several cell types including mast cells and bronchial structural cells, respectively. We hypothesized that c-kit and PDGF receptor inhibition may decrease bronchial inflammation and interfere with airway remodeling, which are crucial features of severe asthma.

Objectives: The primary endpoint was the percent change from baseline in oral corticosteroids after 16 weeks of treatment.

Bronchial morphometry in smokers: comparison with healthy subjects by using 3D CT.

The assessment of airway dimensions in patients with airway disease by using computed tomography (CT) has been limited by the obliquity of bronchi, the ability to identify the bronchial generation, and the limited number of bronchial measurements. The aims of the present study were (i) to analyze cross-sectional bronchial dimensions after automatic orthogonal reconstruction of all visible bronchi on CT images, and (ii) to compare bronchial morphometry between smokers and nonsmokers. CT and pulmonary function tests were performed in 18 males separated into two groups: 9 nonsmokers and 9 smokers.

[Atopic dermatitis aggravates the allergic airways inflammation in acute viral bronchiolitis].

Introduction: Exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) is a putative non-invasive marker of eosinophilic airway inflammation with a good predictive value for allergic asthma in preschool children. The aim of the present study was to compare FeNO after acute viral bronchiolitis (AVB) in children aged less than 2 years without atopic dermatitis (AD) vs those with atopic dermatitis, as well as children with AD without any history of AVB.

Methods: Forty-two children (mean age +/- SD: 12.

Bronchial smooth muscle remodeling involves calcium-dependent enhanced mitochondrial biogenesis in asthma.

Asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are characterized by different patterns of airway remodeling, which all include an increased mass of bronchial smooth muscle (BSM). A remaining major question concerns the mechanisms underlying such a remodeling of BSM. Because mitochondria play a major role in both cell proliferation and apoptosis, we hypothesized that mitochondrial activation in BSM could play a role in this remodeling.

Sublingual-swallow immunotherapy with standardized 3-grass pollen extract: a double-blind, placebo-controlled study.

Background: Sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT) is accepted as a safe and effective route for the treatment of grass pollen allergy, but clarification of its clinical and biological efficacy requires more study.

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy, safety, and compliance of SLIT with a standardized 3-grass pollen extract in patients with grass pollen seasonal allergic rhinoconjunctivitis, with or without mild asthma.

Methods: This multicenter, randomized, double-blind study included 127 patients (aged 12-41 years; mean age, 24.

[Allergy and refractory asthma: new etiological and treatment pathways].

Severe asthma is often refractory to standard treatments and presents real problems of management. It necessitates rigorous clinical procedures to identify the aggravating factors. Allergic factors probably play an important role but are often ignored; atopy is more often associated with mild or moderate asthma.

Omalizumab decreases nonspecific airway hyperresponsiveness in vitro.

Background: In asthmatic patients, both symptoms and hyperresponsiveness are related to immunoglobulin E (IgE) concentration in serum. The anti-IgE monoclonal antibody omalizumab improved the control of asthma, but its effect on airway hyperresponsiveness is controversial. Passive sensitization reproduced in vitro a bronchial hyperresponsiveness, an increase in IgE bearing cells, and a mast cell degranulation.

Air trapping in mild and moderate asthma: effect of inhaled corticosteroids.

Background: Air trapping reflects small airway obstruction in asthma and can be assessed quantitatively by high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT). Hydrofluoroalkane-beclomethasone dipropionate (HFA-BDP) is deposited across all sizes of airways, including the small ones. However, its long-term effect on air trapping remains unknown in uncontrolled asthma.

Inflammation of bronchial smooth muscle in allergic asthma.

Background: Recent observations in asthma suggest that bronchial smooth muscle is infiltrated by inflammatory cells including mast cells. Such an infiltration may contribute to airway remodelling that is partly due to an increase in smooth muscle mass. Whether muscle increase is the result of smooth muscle cell hypertrophy remains controversial and has not been studied by ultrastructural analysis.

Bronchial measurement with three-dimensional quantitative thin-section CT in patients with cystic fibrosis.

Purpose: To prospectively compare bronchial measurements obtained with three-dimensional quantitative thin-section computed tomography (CT) with those obtained with thin-section CT scores in the assessment of the severity of pulmonary cystic fibrosis (CF).

Materials And Methods: Ethics committee approval was obtained. Sixteen patients with CF (mean age, 26.

Assessment of airways with three-dimensional quantitative thin-section CT: in vitro and in vivo validation.

Purpose: To prospectively validate the ability of customized three-dimensional (3D) software to enable bronchial tree skeletonization, orthogonal reconstruction of the main bronchial axis, and measurement of cross-sectional wall area (WA) and lumen area (LA) of any visible bronchus on thin-section computed tomographic (CT) images.

Materials And Methods: Institutional review board approval and patient agreement and informed consent were obtained. Software was validated in a phantom that consisted of seven tubes and an excised human lung obtained and used according to institutional guidelines.

Fraktalkine produced by airway smooth muscle cells contributes to mast cell recruitment in asthma.

Human airway smooth muscle cells (HASMC) secrete fractalkine (FKN), a chemokine the concentration of which is increased in asthmatic patients. HASMC also induce mast cell chemotaxis, as a component of asthma inflammation. We therefore evaluated the role of smooth muscle-derived FKN in mast cell migration.

[IgE and respiratory disease].

Introduction: IgE is known to provide the biological basis for allergy and immediate hypersensitivity. However, recent data provide some evidence that IgE responses are involved in other inflammatory processes apart from allergy, including several respiratory diseases.

State Of The Art: IgE binds to mast cells and basophils but also to other inflammatory cells, which are involved in non-allergic processes.

RNA interference decreases PAR-2 expression and function in human airway smooth muscle cells.

Asthma is characterized by bronchial inflammation and hyperresponsiveness that involves mast cell tryptase and potentially its specific receptor protease activated receptor 2 (PAR-2). Tryptase increases free intracellular calcium concentration ([Ca2+]i), a key step in activation of human airway smooth muscle cells (HASMC). The aim of this study was to analyze the effect of PAR-2 gene silencing on HASMC, in terms of calcium response, since no antagonist is available for this receptor.

[Development of a questionnaire concerning the knowledge of COPD].

Introduction: The level of a patient's knowledge about his disease and its treatment is an essential part of an educational assessment. It is useful therefore to make use of a rapid, easy and valid method to collect the information necessary to develop an educational programme adapted to the needs of the patient. The aim of this study is to validate, in a structured way, a knowledge questionnaire on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Airway wall thickness in cigarette smokers: quantitative thin-section CT assessment.

Purpose: To design and validate a dedicated software tool to measure airway dimensions on thin-section computed tomographic (CT) images and to use the tool to prospectively compare airway wall thickness in nonsmokers with normal lung function with that in smokers with and without chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Materials And Methods: All subjects gave written informed consent. The study was approved by local ethics committee.